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Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 6, 2026.
Your privacy is our priority. This policy covers both the FocusFlow browser extension and this website (focusflowapp.in). The extension's free reading tools work entirely on your device and send nothing anywhere. A small number of optional Pro features — which you switch on yourself — do send data, and one of them, account sync, stores data on our servers; each is described below. The website uses privacy-respecting, consent-based analytics, as explained below.

1. Data Collection

We do not sell your data, we do not use it for advertising, and we never track your browsing. By default, all extension processing happens locally within your browser — your settings, the pages you view, and the text you read never leave your device. The free reading tools (fonts, typography, ruler, overlay, Reader Mode, read-aloud) work entirely offline.

Some optional Pro features do send data off your device. Every one of them is started by you, none runs in the background, and each is described in Section 3:

  • AI tools — transmits the text you select (or the article text, if you ask for a page summary or press Check my understanding with nothing selected; in Reader Mode, the section you are reading) to our server to produce a definition, simplification, summary, or quiz. Words to know sends single words, never the text, and your quiz answers are never sent.
  • Licence activation — transmits your licence key, and nothing else.
  • Account sync — off by default. If you create a FocusFlow account and switch sync on, a defined set of your data is stored in that account on our servers. Section 3 lists exactly what.
  • Feedback form and uninstall page — only what you choose to submit.

This website (focusflowapp.in) uses privacy-respecting, consent-based analytics only, as described in Section 4.

2. Required Permissions

  • activeTab / Website Content: Required to inject accessibility fonts and modify the CSS of the page you are currently viewing.
  • storage: Required to save your preferences locally (e.g., toggle state, per-site settings, profiles).
  • tabs: Required to detect the active tab and apply your per-site settings when you switch between tabs.
  • scripting: Required to apply typography and reading aids to the page you are currently viewing.
  • sidePanel: Required to open the Advanced Sidebar added in v2.6.
  • contextMenus: Required to offer FocusFlow actions — such as toggling a reading aid or saving a page to your Reading List — from the browser's right-click menu.
  • identity: Used only if you choose to sign in for Pro account sync. It lets the browser complete Google sign-in and return your account email to the extension. If you never sign in, this permission is never exercised.

3. External Network Requests

FocusFlow makes external requests only under the conditions described below — never in the background and never automatically:

  • Fonts — no request: every typeface FocusFlow offers — OpenDyslexic, Lexend, Atkinson Hyperlegible, Andika, Comic Neue, Inter, Open Sans and Roboto — ships inside the extension and loads from your device, so no font server is contacted and no font provider learns what you read.
  • AI Reading Assistant (Pro): When — and only when — you explicitly choose Define, Simplify, Summarize, or Check my understanding, text is sent to our server at focusflowapp.in to produce your answer:
    • What is sent is the text you selected. The one exception: if you ask for a summary, or press Check my understanding in the side panel's AI Tools, with nothing selected, FocusFlow sends the article text of the page you are on. Define always requires a selection, except for Reader Mode's Words to know (below), and so does Simplify outside Reader Mode.
    • In Reader Mode, Simplify this section sends the whole text of the section you are reading — not just a selection — and the button says so. It is sent only when you press that button, once per press. The plainer version replaces the section on your screen, labelled "Simplified by AI", until you choose Show original, move to another section or close the reader. Exports still save the original text.
    • In Reader Mode, Words to know picks up to 10 hard words from the section you are reading. The picking happens on your device. When you press the button, those words are sent for a definition one at a time. Single words are sent, never the section's text. The list is not saved; it goes away when you hide it, move to another section or close the reader.
    • Check my understanding sends the selected text, or the article text of the page when nothing is selected — in Reader Mode, the whole text of the section you are reading, and the button says so. It is sent only when you press the button, once per press, and comes back as a few multiple-choice questions. Your answers, and your score, are checked on your device and are never sent anywhere, and nothing about them is saved.
    • After a definition you can choose In this sentence. That asks again with the word and its sentence — the sentence on the page that contains your selection, up to 600 bytes — so the answer fits how the word is used there. The sentence is sent only when you choose this option.
    • A summary can be shown as a paragraph or as Key points. Key points send the same text as a paragraph summary; only the requested layout differs. Your choice is saved in the extension's settings on your device, and with settings sync (Pro, if you turn it on) alongside your other settings.
    • Limits are measured in bytes of UTF-8 text: 20,000 bytes for Summarize, Simplify and Check my understanding, 200 bytes for Define. A selection over the limit is not sent. A page summary or a Reader Mode section over the limit sends only its beginning, and FocusFlow tells you the answer covers only the first part.
    • Define is answered from the built-in WordNet 3.1 dictionary on our server for most common words — no third-party service is involved and no AI request is made.
    • Simplify, Summarize and Check my understanding (and Define for words the dictionary does not know) are sent to a third-party AI provider (currently OpenRouter) solely to generate the answer.
    • Completed answers are cached on our server for up to 30 days so repeat requests are free and fast. Nothing is stored permanently, and we never build reading profiles or history from your selections.
    • We store only a non-reversible hash of your license key to meter your monthly credit balance. No personal information is required or collected.
  • Feedback submissions (focusflowapp.in): When — and only when — you explicitly submit the feedback form from the sidebar, FocusFlow posts your message to our own server at focusflowapp.in. The current page URL, your typography settings, and a screenshot are included only if you opt in via the checkboxes on the form. Nothing is sent in the background, nothing is sent automatically, and the data is never shared with third parties.
  • Account sign-in (Pro, optional): If you choose to use account sync, you sign in either with an email address and password, or with Google. Either way we receive your email address and use it solely to identify your account. If you sign in with Google we do not receive your Google password and do not read anything else from your Google account.
  • Settings sync (Pro, opt-in, off by default): This is the one feature that stores a meaningful amount of your data on our servers, so we want to be precise. It starts only after you create a FocusFlow account and switch sync on. Once you do, the following is copied to your account so your other devices can pick it up:
    • Your settings — typeface, spacing, colours, theme and reading-aid choices; your saved profiles; and your per-site rules, stored under the hostname of each site you customised (for example example.com). This is not your browsing history — it covers only the sites you deliberately configured — but those hostnames do reach our servers.
    • Your Reading List — for each article you saved, its web address, the page title, and when you saved it.
    • Your to-dos — the text of each item.
    • Your reading statistics — per-day counts of words read.
    • Your licence key and your per-site "never run here" list are not synced.
    We do not read, mine, analyse or sell your synced data. It is stored so your other devices can pick it up, and you can stop syncing or delete your account at any time — contact us at the address in Section 7.

