# Privacy Policy for AIChatMerge

**Last Updated: June 30, 2026**

## Overview

AIChatMerge is committed to protecting your privacy. This privacy policy explains what data the extension collects, how it's used, and your control over it.

**In short:** AIChatMerge stores all data locally on your device. We do not collect, transmit, or sell any of your personal information to third parties or external servers. Prompts you send through the extension go directly to the AI provider you select, and each provider processes data according to its own privacy policy.

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## What Data We Collect and Store

### 1. Data Stored Locally on Your Device

All of the following data is stored **exclusively in your browser's local storage** and never leaves your device:

#### Prompt Library Data
- Prompt titles, content, categories, and tags you create
- Favorites and usage statistics for prompts
- Imported prompt libraries

**Purpose:** To provide prompt management functionality across browser sessions.

#### User Preferences and Settings
- Selected theme (Light/Dark/Auto)
- Enabled AI providers
- Default AI provider
- Keyboard shortcut preferences
- Enter key behavior preferences
- Source URL placement preferences
- Language preferences

**Purpose:** To maintain your personalized extension configuration.

#### Usage Metadata
- Last opened provider
- Prompt usage counts
- Recently used prompts

**Purpose:** To improve user experience with relevant suggestions and quick access.

### 2. Data We Do NOT Collect

AIChatMerge does **NOT** collect, store, or transmit:

- ❌ Personal identification information
- ❌ Browsing history
- ❌ IP addresses
- ❌ Analytics or telemetry data
- ❌ Usage statistics sent to external servers
- ❌ AI conversation content
- ❌ Login credentials or API keys
- ❌ Any data to external servers or third parties

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## How We Use Your Data

All data collected by AIChatMerge is used solely for providing extension functionality on your local device:

1. **Prompt Library:** Store and organize your saved prompts for reuse
2. **Settings:** Remember your preferences between sessions
3. **Quick Access:** Show recently used prompts and maintain provider state
4. **Context Menu Send:** When you use the right-click menu without selecting text, AIChatMerge temporarily extracts page content locally to format the prompt you send. This content is not stored and is only sent to the AI provider you choose.

**No data is transmitted to AIChatMerge developers or any third-party servers.**

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## Third-Party Services

### AI Provider Websites

AIChatMerge loads AI provider websites (DeepSeek, Kimi, ChatGPT, Claude, and others) inside embedded panels. These providers operate under their own privacy policies.

When you interact with these AI providers through AIChatMerge, you are subject to their respective privacy policies. The prompts you send are transmitted to the AI provider you selected — AIChatMerge itself does not relay or store them, but the provider processes them as part of its service. AIChatMerge extracts AI responses to display them in its interface, but it does not store the content of your conversations.

### Cookie Access

AIChatMerge does not access cookie data directly and does not use the cookies API. Provider websites may use your existing browser session cookies when they load inside panels, just like in a normal tab.

### Update Checks

AIChatMerge does not perform automatic update checks and does not contact the project repository in the background. You can manually check for updates from the GitHub Releases page.

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## Data Storage and Security

### Local Storage Only

All extension data is stored in your browser using:
- **Chrome Storage API:** For settings and preferences
- **IndexedDB:** For prompts

This data:
- Remains on your device
- Is not accessible to websites you visit
- Is not transmitted over the network
- Is protected by browser security mechanisms

### Data Retention

Data is retained locally until you:
- Manually delete it using extension features (e.g., delete prompts)
- Use the "Reset All Data" feature in Settings
- Clear browser data (which removes all extension data)
- Uninstall the extension

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## Your Data Control Rights

You have full control over your data:

### Export Your Data
Go to Settings → Data Management → Export to download all your prompts and settings as a JSON file.

### Delete Your Data
- **Individual Items:** Delete specific prompts
- **Category/Provider:** Clear all data from a specific category or provider
- **Complete Reset:** Settings → Data Management → Reset All Data

### No Account Required
AIChatMerge does not require creating an account. All functionality works without registration, login, or providing any personal information.

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## Children's Privacy

AIChatMerge does not knowingly collect any information from children under 13. The extension is designed for general use and does not target children. If you are under 13, please do not use this extension without parental supervision.

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## Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected in the "Last Updated" date at the top of this document. Continued use of AIChatMerge after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Significant changes will be announced via:
- GitHub repository changelog
- Extension update notes (if applicable)

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## Permissions Explained

AIChatMerge requests the following Chrome extension permissions:

| Permission | Purpose |
|------------|---------|
| `storage` | Store your prompts and settings locally |
| `contextMenus` | Add "Send to AIChatMerge" option when right-clicking |
| `downloads` | Export Markdown files and backup JSON files through the browser download manager |
| `activeTab` | Read selected text or page content only when you explicitly use the context menu action |
| `scripting` | Inject extension scripts into supported AI provider pages to fill prompts, detect send buttons, and extract responses |
| `declarativeNetRequest` | Allow AI provider websites to load in embedded panels (bypass X-Frame-Options) |
| `declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess` | Apply header modifications for specific AI provider domains |
| Host permissions | Access the AI provider websites selected for embedded panels |

**None of these permissions are used to collect, transmit, or share your data with external parties.**

AIChatMerge exposes only the bundled, non-user extension resources required by embedded AI panels, such as the multi-panel page assets and stream-detection script. These resources contain no personal data.

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## Open Source Transparency

AIChatMerge is fully open source. You can review the complete source code at:

**GitHub Repository:** https://github.com/YinDou-AI/AIChatMerge

This allows you to:
- Verify our privacy claims
- Audit the code for security
- Understand exactly what the extension does
- Contribute improvements or report issues

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## Contact Information

If you have questions or concerns about this privacy policy or how AIChatMerge handles data:

- **GitHub Issues:** https://github.com/YinDou-AI/AIChatMerge/issues
- **Project Maintainer:** YinDou-AI

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## Compliance

### GDPR (European Users)

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA):
- You have the right to access, correct, or delete your data (all stored locally and under your control)
- You have the right to data portability (use the Export feature)
- You can withdraw consent at any time (uninstall the extension or reset data)

### CCPA (California Users)

If you are a California resident:
- We do not sell your personal information
- We do not share personal information with third parties for marketing
- You have the right to request deletion of your data (use Reset All Data feature)

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## Summary

✅ **What we do:**
- Store your prompts and settings locally on your device
- Use local browser storage to remember your preferences
- Temporarily process selected text or page content on-device when you use the context menu
- Load AI provider websites inside embedded panels

❌ **What we don't do:**
- Send your prompts or settings to AIChatMerge servers
- Track your usage or behavior
- Sell or share your data with third parties
- Access or store your AI conversations
- Require account creation or personal information

**Your privacy is protected because AIChatMerge does not send any data to external servers. However, prompts you submit through the extension are sent to the AI provider you choose, and each provider handles your data according to its own privacy policy.**

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*This privacy policy is effective as of June 30, 2026 and applies to AIChatMerge version 1.0.0 and later.*