Privacy Policy

Last Updated: May 9, 2026

Data Summary

The table below maps every type of data collected to its purpose, storage location, third parties it is shared with, and how long it is retained.

This privacy policy applies to the add-ons Impact News Lens and Natural AI Writer (available for Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, and coming soon to Safari), as well as the website impactnewstoday.com and the brand names Co-Incite and Impact News Today.

Overview

Impact news-lens is committed to protecting your privacy. This add-on helps you analyze news articles using AI to generate critical questions and impact summaries. The add-on prioritizes transparency and minimal data collection.

Natural AI Writer Overview

Natural AI Writer helps users rewrite website content for platforms such as LinkedIn, blogs, and emails. It accesses visible webpage text only when you click the add-on icon.

What It Collects:

• Visible webpage text (temporarily, for rewriting)
• Optional user preferences such as tone or selected channel, stored locally on your device

What It Does Not Collect:

• ❌ Personal data or identifiers
• ❌ Browsing history or web activity
• ❌ Cookies or analytics
• ❌ Any tracking or profiling information

How It Works:

• Text is extracted only when you click Generate
• Sent securely to Google's Gemini API for rewriting
• Immediately discarded after generating the result
• No data is stored or logged on my servers
• All processing happens locally or via a direct, encrypted API call

What This Extension Collects

Data Stored Locally on Your Device:

• Usage Counter: The number of analyses you perform per month (limited to 50 free analyses)
• User Preferences: Language selection (EN, NL, DE, ES)
• Analysis Cache: Analysis results cached for 1 hour for language switching convenience
• Sidebar Interaction State: How many times you have closed the sidebar and whether you have dismissed the feedback prompt (used to show helpful prompts at the right time)
• VIP Token (VIP users only): A signed access token containing your email and VIP expiry date, stored locally after purchasing a subscription

Data Sent to Our Backend Server (api.impactnewstoday.com):

• Article text: Sent for AI analysis when you click "Analyze" — immediately discarded after processing
• Anonymous summaries: URL + AI-generated analysis may be temporarily cached to speed up repeated requests — no personal data included
• Interaction events: Event name, timestamp, and location within the extension — no personal data included
• PDF and Word document content (VIP only): Uploaded PDF or .docx content and filename sent for text extraction — immediately discarded after processing
• Email address (VIP checkout only): Sent to initiate a Stripe checkout session — not stored by Impact News Lens

Data That IS NOT Collected:

• ❌ Browsing history or web activity outside of the page you explicitly analyze
• ❌ Personal information beyond email address for VIP checkout
• ❌ Cookies or cross-site tracking data
• ❌ IP addresses (not logged on our servers)
• ❌ Credit card or payment details (handled entirely by Stripe)
• ❌ Any behavioral profiling or advertising data

How Your Data Is Used

When You Click "Analyze"

1. Text Extraction: Article text is extracted from the current tab
2. AI Selection: The extension chooses the fastest available AI:
   • Chrome's built-in AI (Gemini Nano) if available → Runs locally on your device
   • Google Gemini API (cloud) if built-in AI is unavailable or slower
3. Processing: AI generates critical questions, summaries, and ratings
4. Caching (Cloud Only): An anonymous summary (URL + analysis) may be temporarily cached to speed up analysis for other users reading the same news
5. Immediate Deletion: Article text is discarded after processing - never permanently stored or logged
6. Local Results Cache: Analysis results are cached on your device for 1 hour (for language switching convenience)

When You Switch Languages

Only the analysis results (not the original article) are sent to Google's Translation API or Gemini API to provide results in your selected language.

What Truly Stays Local

• ✅ Usage counter (50 analyses/month)
• ✅ Language preferences
• ✅ Cached analysis results (1 hour)
• ⚠️ Article text (sent to AI for analysis, then deleted - may be anonymously cached as URL + summary)

VIP Membership and Payment Processing

Impact News Lens offers an optional VIP subscription that unlocks additional features (PDF analysis, text paste analysis, and unlimited analyses). This section describes how data is handled when you purchase or use a VIP subscription.

