AI Side Translator — Privacy Policy

Effective date: August 1, 2026 · Last updated: August 1, 2026
Contact: translator@zhezhongtech.com

1. Product and scope

AI Side Translator is a bring-your-own-key (BYOK) browser extension. You select and configure your own supported AI translation provider and supply your own API key. No developer-owned provider API key is bundled with the extension. You are responsible for your own provider account, key, usage, quota, billing, and provider settings.

2. Information stored locally in your browser

The extension stores the following locally, in your browser profile, using the browser's extension storage (chrome.storage.local):

• Provider selection, API Base URL, model, and translation settings (languages, display mode, temperature, token limits, feature toggles).
• Your provider API key(s), stored per provider.
• Your glossary, do-not-translate terms, and style rules.
• Translation history: up to 30 recent items, each containing the source text you translated, the translated result, the languages, the mode, and the provider and model used. You can delete individual items or clear all history in the side panel.
• Temporary "pending translation" data: when you trigger a translation before the side panel is open, the selected text (and optional page context) is held so the panel can pick it up. At most one such record exists at a time — storing a new one overwrites the stored one — and it is cleared once consumed.

The extension does not use chrome.storage.sync; nothing is synced across devices. Storage access is restricted to trusted extension contexts — content scripts running in web pages cannot read it. Local browser storage is not an encrypted or hardware-backed secret vault: someone with control of your device, browser profile, or the extension's developer tools may be able to access locally stored data, so protect your device and profile.

3. Information sent to the provider you select

When you request a translation, or enable an automatic translation feature, the extension may send the following directly from your browser to the provider you configured:

• Text you enter manually, text you select, visible page text, and newly loaded page text while auto-translate on scroll is enabled.
• If you enable "Use page context": the page title, hostname, and nearby page text.
• A compact subset of your glossary and translation rules.
• The system and user prompts required to perform the selected operation.
• Your API key, in the provider-specific authentication header.

Provider API Base URLs must use HTTPS — the extension refuses to send requests to non-HTTPS provider endpoints. Requests go directly from your browser to the provider; they do not pass through any developer-controlled proxy or server.

4. Provider responses

Translated responses are displayed to you in the side panel or applied to the page you chose to translate. For side-panel translations, the source text and translated result are also saved to the local translation history described above until you delete them.

5. Developer access and collection

The extension has no developer translation backend, no proxy, no developer-controlled database, no telemetry, no analytics, no advertising, no account or login system, and it loads no remote JavaScript. The developer does not sell user data. The developer does not receive your API keys, your translation content, or your browsing activity through any developer-operated server — there is none. There is no developer-controlled location for your data: it lives locally in your browser (section 2) and with the provider you chose to send it to (sections 3 and 6) — plus anything you export yourself and translations applied into pages you chose to translate (sections 4 and 9).

6. Third-party providers

You choose which provider receives your translation requests. That provider's processing and retention of your data are governed by the provider's own privacy policy, terms, retention practices, model-training settings, account configuration, and any agreements you have with them. This extension cannot control or guarantee what a provider retains or whether it trains on submitted data. Do not submit data you are not authorized to send to your provider. Where available, use provider spending limits, scoped or restricted keys, and revocation controls.

7. API-key handling

• You enter your own key; no developer key is bundled.
• Keys are stored in extension-local browser storage and are masked by default in the UI; you can deliberately reveal your own key with the Show control.
• Keys are not sent to content scripts and are not synchronized via chrome.storage.sync.
• Keys are sent to your configured provider when you run a connection test or a translation. A connection test sends only a fixed, built-in test prompt, the configured model name, and request parameters — never your text, page context, glossary, or history.
• Settings export excludes API keys by default. If you explicitly opt in to a key-inclusive export, the exported file contains your keys in plain text — protect that file.
• Keys are not encrypted at rest; see section 2 on local-storage limitations.

8. Translation history and temporary data

The side panel keeps at most 30 history items locally. Each item stores the source text, translated text, source and target languages, translation mode, provider preset, and model name, plus a timestamp. You can remove individual items or clear all history at any time in the side panel. Temporary pending-translation records hold the text you asked to translate (and optional page context) until the side panel next opens and consumes them; at most one record exists at a time (storing a new one overwrites the stored one), and it is cleared once consumed.

9. Data retention and deletion

• Settings, keys, glossary/rules, and history remain until you change or delete them through the extension's controls or uninstall the extension. Two automatic clean-ups also apply: history keeps only the 30 most recent items (older entries are evicted automatically), and pending-translation records are cleared automatically once consumed.
• Uninstalling the extension removes its extension-local storage in accordance with your browser's behavior.
• Settings files you export remain wherever you saved them — delete them yourself when no longer needed.
• Data already sent to a provider is retained or deleted according to that provider's policies; manage it through your provider account.

10. Security

• Provider endpoints must use HTTPS; the extension refuses non-HTTPS provider Base URLs.
• Credential-bearing provider requests are not followed through redirects.
• Content scripts cannot directly read trusted extension storage.
• Release verification scans the source code, the built extension output, and the reachable Git history for credential-like values before packaging.

These controls reduce risk; they do not protect against malware, a compromised device or browser profile, a malicious provider, or a user exposing their own key. The extension is not end-to-end encrypted messaging software and makes no such claim.

11. Chrome Web Store User Data Policy

AI Side Translator's use of information received from Chrome APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

12. Changes and contact

Material changes to this policy will be reflected by updating this page and its "Last updated" date before the corresponding extension version is submitted to the Chrome Web Store. Questions and requests: translator@zhezhongtech.com.