Better Instagram: Stop Scrolling Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) is published by That Developer Steven (the “Developer”, “we”, “us” or “our”), an independent software developer based in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It applies to the Better Instagram: Stop Scrolling extension for Google Chrome (the “Extension”).

The Extension helps you use Instagram on the web with less distraction. It can hide or dim parts of Instagram, apply grayscale, ask you to confirm before Instagram opens, remind you to take breaks, and show statistics about your Home-feed time and Reels viewing that are kept on your device.

This Policy explains what information the Extension handles, why it handles it, where it is kept and the choices available to you. In this Policy, “Personal Data” means information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. By installing or using the Extension, you acknowledge this Policy.

2. Scope of This Policy

This Policy applies to the Extension as distributed through the Chrome Web Store, version 1.5.2 and later versions until this Policy is updated.

It does not apply to Instagram, the website on which the Extension works, which is operated by Meta; to Google Chrome itself; or to any third-party service reached through a link in the Extension, such as Ko-fi or your email provider. Those services are governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

3. Information the Extension Processes

This Policy distinguishes processing on your device, where the Extension reads, calculates or stores information inside your browser in order to work, from collection by the Developer, where information is transmitted to and received by the Developer. Except for feedback emails, the Extension processes the information in the table below on your device. Only two kinds of information can leave your device: the optional follow-status requests, which your browser sends directly to Instagram, and any email that you choose to send us. Apart from any email you choose to send us, the Developer collects none of this information: the Extension has no server, account system or analytics, and it never sends information to the Developer.

The Extension’s on-page elements are inserted directly into Instagram’s page, so Instagram’s own page code could technically read them, including the Reels counts and times shown in the overlay, and could tell from them that the Extension is in use. The Extension itself does not send them anywhere.

The Extension does not:

• ask you to create an account or sign in to the Extension, or collect your name, email address, phone number or postal address (unless you choose to email us);
• read your Instagram password: it checks only whether a password field exists, so that time on the login page is not counted;
• set cookies, use the Chrome cookies API or read Instagram’s protected (HttpOnly) cookies;
• record keystrokes: its keyboard listener checks only for Enter or Space, and scroll, touch, pointer and video events are used only for timing in memory;
• store or transmit the content of your posts, direct messages or notifications;
• collect your location or payment information, offer paid features, or show advertisements;
• use analytics, telemetry, advertising identifiers or tracking technologies;
• keep a history of the websites or Instagram pages you visit; the only page-related value it stores is the most recently counted Reel described above.

4. How Information Is Used

Information is used only to provide the Extension’s features to you, namely to:

• apply your settings on Instagram pages, including hiding and dimming content, grayscale, the confirmation gate and the scroll reminders;
• show Reels counters and timers on the page and your Home-feed and Reels statistics in the popup and on the Statistics page;
• check whether you follow post authors, when “Dim posts from non-followed accounts” is on;
• show the Extension’s text in your chosen language and the popup and confirmation gate in your chosen theme, pre-select the matching settings page in the popup and respond to feedback you email us.

We do not use any information for profiling, advertising or marketing, we do not sell it, and we do not use it to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes. Because the information processed by the Extension never reaches the Developer, neither the Developer nor anyone acting for the Developer can see it. The only information the Developer can see is the content of an email you choose to send us.

5. Where Information Is Stored and How It Is Protected

Settings, display preferences, usage statistics and the last counted Reel are saved in chrome.storage.local, which is Chrome’s extension storage on your device, within your Chrome profile. The Extension does not use chrome.storage.sync, so this information is not synchronized through Google Chrome Sync, and it does not use Instagram’s website storage (such as localStorage or IndexedDB). All other information is held only temporarily in memory.

The Developer operates no server, database or account system for the Extension. All of the Extension’s code, including the Statistics page, is packaged with it; it loads no remote code or content and contains no analytics or advertising components. It does not make its files available to websites and does not listen for messages from websites or other extensions.

The Extension does not add its own encryption to its stored information, so anyone with access to your device and Chrome profile may be able to view it. Please protect your device with a screen lock, keep Chrome up to date and install only software you trust. No method of storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Chrome does not run extensions in Incognito windows unless you allow it on the Extension’s details page. The Extension does not keep a separate storage area for Incognito windows. If you allow it to run in Incognito, Home-feed time and Reels statistics recorded in Incognito windows are saved in the same extension storage and remain after you close the Incognito window.

6. Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, rent or trade your Personal Data, and we do not share it with anyone except as described in this section. Because the Developer does not receive the information processed by the Extension, we cannot disclose it to third parties, including advertisers, data brokers or public authorities.

The only information the Extension sends to another party is contained in the optional follow-status requests that your browser sends directly to Instagram while “Dim posts from non-followed accounts” is on. These requests are made at your direction, solely to provide that feature, and never pass through the Developer; they are described in the next section. If you send us an email, it is stored by our email provider, Google, and we use it only to respond to you. We do not share it with anyone else, except where the law requires us to do so.

