LAST UPDATED · OCTOBER 14, 2026

Privacy policy

YouTube Explainer helps you understand and practise English using YouTube captions. This policy covers the Friends Trial Chrome extension and its trial website and AI service.

For privacy questions, support or deletion requests, contact the trial operator at ruonan.liao@gmail.com.

What the extension uses

• Video content: captions and chapter transcripts, selected text, the video title and URL, and playback information needed for the learning tools. The extension runs on YouTube pages; it does not request access to your general browsing history.
• Your learning input: questions, retellings, practice drafts and recordings you choose to submit. Depending on the feature, a request can include relevant saved expressions, previous practice feedback or a pronunciation profile to give useful feedback.
• Trial access: your invitation code is stored in the extension and sent securely to the trial server to check access and remaining allowance. The server uses a hash of the code for its usage records.

When audio and text are sent

AI features send the relevant text or audio through our trial server to OpenAI. Recording feedback is sent when you request feedback. Voice Coach sends chapter context and streams microphone audio during an active conversation. Opening the Coach panel alone does not start the microphone; starting a session requires microphone permission. You can mute the microphone or end the session.

Reading a chapter or saving a word does not by itself send that content to OpenAI. Information you later include in an AI practice feature may be sent as context for that feature. AI responses can be inaccurate; avoid sharing information you do not want processed by these services.

Where information is stored

Saved words, sentences, notes, settings, trial access details and practice records are stored locally in your Chrome profile. The extension does not provide cloud sync for your learning library.

The trial database stores access and allowance records: hashed invitation identifiers, request counts, voice allowance and session accounting, and relevant timestamps. Our application does not save the contents of AI conversations or microphone recordings in that database.

The website and trial service run on OpenAI Sites infrastructure using Cloudflare. Hosting and AI providers may process network and operational information, such as IP addresses, request times and security or error logs, as part of providing and protecting their services. OpenAI processes submitted content under its API data handling policies. Provider retention rules may differ from the trial application's storage behaviour.

How information is used and shared

We use information to provide the learning feature you request, check invitation access, enforce trial limits, operate the service and respond to support requests. Relevant content is shared with OpenAI for AI processing and with hosting providers as necessary to operate the service. If you email support, we receive the information you choose to send.

We do not sell user data, use it for advertising, or include advertising or behavioural analytics in the extension. We do not use learning content for unrelated profiling. YouTube Explainer's use and transfer of user data complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

Retention and your choices

Local learning records remain until you delete them, clear the extension's local data or uninstall it. Words, sentences and notes have deletion controls in the extension. Exported files remain wherever you save them and must be deleted separately.

Server-side trial allowance records remain available to enforce limits and prevent used codes from resetting. They are not automatically deleted when an invitation expires. To request deletion or withdrawal of an invitation, email support and identify the invitation privately; do not post your code publicly. Deleting allowance records may also require disabling that invitation. Provider-held logs and submitted content are subject to the providers' retention policies.

You can revoke microphone permission in Chrome, stop an active Coach session, or stop using the AI features. The extension sends data over encrypted HTTPS or secure WebSocket connections. The OpenAI service key stays on the server and is not distributed in the extension.

Updates and contact

Changes to this policy will be published here with a revised date. For help, write to ruonan.liao@gmail.com.

YouTube Explainer is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube, Google or OpenAI.