Better Youtube: Reduce Distraction Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

That Developer Steven (the “Developer”, “we”, “us” or “our”), an independent software developer based in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, publishes the Better Youtube: Reduce Distraction extension for Google Chrome (the “Extension”). This privacy policy (the “Policy”) applies to the Extension.

The Extension lets you hide distracting parts of the YouTube interface, such as recommendations, Shorts, comments, live chat, sidebar entries and top-bar buttons, using 42 on/off switches in its popup window. It can also send you from the YouTube home page to your YouTube “You” page, and it shows a “Today’s YouTube Watch Time” counter that is calculated on your device.

This Policy explains what information the Extension handles, why it handles it, where that information is kept and the choices available to you. In this Policy, “Personal Data” means information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. The Extension is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by YouTube or Google. 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 1.0.2 and later versions until this Policy is updated.

The Extension’s page scripts run only in the main (top-level) frame of pages on youtube.com and its subdomains, such as www, m, music, tv and studio. They do not run on YouTube videos embedded in other websites or on youtube-nocookie.com. Separately, the Extension’s background process checks the web address of your active tab on any website to keep the watch-time counter, as described in “Information the Extension Processes”.

This Policy does not apply to YouTube or any other website, to Google Chrome itself, including Chrome Sync, or to any third-party service that you reach through a link in the Extension, such as Ko-fi or your email provider. Those are governed by their own terms and privacy policies. YouTube and Google continue to process information about your use of YouTube under the Google Privacy Policy whether or not the Extension is installed.

3. Information the Extension Processes

Processing on your device means that the Extension reads or saves information inside Google Chrome on your computer so that it can work. Collection by the Developer means that information is sent to and received by us. The Extension carries out only processing on your device. It contains no code that sends information to the Developer or to any other server (Chrome Sync, described below, is a Chrome feature operated by Google), so the Developer does not collect, receive or have access to the information in the table below, except a feedback email that you decide to send yourself (last row).

To hide elements, the Extension adds style rules, class names beginning with “byrd-”, attributes beginning with “data-byrd-” and inline styles to YouTube pages in your browser. These markers are not sent anywhere by the Extension, although, like any change to a web page, they are visible to the page while it is open. In version 1.0.2 the Extension also always recolors the YouTube logo blue by overriding YouTube’s brand color; this cannot be turned off and may also recolor other elements that use that color.

The Extension does not collect, store or transmit:

• your name, email address or Google or YouTube account details (the Extension has no account or sign-in system);
• passwords, payment information or government identifiers;
• your location;
• your browsing history or a record of the websites you visit (the active tab’s web address is checked as described above and then discarded), or a history of the YouTube videos, Shorts or channels you watch;
• what you type into YouTube’s search box or other fields (with “Hide Search History” on, typing only prompts the Extension to keep suggestions hidden; the text is never read);
• cookies or YouTube’s website storage (localStorage, sessionStorage or IndexedDB);
• analytics or telemetry about how you use the Extension, or advertising identifiers (the only usage figure it keeps is today’s watch-time total on your device, described above).

4. How Information Is Used

Information processed by the Extension is used only to provide its features to you, namely to:

• remember your settings and hide the YouTube elements that you select;
• recolor the YouTube logo;
• send you from the YouTube home page to your “You” page, if you turn on “Redirect Home to You”;
• count and display today’s YouTube watch time;
• open the popup on the settings that match the current page, in your chosen language, and let you search the features.

Information is not used for any other purpose. In particular, the Developer does not use it to build profiles of you, for advertising or marketing, or to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes, and does not sell it. The Developer cannot view the information the Extension processes, because it never reaches the Developer.

If you send us a feedback email, we use your email address and message only to reply and to investigate what you report, never for marketing.

5. Where Information Is Stored and How It Is Protected

The Extension saves information in two areas of Chrome’s extension storage in your browser profile:

• Extension sync storage (chrome.storage.sync) holds your feature settings and popup language. If you are signed in to Chrome and Chrome Sync is turned on, Chrome may, depending on your sync choices, synchronize them across the Chrome browsers signed in to the same Google Account, and Google stores and processes them under the Google Privacy Policy. If Chrome Sync is off, they stay on your device.
• Local extension storage (chrome.storage.local) holds only the daily watch-time record and is not synchronized.

