Sidebit
Privacy Policy
Sidebit does not collect, transmit, sell or share any of your data, with us or with anyone else. The extension makes zero network requests. Everything you type or save stays in your browser, on your device, inside Chrome's own local storage for the extension.
What Sidebit is
Sidebit is a Chrome extension: a side panel for keeping notes, quick copy snippets, saved highlights, screenshots and reminders docked open while you browse. It works entirely offline. There is no Sidebit server, no account and no sign-in.
Data collection
Sidebit does not collect any personal data, browsing history, page content or usage analytics. It contains no analytics code, no advertising code and no third-party trackers of any kind. The extension's source code makes no outbound network calls at all, so nothing is ever sent anywhere.
Where your data lives
Everything you create in Sidebit (note text, quick copy snippets, saved highlights, screenshots and reminders) is stored using Chrome's built-in chrome.storage.local API, scoped to your browser profile on your own device. This data:
- Never leaves your device
- Is not visible to Sidebit's developer or to anyone else
- Is not synced to any cloud service by the extension
- Is permanently deleted when you uninstall the extension, or when you delete it yourself inside the panel
Screenshots you capture or paste are stored the same way, as local image data. They are never uploaded anywhere.
If you use "Export data", Sidebit writes a backup file to your own computer. That file goes wherever you choose to save it and nowhere else.
Permissions, and why each one exists
Chrome requires an extension to declare up front everything it might need to do. This is what Sidebit asks for and why. None of these involve sending data off your device.
- storage
- Saving your notes, snippets, highlights and settings locally.
- unlimitedStorage
- Screenshots are stored as uncompressed images and add up quickly. This lifts Chrome's default storage cap so saving several does not silently fail.
- sidePanel
- Lets Sidebit live in Chrome's side panel instead of a popup, so it stays open as you switch tabs.
- alarms
- Schedules the reminders you set, so they still fire when the panel or the browser is closed. This is a timer on your device.
- notifications
- Shows the desktop notification when one of your reminders fires. It is created on your device from the note's own name.
- scripting
- Used only when the extension updates, to refresh Sidebit on tabs you already have open. Without it you would have to reload every open tab to get the update.
- Access to all sites
- Needed for two features to work on any page you visit: capturing a screenshot of the current tab, and showing the small "Save to sidebar" button when you select text. Sidebit only keeps the text you select and choose to save.
- downloads
- Only in versions before 1.33.0, where it powered the Download button on saved screenshots. Newer versions do not ask for it.
Third parties
Sidebit does not share data with any third party, because it does not transmit data in the first place. There are no ads, no analytics providers and no external services built into the extension.
This website
This site is a set of static pages. It sets no cookies and runs no analytics or tracking scripts. It is hosted on Cloudflare, which, like any web host, processes basic request information such as your IP address in order to deliver the page.
The "What's new" button inside Sidebit opens a page on this site in a normal browser tab. The extension itself sends nothing when it does so.
Children's privacy
Sidebit does not knowingly collect information from children. It does not collect information from anyone.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date.
Contact
Questions about this policy or the extension can be sent to rob.sidebit@gmail.com.