Privacy Policy - Vocaminary

Introduction

Vocaminary ("we", "our", or "us") is a Chrome extension that enhances YouTube's closed captions with clickable words and AI-powered definitions to help language learners study vocabulary while watching videos.

This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your personal information.

What Data We Collect

1. Account Information

When you create a Vocaminary account:

Email address - For account authentication and communication
User ID - Unique identifier for your account
Account tier - Your subscription level (Free, Early Adopter, Active Founder, or Premium)

2. Vocabulary Data

When you save words using the extension:

Words saved - The vocabulary words you click to save
Definitions - AI-generated or user-provided word definitions
Pronunciations - Phonetic pronunciations (IPA format)
Translations - Translations in your target language
Context sentences - The sentence where the word appeared
Video information - Video ID and title where you encountered the word
Timestamps - When you saved each word

3. Video Watch History

When you use the caption overlay:

Video IDs - YouTube videos you've watched with the overlay enabled
Video titles - Titles of videos you've watched
View timestamps - When you watched each video
View counts - How many times you've watched each video

4. AI Usage Data

When you request word definitions:

Words looked up - Which words you clicked for definitions
AI model used - Which AI model processed your request (GPT-3.5-turbo)
Tokens consumed - Number of tokens used (for cost tracking)
Request timestamps - When you made each request
Success/failure status - Whether the request succeeded

5. Caption Fetch Logs

When you enable the overlay on videos:

Video IDs fetched - Which videos you requested captions for
Fetch timestamps - When you requested captions
Success/failure status - Whether the fetch succeeded
Rate limit tracking - For enforcing daily/hourly limits

6. Usage Statistics

Aggregate statistics about your activity:

Total words saved - Count of vocabulary words in your collection
AI calls made - Number of AI definitions requested (public vs. private API)
Active days count - Number of days you've used the extension
Monthly AI usage - AI requests made this month (for tier-based limits)

What Data Stays on Your Device (Local Storage)

The following data is stored locally on your device and never sent to our servers:

OpenAI API key - If you provide your own key (stored in Chrome sync storage)
Cached subtitles - Temporarily cached for 7 days in IndexedDB
User preferences - Theme, font size, target language, definition level
Temporary usage counters - For client-side rate limiting

How We Use Your Data

Primary Uses

1. Provide core features

Sync your saved words across all your devices
Display your vocabulary collection on the web dashboard
Generate AI-powered word definitions
Track your learning progress

2. Enforce fair usage limits

Apply tier-based monthly limits for AI definitions
Prevent abuse of shared resources
Rate limit caption fetching to protect server capacity

3. Improve the service

Analyze aggregate usage patterns (e.g., most popular videos across all users)
Identify common errors to improve reliability
Track total AI usage for cost management

We DO NOT:

❌Sell your data to third parties
❌Use your data for advertising
❌Share your individual saved words or watch history with anyone
❌Track your browsing activity outside of YouTube
❌Access your YouTube account or subscriptions

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate Vocaminary:

1. Supabase (Database Hosting)

What they process: All user data listed above
Why: Secure cloud database for storing your vocabulary and account
Privacy policy: https://supabase.com/privacy
Location: United States
Security: Data encrypted at rest and in transit

2. OpenAI API (AI Definitions)

What they process: Word + context sentence when you request definitions
Why: Generate accurate word definitions, pronunciations, and translations
Privacy policy: https://openai.com/privacy
Note: OpenAI may use API requests for service improvement (per their policy)
Your API key: If you provide your own OpenAI key, we never see it (stored locally only)

3. Vocabumin-API (Caption Fetching)

What they process: YouTube video IDs when you enable the overlay
Why: Fetch word-level synchronized captions from YouTube
Location: Your own VPS server (api.vocaminary.com)
Caching: Captions cached for 90 days to improve performance

Data Security

We take security seriously:

✅Encryption - All data encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest (Supabase encryption)
✅Authentication - Secure JWT token-based authentication
✅Access control - User data isolated by authentication (you can only access your own data)
✅Secure storage - Passwords hashed with industry-standard algorithms
✅Regular updates - Extension and backend kept up to date with security patches

Data Retention

Active accounts: Data retained as long as your account exists
Deleted accounts: All user data permanently deleted within 30 days
Cached subtitles: Automatically deleted after 90 days (vocabumin-api) or 7 days (local)
Error logs: Retained for 90 days for debugging, then automatically deleted

Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your data:

1. Access Your Data

View all your saved words on the web dashboard at app.vocaminary.com
See your video watch history and learning statistics
Review your account tier and usage limits

2. Export Your Data

Download all your saved words as CSV/JSON
Available at: Dashboard → Settings → Export Data
Includes: words, definitions, translations, video titles, dates

3. Delete Your Data

You can delete your data in two ways:

Option A: Delete Account (deletes everything)

Go to app.vocaminary.com/settings
Click "Delete Account"
Confirm deletion
All data permanently removed within 30 days

Option B: Delete Individual Words

Click the trash icon next to any saved word
Word removed immediately from all devices

4. Request Data Deletion

Email aminophendev@gmail.com
We'll respond within 7 days
Data deleted within 30 days

5. Opt Out of Analytics

We only collect service-essential analytics (usage limits, error tracking)
No third-party tracking or advertising analytics
No opt-out needed - we don't use invasive analytics

Children's Privacy

Vocaminary is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us immediately at aminophendev@gmail.com.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by:

Updating the "Last Updated" date at the top
Posting a notice on the extension or website
Sending an email to your registered email address (for major changes)

Your continued use of Vocaminary after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For users in the European Union, we process your data under the following legal bases:

Contract performance - To provide the services you signed up for
Legitimate interests - To improve our service and prevent abuse
Consent - For optional features (you can withdraw consent anytime)

International Data Transfers

Your data may be transferred to and stored on servers outside your country of residence, including the United States. We ensure adequate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable laws.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data:

Email: aminophendev@gmail.com
Website: https://vocaminary.com
GitHub: https://github.com/aminophen98/vocaminary (for extension source code)

Response time: We typically respond within 7 business days.

Summary (TL;DR)

✅What we collect: Saved words, video watch history, AI usage (to provide vocabulary learning)
✅How we use it: Sync across devices, show progress, enforce fair limits
✅What we don't do: Sell data, track browsing, share with advertisers
✅Your rights: Delete account anytime, export all data, request deletion
✅Security: Encrypted database, secure authentication, regular updates

Bottom line: We only collect what's necessary to make Vocaminary work. Your vocabulary learning is private and secure.

This policy is effective as of December 14, 2025 and applies to all users of the Vocaminary Chrome extension.

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