All other information is held only temporarily in memory. The Developer does not operate any server, database, analytics service or account system for the Extension. The Extension runs only code packaged with it and does not load code from the internet.

Chrome does not run the Extension in Incognito windows unless you allow it on the Extension’s details page at chrome://extensions. The Extension does not keep a separate storage area for Incognito windows. If you allow it, your settings also apply there, and time spent on YouTube video or Shorts pages in Incognito windows may be added to the same daily watch-time total, which remains after you close the Incognito window.

The Extension does not encrypt the information it stores; it relies on the security of Google Chrome, your browser profile and your device. No method of storage is completely secure, and anyone who can use your Chrome profile may see your settings and watch-time total, so please protect your device and profile, for example with a screen lock and an up-to-date browser.

6. Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, rent, trade or share Personal Data, except as described in this section. Because the Extension does not send information to the Developer, we hold no data from the Extension that we could disclose to anyone, including advertisers, data brokers, other companies or public authorities.

Information handled by the Extension can reach a third party only in the following cases, each of which you control:

• Chrome Sync. If you have turned it on, Google synchronizes your feature settings and popup language. This is a Chrome feature and gives the Developer no access to the data.
• YouTube pages. The Extension does not send your settings or any other information to YouTube. However, its changes to YouTube pages and the optional redirect to your “You” page take place inside YouTube pages, so YouTube’s own page code may be able to observe them, as it can observe your other use of the site.
• Your own actions. When you open the Ko-fi page or send an email, that service receives what you provide under its own policies.

If you send us a feedback email, we do not share your email address or message with anyone, except where we are required to do so by applicable law.

7. Third-Party Websites and Services

The Extension does not send any information to the Developer or to any other server. Its code makes no network requests of its own, and its popup loads only files packaged with the Extension. The only page load it starts itself is the optional YouTube redirect described below, which adds no information from the Extension. The Extension is involved in the following interactions with websites and services:

• YouTube. The Extension works on YouTube pages your browser has already loaded and requests no additional data from YouTube. If you turn on “Redirect Home to You”, opening a YouTube home page (the path / or /feed/home) makes the Extension replace that page with /feed/you on the same YouTube site, whichever YouTube subdomain you are using, including m.youtube.com, music.youtube.com, tv.youtube.com and studio.youtube.com. This is an ordinary page navigation by your browser, so YouTube receives the request with your existing YouTube session and handles it under Google’s policies.
• Chrome Web Store. Google Chrome installs updates to the Extension from the Chrome Web Store under Google’s policies; the Extension sends no information as part of this.
• Ko-fi. The Donate button opens https://ko-fi.com/developersteven in a new tab, with no added information. Any donation is made under Ko-fi’s own terms and privacy policy.
• Email. The Send Feedback by Email button asks Chrome to open your default email app or service with a new message to ThatDeveloperSteven138@gmail.com. The Extension does not send the message or add anything to it. The Feedback screen suggests details such as your browser name and version, the website concerned, the steps you took and an optional screenshot or recording. If you send it, we receive your email address and whatever you include. Please do not include passwords, and check attachments for personal information.

Using these links is always your choice, and the third parties’ own terms and privacy policies apply.

8. Browser Permissions

Each permission is used only for the purpose described.

The Extension declares no other permissions and no other host permissions. It does not request the “cookies”, “history”, “identity”, “downloads” or “webRequest” permissions, so it cannot use Chrome’s cookie store or saved browsing history, access your Google identity, manage downloads or observe network traffic. Its page scripts on YouTube do not read YouTube’s cookies or website storage.

9. Data Retention and Deletion

Information is kept only as follows:

• Feature settings and popup language: until you change them or remove the Extension; Google may also keep a synchronized copy if Chrome Sync is on.
• Today’s watch-time total: a single record, replaced at the first update after your local date changes, so the previous day’s total can remain until then (for example while Chrome stays closed). No history of earlier days is kept.
• Temporary information (tab addresses, page contents, page type, browser languages and search text): discarded immediately after use or when the popup closes.
• Feedback emails: kept in the Developer’s mailbox without a fixed retention period. We will delete an email from the Developer’s mailbox on request unless the law requires us to keep it.

