Privacy Policy

Last updated: 31 May 2026

Aside is a Chrome extension that lets you chat with several AI providers (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, xAI Grok, Groq, and a self-hosted Ollama) from a sidebar. This Privacy Policy describes what data Aside touches, where it is stored, and what leaves your browser.

The short version

• We do not operate any server. There is no “Aside backend” to send data to.
• You provide your own API keys. They are stored in Chrome’s storage on your device.
• Your prompts and the AI’s replies are sent directly from your browser to the provider you chose - never through us.
• No analytics. No telemetry. No tracking pixels. No third-party scripts. (Aside’s UI does load web fonts from Google Fonts - see “Web fonts” below.)

What Aside stores, and where

Aside stores everything in chrome.storage.local, which lives on your device only. Nothing is synced to your Google account, uploaded, or transmitted to any server controlled by Aside (we do not have any).

• API keys, the active provider, the selected model for each provider, the chosen theme (light/dark), the interface language, the sidebar position/width, and whether “send current page context” is enabled.
• Your conversation history.

None of this leaves the device. (Earlier versions briefly used chrome.storage.sync for settings; on update, Aside moves any such data into local storage and clears the synced copy.)

What Aside sends, and to whom

When you send a prompt, the extension makes an HTTPS request from your browser directly to the AI provider you selected. The destination depends on the provider you chose:

• Anthropic Claude - api.anthropic.com
• OpenAI ChatGPT - api.openai.com
• Google Gemini - generativelanguage.googleapis.com
• xAI Grok - api.x.ai
• Groq - api.groq.com
• Ollama - the URL you configured (defaults to http://localhost:11434 on your own machine)

Each request includes the API key for that provider (for authentication), the prompt you typed, and - if “page context” is enabled - the readable text of the current tab (truncated to about 30,000 characters). Each provider’s own privacy policy governs what they do with that data. Aside does not see, intercept, log, or store these requests.

About page context: when you open the sidebar, Aside reads the current tab’s visible text into the sidebar so it is ready to use. Page context is on by default, which means that captured text is included with your prompt when you send a message. You can turn it off at any time with the page-context toggle in the sidebar; while it is off, no page text is sent to the provider. Selected text is only captured when you highlight it and use a selection action (such as “Ask Aside about selection”).

Web fonts

Aside’s own interface (the sidebar, options, and popup pages) loads fonts from Google Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com). When those pages render, your browser requests the font files from Google, which means Google receives your IP address and standard request headers, governed by Google’s own privacy policy. This is the only third-party request Aside makes that you do not initiate; it carries no API keys, prompts, page text, or identifiers.

Permissions, explained

• storage - to keep API keys and chat history on your device.
• activeTab, tabs, scripting - to inject the sidebar into the current tab when you press Alt+A, and to read the page’s visible text for the “page context” feature (on by default; toggleable in the sidebar).
• contextMenus - to add right-click entries (for example, “Ask Aside about selection”).
• host_permissions: <all_urls> - required so the sidebar can open on any website. The page’s text is read only for the page-context feature (on by default, can be turned off) and for selection actions you trigger; it stays on your device until you send a message with page context enabled.

What we do NOT collect

• No accounts. There is no sign-up.
• No analytics or usage metrics - not first-party, not third-party.
• No crash reports sent to us.
• No tracking across sites.
• No advertising IDs.

Deleting your data

• To clear conversation history: open Aside → Settings → “Clear history”.
• To remove API keys: open the extension Options page and remove each key, or uninstall the extension.
• To wipe everything: uninstall Aside from chrome://extensions. Chrome removes all of the extension’s storage as part of uninstall.
• Aside no longer uses synced storage. If an older version of Aside synced settings to your Google account, updating clears that synced copy automatically; you can also verify under chrome://settings/syncSetup/advanced.

Children

Aside is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect data from anyone - including children.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the “Last updated” date above and note material changes in the extension’s release notes on GitHub.

Contact

Questions? Open an issue at github.com/Royc4515/Aside/issues.