Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 29, 2026

Chinese Reader Pro is a Chrome extension and website that helps users read Chinese webpages with pinyin, English translation, hover dictionary lookup, saved vocabulary, flashcards, learning progress, Pro access, and optional AI explanations.

Chrome Web Store Limited Use disclosure: The use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Single Purpose

The single purpose of Chinese Reader Pro is to help users read, understand, save, and review Chinese text and Chinese video audio from webpages they choose to use with the extension.

Information We Collect or Process

Data	When it is collected	Why it is used
Chinese text from the current webpage	When you ask the extension to annotate, translate, or explain text.	To generate pinyin, dictionary matches, English translations, and AI explanations.
Short tab audio chunks from the current video tab	Only when you click Start Live Translation for Chinese video audio.	To transcribe Chinese speech and generate live Chinese, pinyin, English, and Traditional Chinese captions.
Saved vocabulary	When you click save on a word.	To provide vocabulary lists, flashcards, search, review, and CSV export.
Source page URL and page title for saved items	When you save a word from a webpage.	To help you remember where the saved item came from.
Learning progress	When you use reading, flashcard, audio, save, achievement, or streak features.	To show XP, streaks, achievements, flashcard review history, and usage limits.
Account information	When you create an account, sign in, reset a password, buy Pro, or buy AI credits.	To authenticate your account, sync data, attach purchases to the correct account, and manage access.
Payment and subscription status	When Stripe confirms a successful purchase or subscription change.	To enable Pro access, update subscription status, and add purchased AI credits.
Extension settings and local identifiers	When you use the extension.	To remember display settings, anonymous free-plan usage, account sessions, and reminder preferences.
Advertising cookies and ad signals	When Google ads are shown on website pages.	To serve ads, limit repeated ads, prevent fraud, measure ad performance, and support free website content.

Webpage Access and Browsing Data

The extension can run on webpages so it can find and annotate Chinese text. We do not sell browsing history, do not build advertising profiles, and do not collect a list of every site you visit. Chinese text is sent to our backend only when needed for a user-facing feature such as annotation, translation, saving, or AI explain. The page URL and title are stored only when you save a word from that page.

Chrome Extension Permissions

activeTab and scripting: used to add the reader tools to the current webpage when you use the extension.
storage: used to save settings, account session data, anonymous identifiers, vocabulary, and progress.
downloads: used only when you export saved vocabulary as a CSV file.
tabCapture: used only after you click Start Live Translation, to capture audio from the active tab so Chinese Reader Pro can generate live captions from Chinese speech.
offscreen: used to keep live audio capture running after the popup closes while live video translation is active.
notifications and alarms: used only if you enable learning or streak reminders.
host permission for our backend: used to communicate with the Chinese Reader Pro API.
<all_urls> or broad webpage host access, if requested: used so Chinese Reader Pro can read Chinese text on arbitrary websites the user chooses, detect Chinese text on the current page, display pinyin, Traditional Chinese, English translation, and hover dictionary tools. This access is not used to collect browsing history or build advertising profiles.

How We Use Information

Provide pinyin, English translation, dictionary lookup, AI explanation, vocabulary, flashcard, and progress features.
Sync account data between the website, extension, and backend.
Manage free-plan limits, Pro subscriptions, and AI credit balances.
Prevent abuse, debug reliability issues, and keep the service secure.
Respond to support, account, deletion, or privacy requests.

AI Processing

When you request AI explanations or translations, the relevant Chinese text and sentence context may be sent to OpenAI through our backend so the requested result can be generated. Do not use AI explanation or translation features on confidential text unless you are comfortable with that text being processed for this purpose.

When you start live video translation, short audio chunks from the active tab are sent to our backend and to OpenAI for speech transcription and translation. We process these audio chunks to return live captions. We do not intentionally store the raw audio chunks after processing, but generated transcript text and translations may be processed or cached as needed to provide captions, manage AI credits, debug reliability, and prevent abuse.

Accounts, Passwords, and Payments

Account registration, login, and password reset are handled through Supabase authentication. We do not store plaintext passwords. Payments are processed by Stripe. We receive purchase, subscription, customer, and checkout status information needed to enable Pro access or grant AI credits, but we do not store full payment card numbers.

Third-Party Service Providers

We share data only with service providers needed to operate Chinese Reader Pro:

Supabase: authentication, database storage, and account emails.
Railway: backend hosting.
OpenAI: AI translations, explanations, and live video transcription requested by users.
Stripe: checkout, subscriptions, payment status, invoices, and AI credit purchases.
Google: website analytics, Google AdSense advertising, ad delivery, ad measurement, and ad-related fraud prevention.
Vercel: website hosting.

Advertising and Google AdSense

Chinese Reader Pro may show Google AdSense ads on website pages. Third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies or similar identifiers to serve ads based on a user's visits to this website and other websites.

Google's advertising cookies help Google and its partners serve ads, measure ad performance, prevent fraud, and manage how often ads are shown. You can opt out of personalized advertising in Google Ads Settings. You can also learn about additional advertising choices at aboutads.info.

We do not send saved vocabulary, Chinese text processed by the extension, live audio, payment card data, or account passwords to Google AdSense for advertising targeting.

Data Sharing Limits

We do not sell user data. We do not transfer saved vocabulary, Chinese text processed by the extension, live audio, payment card data, or account passwords to advertising platforms, data brokers, or information resellers. We do not use this learning, extension, account, or payment data for personalized advertising or credit-worthiness decisions. Website ads may use Google advertising cookies as described above. We transfer data only when necessary to provide or improve Chinese Reader Pro, comply with law, protect against abuse or security issues, or complete a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets with appropriate user notice or consent when required.

Human Access to User Data

We do not allow humans to read user data except when necessary for support with your consent, security and abuse prevention, legal compliance, or internal operations using aggregated or anonymized information.

Data Storage and Retention

Some data is stored locally in your browser through Chrome storage, including settings, account sessions, anonymous identifiers, and local progress. Account data, saved vocabulary, learning progress, purchase status, and AI credit balances may also be stored in our backend database so the extension can sync across sessions and devices. We keep data while your account is active or while needed to provide the service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent abuse, and maintain payment records.

Your Choices

You can use the free extension features without creating an account, subject to free usage limits.
You can remove saved vocabulary from the extension.
You can disable reminders in the extension.
You can export saved vocabulary as a CSV file.
You can opt out of personalized advertising in Google Ads Settings.
You can request account deletion or data deletion by contacting us.

Security

We use HTTPS and reasonable technical measures to protect user data. No online service can guarantee perfect security, but we limit access to user data and use it only for the purposes described in this policy.

Children

Chinese Reader Pro is not intended for children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal data, contact us so we can review and delete it where appropriate.

Contact

For privacy questions, data deletion requests, or account deletion requests, contact: chinesereaderpro@gmail.com