Privacy policy

Summary

ClipShelf saves captured content locally in your browser. ClipShelf does not require an account and does not upload your clips to ClipShelf-owned servers. When you explicitly save an image, your browser may contact that image’s website. Some saved links and uncached images may require an internet connection. Uninstalling the extension may remove locally saved items. Export a backup to keep a portable copy of your library. Backups are not encrypted by ClipShelf.

What ClipShelf stores and where

When you choose to save something, ClipShelf stores it in your browser’s extension storage (IndexedDB belonging to the extension) on your device:

• the page or link address, page title, site name, author, description, language and dates when available;
• for articles and selections: the cleaned (sanitized) text and formatting of the saved content, a Markdown version and plain text used for search;
• for images and article images that could be downloaded: the image bytes;
• for screenshots you take: the image of the area you chose, and the visible text inside it (used only for search);
• for items you import from another app’s export file, a bookmarks file, a CSV or your Chrome bookmarks and Reading List: the addresses, titles, tags, folders, notes, highlights and dates in what you chose, plus a record of each import on this device so it can be undone (not included in backups);
• highlights and notes you add to saved text: the passage, up to 64 characters before and after it (so it can be found again if the saved text changes), its color and place in the text, and your note; they are included in backups and Markdown exports and deleted with their clip;
• your organization: collections, tags, edited titles, notes and settings (theme, default collection, preferred capture mode, reader font, size, spacing, width and theme);
• where you stopped reading each saved article (a position and up to 40 characters of the text there), so it reopens at that point; it is deleted with the clip and never exported;
• capture diagnostics: codes and counts about how recent captures went (no page text), for at most the last 500 captures, which you can download from Settings.

ClipShelf has no servers. Nothing you save is sent to the developer or to any third party.

Network activity

ClipShelf makes network requests only in direct response to your actions:

• Saving an image (right-click “Save image”, or images inside an article you save): the image is requested from the website that hosts it, so that website receives a request from your browser, as it would when you view the image. If that website is different from the page you are on, ClipShelf may ask your permission to access that specific website; you can decline.
• Opening an original link from your library opens that website in a tab.

Importing a file or your Chrome bookmarks, and restoring a backup, read only what you chose and fetch nothing. Copy image and Copy quote put a picture or text on your clipboard only when you click them.

ClipShelf does not load remote images, fonts, scripts or favicons when you browse or read your library. It contains no analytics, advertising, fingerprinting or tracking code, and it does not record or report your browsing. While the ClipShelf side panel is open, it reads the page shown beside it (title, site name and approximate length) and counts how many characters you have selected there, so it can offer the right save options; this information stays in the panel on your device and is not stored unless you save. Content is captured only when you use the toolbar button, a context-menu item or a keyboard shortcut. “Highlight in ClipShelf” reads only the passage you selected and a few words around it, to mark it in your saved copy; nothing is added to or left on the website’s page.

Permissions

Permission	Why it is needed
activeTab	Read the current tab only after you click the ClipShelf button, a ClipShelf menu item or shortcut, so the page you chose can be captured, the screenshot you asked for can be taken, the passage you chose with “Highlight in ClipShelf” can be read, or the quick-search box can be shown over it.
scripting	Run ClipShelf’s bundled capture script in that tab to extract the article, selection, link or image details you asked to save (or, for “Highlight in ClipShelf”, the selected passage with up to 64 characters around it), draw the screenshot area selector and scroll the page for a long screenshot (the page’s scroll position and styles are restored afterwards), or let you point at the part of the page to keep (Fix capture); or its quick-search script to show the search box over the page. The search box shows your clips inside ClipShelf’s own frame; the website cannot read them.
contextMenus	Provide “Save page / selection / link / image to ClipShelf”, “Highlight in ClipShelf”, “Capture area screenshot” and “Capture full-page screenshot” in the right-click menu.
sidePanel	Show the ClipShelf capture panel next to the page.
storage	Pass a capture or highlight request from the right-click menu or shortcut to the side panel and remember which quick-search window is open (temporary session storage, cleared when the browser closes), and remember a one-time website access that still has to be removed if the page closed during an image download.
Optional host access (one website at a time)	Requested only when you ask to download an image from a website the page itself could not read, so the image can be saved for offline use. Never granted at install.
Optional bookmarks and readingList	Requested only when you click “Import Chrome bookmarks” or “Import Reading List”, so ClipShelf can read those items once and add them to your library on this device. The permission is removed again right after. ClipShelf never changes your bookmarks or Reading List.

Your control

• Edit or delete any clip, highlight, note, collection or tag at any time. Settings → “Clear library” deletes all locally stored clips, highlights, images and collections.
• Export your whole library as a ZIP backup (Settings → Backup). Backups are not encrypted: they contain your saved content in readable form. Store them securely.
• Uninstalling ClipShelf may delete its local data. Export a backup first if you want to keep it.

Security notes

ClipShelf treats saved web content as untrusted: scripts, embedded frames and active content are removed before storage and again when displayed. ClipShelf does not encrypt its local database and cannot protect data from someone with access to your device or browser profile.

Children

ClipShelf is a general productivity tool and does not knowingly collect information from anyone; it does not collect information at all beyond what you store locally.

Changes

Material changes to this policy will be published on this page, ailed.tech/clipshelf/privacy, with a new effective date.

Contact

Questions about this policy or about ClipShelf: email hello@ailed.tech or use the contact form.