# Privacy Policy — PhaseResearch

**Effective date: August 3, 2026**

PhaseResearch ("the extension") is a local-first research board. This policy is short because there is very little to say.

## What the extension collects
**Nothing.** PhaseResearch does not collect, store on any server, transmit, share, sell, or monetize any personal information, browsing history, page content, or usage data. There are no analytics (other than chrome store installs and usage), no tracking pixels, no ads, and no third-party SDKs that phone home.

## Where your data lives
Everything you save — cards, notes, tags, images, page snapshots, highlights, and connections — is stored **exclusively on your own device** in your browser's local IndexedDB storage. Settings (such as theme) are stored in Chrome's local storage area on your device. If you link a backup folder, backup files are written **by you, to that folder, on your disk** — the extension never uploads them.

## What leaves your device
Nothing is sent to the developer or to any server. The extension makes no network requests for your data. The only outbound requests that can ever occur are ones you initiate yourself: opening the optional "Buy me a coffee" link in a new tab, or clicking a card's source URL to revisit the page you saved.

**One transparent exception, fully under your control:** the optional dictation (microphone) button in the note editor uses Chrome's built-in speech recognition, which processes audio through Google's speech service to produce text. This happens only while you have dictation switched on, nothing is recorded or stored by the extension, and no note content leaves your device. If you never click the microphone button, no audio is ever captured. Every other feature is 100% on-device.

## Permissions
The extension requests only the permissions needed to perform actions you explicitly trigger (right-click capture, page snapshots, re-applying your own highlights). A full plain-English explanation of each permission is available in the Chrome Web Store listing.

## Data retention and deletion
Because all data is on your device, you control it completely:
- Delete individual cards or empty the trash inside the app.
- Delete the extension's data via Chrome's site-data settings.
- Uninstalling the extension removes its local database.

You can export your entire board (ZIP, PDF, HTML, or JSON) at any time — your research is never locked in.

## Children
The extension is not directed at children and collects no data from anyone, of any age.

## Changes
If this policy ever changes, the updated version will be posted at the same URL before the change takes effect. The nature of the product (local-only, no server) makes meaningful data collection architecturally impossible without a fundamental redesign, which would be announced prominently.

## Contact
Questions? Reach the developer via the Chrome Web Store listing's support tab, or through the Buy Me a Coffee page linked in the extension.