To delete information:

1. To change your choices, use the popup switches or All ON or All OFF. There is no reset button; All OFF saves each feature as off rather than deleting the settings. The watch-time counter cannot be reset or switched off in the popup; it restarts from zero after your local date changes.
2. To stop all processing, including the watch-time check of your active tab’s web address, without deleting your settings, open chrome://extensions and switch the Extension off.
3. To delete everything the Extension saved in your browser, open chrome://extensions, find Better Youtube: Reduce Distraction and click Remove. Chrome then deletes the Extension’s storage from that profile.
4. If you use Chrome Sync, a copy of your feature settings and popup language may also be held with the Chrome data synchronized to your Google Account. The Developer cannot access or delete that copy and cannot confirm whether Google deletes it when the Extension is removed. You can delete synchronized data through Chrome’s sync settings or your Google Account; this deletes all Chrome data synchronized to your account, not only the Extension’s settings.
5. To ask us to delete a feedback email you sent, write to ThatDeveloperSteven138@gmail.com.

Apart from feedback emails, the Developer holds no data from the Extension to delete.

10. Your Rights and Choices

You control the information the Extension handles directly on your device. You can see your current settings and today’s watch-time total in the popup. You may turn individual features on or off, turn off “Redirect Home to You”, choose a fixed popup language, change your Chrome Sync settings, disable the Extension or remove it at any time. The watch-time counter has no separate switch; disabling or removing the Extension stops it.

Depending on where you live, data protection laws, such as the EU/EEA and UK General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) of Hong Kong, may give you rights such as access, correction, deletion, restriction of processing, objection and data portability.

Because the Developer does not hold the information processed by the Extension, these rights are exercised by managing the data in your browser, as described in “Data Retention and Deletion”. If you have sent us a feedback email, you may ask us to access, correct or delete it. You may contact us at ThatDeveloperSteven138@gmail.com with any request or question, and we will respond within a reasonable time. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority, such as the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in Hong Kong.

11. Children’s Privacy

The Extension is a general-audience tool and is not directed to children under 13, or under 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 through it. If you have concerns about a child’s use of the Extension, or believe that a child has emailed us Personal Data, please contact us at ThatDeveloperSteven138@gmail.com.

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.

In particular, information processed by the Extension:

• is used only to provide or improve the single purpose described in the Extension’s Chrome Web Store listing, which is reducing distractions on YouTube by hiding the interface elements you choose, together with the related watch-time counter;
• includes web browsing activity (the active tab’s web address) only for the watch-time counter, a user-facing feature disclosed in this Policy, and that address is discarded after each check;
• is not sold, and is not transferred to anyone except through Chrome Sync when you have turned it on, as described in this Policy;
• is not used or transferred for personalized advertising;
• is not used or transferred to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes;
• is not read by the Developer or by any other person on the Developer’s behalf, because it is never transmitted to the Developer.

The Extension’s Chrome Web Store listing states: “The developer has disclosed that it will not collect or use your data.” This is consistent with this Policy: the processing described above takes place only on your device to provide the Extension’s features, and none of it is collected by the Developer. Chrome Sync, where you have turned it on, is performed by Google and gives the Developer no access to the data, and a feedback email is a separate message that you choose to send from your own email account.

13. International Users

The Developer is based in Hong Kong. The Extension processes information locally on your device, wherever you are, and does not transfer it to the Developer in Hong Kong or to anyone else. If you use Chrome Sync, Google may store and process your synchronized settings in other countries under its own policies. A feedback email you send is delivered through your email provider and Google’s Gmail service, 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, its features or applicable law change. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date 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 an updated Policy 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 us:

• Email: ThatDeveloperSteven138@gmail.com
• Website: https://www.thatdevelopersteven.com

We aim to reply within 30 days. If you contact us by email, we receive your email address and the contents of your message and use them only to respond to you and to deal with your request, as described in “How Information Is Used”.

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