VocaMax browser extension privacy policy

This policy applies to the VocaMax browser extension for Chrome and Microsoft Edge (the "Extension"), operated by VNP GROUP JOINT STOCK COMPANY ("VocaMax", "we"). It explains what the Extension sends, to whom, and what stays on your device. Your VocaMax account, and anything you do on the VocaMax website or app, is covered by the general VocaMax Privacy Policy.

1. In short

The Extension works on YouTube, and on other websites only if you turn on "Look up selected text on any page".
It only reacts to what you do: the text you select, the video you open, the buttons you press.
We do not track your browsing history, sell your data, or use it for advertising.
Your word list and settings stay on your device unless you sign in to sync them.
Your voice is never sent to VocaMax.

2. Data sent to VocaMax servers

Only when you use the related feature:

Looking up words: the word or phrase, with the sentence it appears in, to find the right dictionary meaning. This includes the "words to learn" shown when you open a video's overview.
Translating: text you choose to translate, and subtitle lines to be translated when your browser cannot translate them on your device. Our servers may use translation services such as Google Translate to process this text. If you are not signed in and use Microsoft Edge, subtitle translation goes through our servers with a daily limit; to apply the limit we keep a count per day under a one-way hash of your IP address, never the address itself, for at most two days.
Listening: text you ask the Extension to read aloud, to generate speech. Our servers use Microsoft's speech service.
Opening a YouTube video: the video ID, to find a matching VocaMax lesson and reviewed lyrics. We also count how often each video is opened, anonymously (not linked to you or your account), to choose which videos to add to the VocaMax library.
Looking up or saving a word: the ID of the YouTube video or the domain of the website you are on. We use it only to count, anonymously, which words are looked up and saved in each video or site, to suggest words to other learners. These counts are not linked to you or your account.
Practice saved words: the words you choose to practise (the word, its meaning, and the original sentence with its translation), to create a practice session.
- If you are not signed in, the session is not linked to any account, expires after 6 hours, and is deleted from our servers within a day after that. Because practice without signing in is limited per day, the Extension also sends a random ID created on your device, which we use only to count sessions and keep for at most a day.
- If you are signed in, the session and its results (review schedule, EXP) are saved to your account, as when you practise on the web.
Shared lyric and voice settings: see section 4.

3. Data sent directly to other services

The Extension loads some content straight from other services, from your browser. VocaMax does not receive these requests, and each service's own privacy policy applies.

YouTube: subtitles and video information of the video you are watching.
lrclib.net (open lyrics database): when a video has no subtitles and you click "Try finding lyrics on LRCLIB", or you turned on "Find song lyrics when a video has no captions", the Extension sends the song title, artist and length, guessed from the video title and channel, to find synced lyrics.
MusicBrainz (open music database): to tell whether a song is sung by a male or a female singer, so the translation can use the right pronouns, the Extension sends the video title and channel name to identify the song and the singer.
Your browser's own services: translation on your device, and speech recognition when you use Shadowing (see section 5). If your browser has no on-device language pack for speech recognition, the browser itself sends your voice to its online speech service (Google for Chrome, Microsoft for Edge).

4. Shared settings from listeners

So that the next person watching the same video gets good results right away, the Extension shares a few small settings for each video:

which version of lrclib.net lyrics matches the video, and how much it needs to be shifted;
whether the singer is male, female, or it is a conversation, with the artist name;
how far the lyrics are ahead of or behind the music, for each lyric source, measured by "Auto-align" or set by you.

Each setting is sent with the video ID and an identifier of who sent it: your VocaMax account ID if you are signed in, otherwise a one-way hash of your IP address (we never store the address itself). The identifier is used only so that each person counts once. Other users only see the combined result (for example "most listeners chose this version"), never who sent it. These settings contain no text you typed and nothing about other pages.

5. Processed only on your device

Word list, settings and caches: your word list (words, meanings, the original sentence, and the video or page where you saved each word), your settings, and cached subtitles and translations are kept in the Extension's storage in your browser. Uninstalling the Extension removes them.
Auto-align: when you press "Auto-align", the Extension listens to the sound of the video playing in the tab for a short while, to find where singing starts and match the lyrics to it. The sound is analysed on your device by a small voice-detection model bundled with the Extension. It is not recorded or sent anywhere; only the resulting offset is shared as described in section 4.
Microphone (Shadowing): the Extension records your voice only when you press Speak in Shadowing, and asks for microphone access for the Extension itself, not for YouTube. The recording stays on your device and is not sent to VocaMax.
On-device AI: if you turn on features that use your browser's built-in AI model, the sentences being explained or the subtitles being summarised are processed by your browser on your device and are not sent. Only the translation of the explanation into your language goes through the translation described in section 2.

After you click "Allow" on vocamax.app, the Extension receives a session token and stores it on your device. It never sees your password.

The words you save are synced to your VocaMax account so you can review them on the web and in the app. Each word is sent with:

the original sentence and its translation;
the YouTube video ID and time, or the address of the page (without the part after ? or #) and its title;
a few details kept by the Extension: its version, where you saved the word, its level, and how many times you looked it up or practised it.

Synced words are added to the Extension's own folder in your notebook. You can sign out in the Extension, or revoke access at any time under Profile → Connected devices on vocamax.app.

7. Permissions

YouTube (youtube.com): to show bilingual subtitles, the lyrics panel, listening and speaking practice, and word lookup on the video page.
Every site (optional): requested only when you turn on "Look up selected text on any page", to show the lookup button next to selected text. Without it, you can still look up a word with the right-click menu or the keyboard shortcut, which only gives access to the current tab at that moment.
vocamax.app (optional): requested the first time you open Practice, so the practice page in the side panel can use your VocaMax sign-in.
Storage, context menu, side panel, offscreen document, alarms: to keep your settings and word list, add "Look up with VocaMax" to the right-click menu, open practice in the side panel, play audio and use the microphone or the voice-detection model in an extension page, and refresh the number of words due for review once an hour when you are signed in.

The Extension does not run code downloaded from the internet. Its remote configuration only turns features on or off.

8. What we do not do

We do not track or collect your browsing history.
We do not read or send page content other than the text you choose to look up or translate.
We do not sell your data or share it for advertising.
We do not use it for purposes unrelated to your learning, or to determine creditworthiness.

The use of information received through the Extension complies with the user data policy of the extension store you installed it from. For installs from the Chrome Web Store, that is the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

9. Keeping and deleting data

Data on your device stays until you delete it in the Extension or uninstall the Extension.
Anonymous counts (video opens, words looked up per video or site) are not linked to anyone and are kept as statistics.
Guest practice sessions and their random ID are deleted within a day, as described in section 2.
Shared settings (section 4) are kept as long as they help other listeners. If you want the ones sent from your account removed, contact us.
Words synced to your account follow the general VocaMax Privacy Policy, including deleting your account.

10. Changes and contact

We will update this page when the Extension starts handling data differently, and the update date at the top of the page changes with it. If a change significantly affects how your data is used, we will tell you in the Extension or ask for your consent where the law requires it.

For questions or requests about this policy:

VNP GROUP JOINT STOCK COMPANY

Address: 4th Floor, Ha Thanh Office, No. 102 Thai Thinh, Dong Da Ward, Hanoi City, Vietnam.

Hotline: 024 3974 7886

Email: [email protected]