Everything stays on your device.

1. Who we are

This policy covers the Your Buddy Carl Chrome extension (the "extension") and the website yourbuddycarl.com (the "site"), operated by Sparksopedia ("we," "us").

2. What the extension reads

Only on supported websites you turn on, the extension reads the text you type in that site's text fields when you pause typing (unless you turn off Check while I type) and when you press send. To understand the tone of a conversation, it may also read the most recent incoming message in that thread once, without saving it. It never reads password fields or payment fields.

3. How it's processed

All analysis happens inside your browser on your device, using a model bundled with the extension. Your message text, keystrokes and stress scores are never transmitted to us or to anyone else. The extension makes no network requests except to open the donation page in a new tab when you click it.

4. What's stored on your device

The extension saves a small amount of information in Chrome's local extension storage on your computer:

• Your settings, such as your chosen buddy, enabled sites, sensitivity, toast position, theme, profiles and recap time.
• Simple counts, such as how many times you paused or dismissed Carl each day, by site.
• Rolling averages of typing rhythm, used so Carl adapts to how you normally write.

It never stores message text, keystrokes, incoming messages or recipients. Daily counts older than 30 days are combined into weekly totals. You can erase everything at any time with Settings, then Reset all data, or by removing the extension.

5. What we collect

Nothing from the extension. We have no user accounts and use no analytics, tracking, cookies or advertising in the extension.

6. Permissions and why we ask

• Site access, only for the supported sites (Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet chat, LinkedIn, Facebook and Messenger, Lattice, 15Five, Culture Amp, Rippling, Jira and Confluence, Asana, Linear, GitHub, Notion comments, Zendesk, Intercom and Front), so Carl can read your draft there when you press send. Every site starts off, and Carl reads nothing on a site until you turn it on in his settings.
• Scripting, to start Carl in supported sites' tabs that were already open when you installed or updated him.
• Storage, to keep your settings and counts on your device.
• Alarms, to show the end-of-day recap at the time you choose.
• Offscreen document, to run the on-device tone model without slowing down the page you're on.

7. Donations

Donations are optional and handled by Stripe. When you click a donation link, you leave the extension or site, and Stripe's privacy policy applies to the payment. Stripe shares with us the details of your donation, such as the amount, date and the name and email you provide. We use them only for bookkeeping and to reply if you contact us, and we never sell them.

8. The website

yourbuddycarl.com uses no cookies, analytics or tracking scripts. Like most websites, our hosting provider may automatically keep standard server logs, such as IP address, browser type and pages requested, for security and reliability.

If you use the contact form, the name, email and message you enter are sent through Formspree, which delivers them to us by email. Formspree's privacy policy applies to that processing. We use what you send only to reply to you.

9. Sharing and sale of data

We do not sell, rent or share your personal data, and we do not use it for advertising, credit decisions or any purpose unrelated to the extension's single purpose of helping you pause before sending heated messages. Our use of data complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

10. Children

Your Buddy Carl is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.

11. Your choices

You can pause Carl, turn him off on any site, reset all stored data, or remove the extension at any time. Because your data stays on your device, you control it completely.

12. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the effective date above and note the change in the extension's release notes. If a change would affect how your data is handled, we'll tell you in the extension before it takes effect.

13. Contact

Questions about privacy? Reach us through the contact form on our home page.