Payment Processing

• Payment processor: Stripe, Inc. handles all payment transactions. Impact News Lens does not see or store your credit card details.
• Email address: When you start a checkout, your email address is sent to our backend (api.impactnewstoday.com) and to Stripe to create a checkout session. Impact News Lens does not permanently store your email on our servers — Stripe retains it per their own privacy policy.
• VIP token: After a successful payment, a signed access token (JWT) is issued by our backend and stored locally on your device using Chrome's storage API. This token contains your email address and VIP expiry date, stored locally only.
• Email displayed in settings: Your email address is extracted from the locally stored token and displayed in the extension settings under "Owned By" so you can verify your VIP status. This information is not transmitted anywhere.

For more information about how Stripe handles your data, see Stripe's Privacy Policy.

PDF and Word Document Analysis (VIP Feature)

VIP subscribers can upload PDF files and Word documents (.docx) for analysis. Here is what happens when you use this feature:

• The PDF or Word document (.docx) file content and filename are sent securely (HTTPS) to our backend server (api.impactnewstoday.com) for text extraction
• The backend extracts the text and returns it to the extension for AI analysis
• The PDF content is not permanently stored on our servers after extraction
• The extracted text is then sent to Google's Gemini API for analysis, same as article analysis

Text Paste Analysis (VIP Feature)

VIP subscribers can paste text directly for analysis. The pasted text is processed the same way as article text:

• Text is sent to Google's Gemini API for analysis
• Text is processed immediately and not permanently stored
• Anonymous summaries may be temporarily cached on our backend (same as article analysis)

User Activity and Interaction Events

The extension collects certain user activity events to improve the product experience. This data falls under the "User activity" data category disclosed in the Chrome Web Store. These events include:

• When the sidebar is opened or closed
• When buttons are clicked (such as "Analyze," "Feedback," "Share," or "Rate Extension")
• When the donation or upgrade page is viewed

Event data includes the event name, a timestamp, and the location within the extension where the event occurred. This data is sent to our backend (api.impactnewstoday.com) and is used solely for product improvement. No personal information is included in these events.

Additionally, the extension tracks locally (on your device only):

• How many times you have closed the sidebar (used to decide when to show a feedback prompt)
• Whether you have dismissed the feedback prompt

Data Storage

Data stored locally on your device (Chrome storage API):

• Usage counters (reset automatically each month)
• Language preferences (persist until you change them)
• Analysis results cached for 1 hour (for language switching convenience)
• VIP access token and email (if you have a VIP subscription)
• Sidebar closure count and feedback prompt status

Data sent to our backend server (api.impactnewstoday.com):

• Anonymous article summaries (URL + AI-generated summary) temporarily cached to speed up repeated analysis of the same articles
• PDF file content and filename (VIP users, for text extraction — immediately discarded after processing)
• Interaction events (event name, timestamp, location — no personal information)
• Payment checkout requests (email address, forwarded to Stripe — not permanently stored by Impact News Lens)

Third-Party Services

AI Processing

Article text is sent to an AI service for analysis. Which AI service is used depends on your browser:

• Chrome's Built-in AI (Gemini Nano): If available and faster, analysis runs locally on your device - no data leaves your computer
• Google Gemini API (Cloud): If Chrome's built-in AI is unavailable or slower, article text is sent to Google's Gemini API

When using Google's Gemini API:

• Article text is processed to generate questions and summaries
• Anonymous article summaries (URL + summary) may be temporarily cached to speed up analysis for other users reading the same news
• Article content is NOT permanently stored or logged
• User information is NOT logged
• Industry-standard HTTPS encryption is used for all data in transit

Translation: When switching languages, analysis results are translated using Google's Translation API or Gemini API.

Translation Service

When you switch languages after performing an analysis, the structured analysis results (questions, summaries, ratings) are sent to the translation service. The translation service:

• Receives only the analysis results, NOT the original article text
• Translates the analysis to your selected language
• Does NOT store or log the analysis data
• Does NOT share data with third parties
• Uses industry-standard encryption for data in transit

AI Rewriting Service (Natural AI Writer)

Natural AI Writer connects securely to Google's Gemini API to rewrite the visible text you select.

• The API processes only the submitted text
• No content or user data is stored, logged, or shared
• All connections use HTTPS encryption

Impact News Lens Backend (api.impactnewstoday.com)

Our own backend server is used for:

• Temporarily caching anonymous article summaries (URL + AI summary, no personal data)
• Processing PDF text extraction (VIP only — content discarded after processing)
• Processing VIP payment checkout requests (email forwarded to Stripe)
• Receiving interaction event data for product improvement

This backend does not store personal user data beyond what is necessary for these operations.

Stripe (Payment Processor)

Stripe, Inc. processes all VIP subscription payments. When you purchase a VIP subscription:

• Your email address and payment details are shared with Stripe
• Impact News Lens does not store your credit card number or payment details
• Stripe may retain your data per their own privacy policy: stripe.com/privacy

No advertising networks, data brokers, or other third-party tracking tools are used by these extensions.

Permissions Explained

This add-on requests the following permissions. Here's exactly why each one is needed:

activeTab

Used to read article content only when you click the add-on icon. No automatic or background reading occurs. The page is only accessed when you explicitly request an analysis.

storage

Stores your language preference and monthly usage counter locally on your device. This data never leaves your computer.

sidePanel

Displays the analysis results in a side panel for convenient reading alongside the article.

scripting

Used to extract article content from the page only when you click the add-on icon. This permission allows me to read the article text for analysis purposes only.

offscreen

Required for streaming API responses using Server-Sent Events (SSE), which allows the analysis to display progressively as it's generated, providing a better user experience with real-time feedback.

host_permissions (http://*/*, https://*/*)

Allows the add-on to analyze news articles from any website. Combined with activeTab, this ensures article content is only accessed when you explicitly click the add-on icon on a news page - no automatic or background access occurs.

Data Sharing

This add-on does NOT:

• Sell your data to anyone
• Share your data with advertisers
• Provide data to third parties for marketing purposes
• Track you across websites
• Create user profiles or behavioral analytics
• Share data with data brokers

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Use the add-on without creating an account or providing personal information
• Delete all local data at any time by uninstalling the extension
• Request information about my data practices (contact information below)
• Use the add-on without being tracked or monitored

Children's Privacy

This add-on does not knowingly collect data from children under 13. No age verification or personal information is required to use the extension. The add-on complies with COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act).

International Users & GDPR Compliance

For users in the European Union:

• This add-on complies with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
• Minimal data is processed (usage counter and language preference only)
• All processing is done locally on your device (data controller: you)
• Article analysis is done on a legal basis of legitimate interest with your explicit consent (clicking analyze)
• You have the right to data portability (though minimal data is stored locally)

Changes to This Policy

This privacy policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in practices or legal requirements. When significant changes are made:

• The "Last Updated" date at the top will be updated
• Users will be notified through the add-on update notes
• Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy

Data Retention

• Usage counters: Reset automatically on the first day of each month
• Language preferences: Retained until you change them or uninstall the extension
• Analyzed articles: Never stored anywhere — article text is immediately discarded after analysis
• Analysis results: Cached locally on your device for 1 hour for convenience (e.g., switching languages), then automatically discarded
• VIP access token: Stored locally on your device until you uninstall the extension or your VIP subscription expires. You can remove it at any time by uninstalling the extension or contacting support.
• Interaction events: Sent to our backend for product improvement purposes; not permanently stored and contain no personal data.

Security

Security measures are implemented to protect your privacy, including:

• Content Security Policy (CSP) to prevent unauthorized code execution
• No remote code execution or dynamic script loading
• Minimal permission requests (principle of least privilege)
• Local-only data storage for preferences
• HTTPS encryption for all API communications
• Regular security reviews and updates

California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

For California residents:

• Personal information is not sold
• Minimal data is collected (usage counter and language preference, stored locally)
• You have the right to know what data is collected (outlined above)
• You have the right to delete data (uninstall the extension)

Cookies and Tracking

Impact news-lens does NOT use:

• Cookies
• Web beacons or tracking pixels
• Fingerprinting techniques
• Analytics or telemetry
• Any form of cross-site tracking

Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this privacy policy or my data practices, please contact me:

• Contact: Contact form

Open Source & Transparency

This add-on believes in transparency. If you're technically inclined, you can review the extension's code to verify these privacy practices. The add-on uses standard Chrome APIs and makes no hidden network requests beyond the analysis API when you explicitly click analyze.

Frequently Asked Questions About Privacy