7. Third-Party Websites and Services

The Extension does not send any information to the Developer. It causes only the following network activity:

• Follow-status requests to Instagram (optional). Only while “Dim posts from non-followed accounts” is on (off by default), the Extension checks whether you follow, or have requested to follow, the authors of posts in your Home feed, and only for authors whose follow status the page itself does not already show. It sends requests from the Instagram page to the same Instagram address you are using (for example https://www.instagram.com): to /api/v1/friendships/show_many/ with the author’s numeric user ID where available, and otherwise to /api/v1/users/web_profile_info/ or /{username}/?__a=1&__d=dis with the author’s username. Each request carries Instagram’s csrftoken value as a header, and your browser attaches your existing Instagram session cookies, so Instagram receives the requests from your signed-in account just as when you browse Instagram and can associate them with your account. At most two requests run at a time, about 320 milliseconds apart. The Extension uses only the follow status and user ID from each response and keeps the result in memory as described above.
• Reload of an Instagram page. If you turn off “Hide feed posts” on the Home feed and the posts do not reappear, the Extension reloads the Instagram page after a short delay, at most once every 15 seconds. This is an ordinary request for the page from your browser to Instagram; the Extension adds no information to it.
• Extension updates. Google Chrome checks for and installs updates to the Extension through the Chrome Web Store. This is managed by Chrome and Google under the Google Privacy Policy, and the Extension itself sends no information as part of it.
• Links you choose to open. The popup’s Donate button opens the Developer’s Ko-fi page in a new tab, and its Feedback link (ThatDeveloperSteven138@gmail.com) opens your own email app. Nothing happens unless you click them, and the Extension adds no information about you to them. Ko-fi and your email provider apply their own terms and privacy policies; any payment made through Ko-fi is handled by Ko-fi and its payment providers.

The Statistics page is part of the Extension and opens from your device without any network request. Instagram is operated by Meta. How Instagram handles the requests described above, and your use of Instagram generally, is governed by the Meta Privacy Policy, not by this Policy.

8. Browser Permissions

The Extension requests only the permissions it needs for its features:

9. Data Retention and Deletion

Settings and display preferences remain until you change them or remove the Extension. Home-feed time and daily Reels statistics are kept as one entry per calendar day, indefinitely and without automatic deletion, until you remove the Extension. Information held in memory is discarded at the times stated in the table above and in any case when you close the tab or the popup. Feedback emails are kept in the Developer’s mailbox without a fixed retention period, and we delete them at your request unless the law requires us to keep them.

Version 1.5.2 has no button to reset, delete or export statistics, and Home-feed time cannot be switched off within the Extension. You can stop or delete processing as follows:

1. To stop recording new daily Reels statistics, open the popup, choose “Reels” in the “Apply to” menu and turn off “Show Reels scrolled (today)” and “Show watch time (today)”.
2. To stop follow-status requests to Instagram, open the popup, choose “Home” in the “Apply to” menu and turn off “Dim posts from non-followed accounts”.
3. To stop all processing, including Home-feed time, without deleting stored information, open chrome://extensions and switch the Extension off.
4. To delete all information the Extension has stored, open chrome://extensions, find Better Instagram: Stop Scrolling and click “Remove”, or right-click its toolbar icon and choose “Remove from Chrome”. Chrome then deletes the Extension’s storage on that device. Because the Extension’s stored information is kept separately on each device, remove the Extension on every device where you want its information deleted.
5. To delete an email you sent us, contact us at ThatDeveloperSteven138@gmail.com.

10. Your Rights and Choices

You control the information the Extension processes directly on your device. You can change or disable features in the popup, switch the Extension off or remove it at any time.

Depending on where you live, data protection laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union and the European Economic Area, the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, and the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) of Hong Kong may give you rights of access, correction, deletion, restriction of processing, objection and data portability. We do not sell or share Personal Data, as those terms are defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

Because the Developer does not hold the information processed by the Extension, these rights are exercised by managing that information in your browser as described in this Policy. You can view your statistics in the popup and on the Statistics page and delete them by removing the Extension. You may also contact us with any request or question, including about emails you have sent us, and we will respond within a reasonable time. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority, such as the authority where you live or, in Hong Kong, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.

11. Children’s Privacy

The Extension is a general-audience tool and is not directed to children under the age of 13, or the minimum age required in your country. We do not knowingly collect Personal Data from children. Because the Extension does not transmit information to the Developer, no such data is received. If you have concerns about a child’s use of the Extension, please contact us.

12. Chrome Web Store User Data Policy

The use of information received or processed by the Extension adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

• Information is used only to provide or improve the Extension’s single purpose described in its Chrome Web Store listing: helping you reduce distraction and endless scrolling on Instagram on the web, including by showing you your own usage.
• Information is not sold and is not transferred to anyone except as described in this Policy, namely the optional follow-status requests to Instagram.
• Information is not used or transferred for personalized advertising.
• Information is not used or transferred to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes.
• Apart from emails you choose to send us, no human reads the information, because it never reaches the Developer.

The Extension’s Chrome Web Store listing states that the developer “has disclosed that it will not collect or use your data”. This Policy is consistent with that disclosure: the Developer does not collect, receive or use any information processed by the Extension, and the processing described here takes place in your browser on your device. The optional follow-status requests go directly from your browser to Instagram, the service you are already using, only when you turn that option on, and their results are used only on your device.

13. International Users

The Developer is based in Hong Kong. The Extension processes information locally on your device wherever you are, and it does not transfer any information to the Developer, in Hong Kong or elsewhere. Because the Extension does not use Chrome Sync, it does not cause its stored information to be copied to Google’s servers.

If you turn on “Dim posts from non-followed accounts”, follow-status requests go to Instagram, which Meta may process in other countries under its own policies. If you choose to email us, your message is stored by our email provider, Google, which may process it in other countries, and is read by the Developer in Hong Kong.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy when the Extension or the law changes. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date at the top of this Policy. Material changes will be highlighted on this page and, where appropriate, in the Extension’s Chrome Web Store listing or release notes. Your continued use of the Extension after the effective date of a change means that you acknowledge the updated Policy. Earlier versions of this Policy are available on request.

15. Contact

If you have any questions, requests or concerns about this Policy or the Extension, please contact the Developer by email at ThatDeveloperSteven138@gmail.com. More information is available on our website at https://www.thatdevelopersteven.com. We aim to reply within 30 days.

This Policy is published at https://www.thatdevelopersteven.com/chrome-extension/Better-Instagram/Privacy-Policy.