Privacy Policy
Last Updated: August 2026 • Manifest V3 Compliant
Summary in Plain English
Zen Reader is a 100% local-first browser extension. We do not collect, transmit, sell, or analyze your browsing data.
There are zero servers, zero external APIs, and zero analytics scripts. Everything you save stays strictly in your browser's IndexedDB storage.
1. Data Collection & Transmission
Does Zen Reader collect any data?
No. When you click save or press Alt+Shift+S, the text extraction runs entirely client-side via Mozilla Readability within your browser's active tab.
No network requests are dispatched to any external domain.
2. What Data is Stored Locally?
Zen Reader stores the following items exclusively in your browser's native IndexedDB database:
- Article Content: Title, author, canonical URL, publication date, reading time estimate, and sanitized HTML article body.
- Article Images: Cached locally so you can read offline without downloading images again.
- User Preferences: Chosen theme (Paper, Sepia, Night) and reading font multiplier.
3. Browser Permissions & Audit
| Permission | Why It Is Requested |
|---|---|
| storage | Persisting reading list and theme settings in local IndexedDB. |
| unlimitedStorage | Ensures your local reading library can hold thousands of articles without browser quota eviction. |
| scripting | Runs the Mozilla Readability parser on the active web page upon user trigger. |
| activeTab | Temporarily grants access to the current tab only when you explicitly press Save or click the extension button. |
4. Security & Sanitization
To prevent Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) from untrusted web pages, all parsed content is strictly sanitized through the native browser DOMParser engine before storage and displayed inside isolated components.
5. Open Source Verification
Zen Reader is published under the open-source MIT License. Anyone can audit the complete source code, review dependency graphs, or build the extension from source: