What we process, and what stays on your device
Recording happens on your device. Transcription is on by default and uses a secure cloud service to turn your audio into text; summarizing and sharing use the cloud too, when you start them. Only the audio or text for that step is sent, nothing is stored on our servers long term, and we have no accounts, show no ads, use only the first-party product analytics described below, and never sell your data.
What stays on your device
Most of the extension never touches the internet:
- Recordings and their transcripts are kept in your browser's local storage on this computer.
- Finished audio files are saved to your Downloads folder, like any other download.
- The recordings library and editing (trim) all run locally.
You can delete a recording from inside the extension at any time, which removes it from the extension's library and on-device storage. Any copy you downloaded is separate and must be deleted from your Downloads folder by you.
What goes to the cloud, and when
Transcription is on by default so you get text without extra steps; summary and sharing run only when you start them. Each sends just what that step needs:
| Feature | What is sent | Where it is processed |
|---|---|---|
| Transcription | Your audio, to turn it into text. While you record, it streams live over an encrypted connection for on-screen captions; after you stop, the recording is transcribed the same way (large files are uploaded once to temporary storage). | Our Cloudflare Worker, then Deepgram (or, for short clips, Cloudflare Workers AI). |
| Summary | The transcript text. | Our Cloudflare Worker, then OpenAI. |
| Sharing | An encrypted copy of the file you share. | Cloudflare storage, auto-deleted after 15 minutes. |
How transcription works, in plain terms. It is on by default. While you record, the audio streams over an encrypted WebSocket through our relay (a Cloudflare Worker) to our speech-to-text sub-processor (Deepgram) to show live captions; nothing is stored on our servers, and model training on this data is turned off. After you stop, the recording is transcribed the same way - by Deepgram or, for short clips, by Cloudflare Workers AI - and large files are uploaded once to temporary storage that is deleted when the job finishes. If the cloud is unavailable or the free monthly quota is used up, transcription runs on your device instead. You can still use the recorder itself fully offline, and the recording files stay on your device either way.
To keep the free cloud features from being abused, the extension sends an anonymous client identifier and a monthly request count. It is not tied to your name, email, or any account, because there is no account.
Anonymous product analytics
The extension sends small first-party events when it is installed or updated, opened, starts/completes/fails recording or transcription, and when you use Share, Copy link, or QR. Safe fields can include the extension version, broad feature and outcome category, recording mode, file format, interface entry point, language code, operation time and approximate byte or item count. They never include your recording, transcript, summary, filename, page address, Share link, Share token, clipboard content, name, email, or account.
Events carry the random client identifier described above, a short-lived random session number, a random event number used to remove retry duplicates and, when present, a random acquisition number used to connect an install redirect with the Welcome page. Our Cloudflare Worker validates them and stores only one-way hashes of the client, session, acquisition and temporary Share identifiers. The random event number is stored only for deduplication. Cloudflare derives the request country at the edge; product analytics does not store raw IP addresses or full browser User-Agent strings.
We use this data to measure active installations, feature adoption, reliability, retention, versions, broad geography, and the Share/Copy/QR funnel. It is not used for ads, cross-site tracking, credit decisions, sale, or personal profiling. Cloudflare Analytics Engine keeps event data for up to three months; aggregate reports without identifiers may be kept longer. We do not use session replay inside the extension or Share recipient page.
The packaged welcome page sends one request when it opens, to this product's own site. The request includes a random numeric client identifier, the product name, and extension version. It does not include a recording, transcript, summary, filename, or page address. The request goes through this site, which derives the country from the connection and stores nothing.
The services we use (subprocessors)
We use a small set of providers to run the cloud features. We do not sell data to them or anyone else.
| Provider | Used for | Data handling |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Hosting our service, encrypted sharing, speech-to-text for short clips (Workers AI), and anonymous product analytics. | Does not train on your content. Shared files are encrypted and expire after 15 minutes; a temporary upload for a large transcription is deleted once the job finishes. Analytics Engine events are kept for three months. |
| Deepgram | Speech-to-text for transcription. | We opt out of model training, so your audio is used only to produce your transcript, not to train models. |
| OpenAI | Generating summaries. | API data is not used to train models. Short-term abuse-monitoring logs are kept for up to 30 days. |
Recording other people
Recording captures whatever audio you point it at, including other people's voices. You are responsible for having the right to record, and for any consent the people you record are entitled to under your local laws.
Legal bases
Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we process data on the basis of your consent and to perform the feature you asked for (for example, sending audio to be transcribed because you pressed transcribe). You can withdraw consent at any time by not using the cloud features.
Retention and deletion
- On your device: recordings and transcripts stay until you delete them.
- In the cloud: transcription and summary requests are processed to return your result and are not stored against you. A shared link and its encrypted file are deleted automatically after 15 minutes. Regenerating or closing a share removes the link from the extension, but an earlier link remains available until its expiry.
- The anonymous quota counter holds only a per-identifier monthly count, with no recording content.
- Anonymous product events are kept in Cloudflare Analytics Engine for up to three months. Identifier-free aggregate reports may be kept longer.
International transfers
Our providers (Cloudflare, Deepgram, OpenAI) operate from the United States, so when you use a cloud feature, the audio or text for that step is processed on US-based services.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you have rights over your personal data:
- GDPR / UK GDPR: access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, withdrawing consent, and lodging a complaint with a supervisory authority (such as the ICO).
- CCPA / CPRA (California): to know, access, delete, and correct your data, and to not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. We do not sell or share your personal information.
Because we hold no account and no stored recordings on our side, most of your data is already in your hands and you can delete it directly. For anything else, email us and we will help.
Security
All cloud requests use encrypted transport (HTTPS and secure WebSockets). Sharing is end-to-end encrypted: the decryption key lives only in the share link's fragment and is never sent to our server, so we cannot read a shared file. We do not create voiceprints, biometric identifiers, or behavioral profiles.
Children
Online Voice Recorder is intended for users 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
What we do not do
No accounts. No ads. No third-party advertising trackers or session replay inside the extension. No behavioral profiles. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information for marketing. The extension sends only the bounded first-party product events described above. (This website uses visitor analytics - see Website analytics below.)
Website analytics
The external product website and older hosted welcome page use analytics to count visits. These analytics can record pages viewed, referrer, approximate region, and device and browser type, and may use cookies. Session recording is off. This is separate from the extension's bounded first-party product events described above. The analytics service may process information in different regions. To limit website analytics, block cookies for the site or use your browser's Do Not Track setting.
The welcome page and the hosted goodbye and rating pages carry analytics used to count installs and removals by country. The welcome page opens once after the first installation and sends the install count through this site, which derives the country from the connection and stores nothing.
Feedback and removal
If you send optional feedback after a low rating, or from the page that opens after you remove the extension, we receive the reason you picked, any comment you typed, the extension version, and the interface language. We do not collect your email, your name, an install identifier, or your IP address. Comments are delivered to us through Telegram so we can read them. Submissions without a comment are stored only as counts. We do not sell this information.
Uninstall survey | Low rating feedback
Limited Use
The use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above. The current version always lives here.