Pounce — Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026. Applies to the Pounce browser extension (Chrome/Edge) and the optional Pounce Cloud service.

The short version

Pounce is local-first. By default, everything it does — the pages you monitor, what it captures, your change history — stays on your device in the browser's own local storage. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you explicitly turn on one of three optional features: Run in Cloud, AI summaries, or a webhook. Each is off until you opt in.

What stays on your device (always)

• Your list of monitors: the URL, the element you selected, its type, and your rules.
• Change history: before/after text or image hashes, timestamps, and importance ratings.
• Settings: tags, check intervals, notification preferences.

This data lives in the extension's local browser storage (chrome.storage.local). We don't have access to it, and it isn't transmitted anywhere by default.

Run in Cloud (optional)

If you turn this on for a monitor, its definition (URL, selector, type, rule, and the page text/image needed to detect changes) is sent to and stored on Pounce Cloud, a server we operate, so checks can run even when your browser is closed. This requires creating an account (email + password). Account data and monitor data are stored in our database until you delete the monitor or your account.

AI change summaries (optional, bring your own key)

If you provide your own Anthropic or OpenAI API key in the extension's settings, the before/after text of a detected change is sent directly from your browser to that provider's API to generate a plain-English summary. This goes straight from your browser to the AI provider — it does not pass through any server we operate. Your API key is stored only in your browser's local storage.

Webhooks (optional)

If you configure a webhook URL for a monitor, a summary of each detected change (site, importance, description) is sent to that URL when a change is found. You control this URL entirely — it's typically your own Slack/Discord webhook or similar.

What we don't do

• We don't run analytics or tracking scripts in the extension.
• We don't sell or share your data with third parties, beyond the optional integrations you explicitly configure above.
• We don't read the content of pages you haven't chosen to monitor.

Browser permissions, and why

• activeTab / scripting — to let you click an element on the current page to create a monitor, and to read that element during checks.
• storage / unlimitedStorage — to save your monitors and change history locally, without hitting the browser's default storage limit.
• alarms — to schedule periodic checks.
• notifications — to show a desktop alert when a change is detected.
• tabs — to open a hidden background tab to check a page, and to open the Dashboard.
• offscreen — to play an optional sound on a detected change (the background service worker can't play audio directly).
• Host permissions (per site) — requested only for a specific site at the moment you create a monitor on it, not for every website up front. This is what lets Pounce re-visit that page later to check it.

Payment data

If you purchase a Pounce Cloud plan, payment is handled entirely by our payment processor (Razorpay or PayPal) — your card/bank details are never sent to or stored by Pounce.

Deleting your data

Uninstalling the extension removes all locally stored data. To delete your Pounce Cloud account and any cloud monitors, contact us using the email below.

Contact

Questions about this policy: heebaaltaf@gmail.com