4. Analytics and Tracking

In the extension: The FocusFlow browser extension uses no analytics or trackers of any kind. There is no telemetry, no third-party analytics SDK, no advertising identifier and no anonymous metrics. We have no knowledge of your browsing history or the content you read.

FocusFlow does count your own reading activity — words read in Reader Mode and read-aloud — so it can show you your reading history in your dashboard. These counters are kept on your device. They are transmitted only as part of a sync payload you have opted into, and they are shown only to you; we do not analyse them.

On this website: focusflowapp.in uses Google Analytics 4 to understand aggregate visitor trends, such as which articles readers find most helpful. It loads only after you accept our cookie banner — if you decline or ignore the banner, no analytics scripts load, no analytics cookies are set, and no data is sent. Even once enabled, IP addresses are anonymized, advertising and ad-personalization features are disabled, and we never sell your data or use it to build personal profiles. Your choice is stored in your browser; you can withdraw consent at any time by declining the banner or clearing site data for focusflowapp.in.

5. Student Privacy & Educational Use (COPPA & FERPA Compliance)

FocusFlow is designed with student and user privacy as a top priority. For core app functionality — everything FocusFlow does without an account — we operate on a strict "Zero Data" model. Pro account sync is the one feature that stores personal data on our servers; it is off by default, requires an account you create deliberately, and is described in Section 3.

  • No Account Required: Every reading and accessibility feature in the free tier works without an account. Users are not required to create an account, log in, or provide any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to use FocusFlow. An account is required only for optional Pro account sync.
  • Local Storage by Default: App settings (such as typographic preferences) and session data are stored locally on the user's own device and browser. This data is never automatically transmitted to or stored on our servers. It leaves the device only if the user creates an account and switches on Pro sync, which is off by default.
  • No Student or Academic Records: We do not collect, store, process, or share personal information such as names, student ID numbers, dates of birth, or academic records. The only identifier we ever hold is the email address of a user who chooses to create an account, together with the reading preferences and saved items listed in Section 3.
  • Accounts are not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly create accounts for, or collect personal information from, children under 13. Schools and districts deploying FocusFlow for students should use it without accounts — the free tier requires none, and in that configuration no student data reaches our servers at all.
  • Anonymous Feedback and Uninstall Surveys: Users may optionally submit feedback, bug reports, or an uninstall survey (which opens in a separate browser tab if the extension is removed). No name or email address is collected. These forms automatically collect basic non-identifying diagnostic data, such as the current product version. For in-app reports, users may also voluntarily attach the current page URL, local typographic settings, and a screenshot. We strongly advise users not to include personal information in text descriptions or screenshots.
  • Security & IP Addresses: When a feedback or uninstall form is submitted, we temporarily log the user's IP address solely for security purposes to prevent spam and abuse (rate limiting). In accordance with the "internal operations" exception of COPPA, this IP address is strictly used for platform security and is not used to track users, build profiles, or serve advertisements.

Compliance: Used without an account — the configuration we recommend for schools, districts and any deployment involving minors — FocusFlow's data practices are strictly limited to local storage on the user's own device and to the internal security operations described above. No student data is transmitted to or stored on our servers in that configuration, which is the basis on which FocusFlow is offered for use under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Optional Pro account sync stores personal data on our servers and is accordingly outside that account-free scope; it should not be enabled for student use without the consent your institution requires.

6. Changes to This Policy

If we make changes, we will update the "Effective Date" above. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

7. Contact Us

If you have questions, please reach out to us at support@focusflowapp.in.