YouTube Parental Control LogoYouTube Parental Control

Privacy Policy

This policy explains how YouTube Parental Control handles information when a parent uses our Chrome extension, website, and associated services.

Last Updated: September 7, 2026

1. Information We Process

  • Account and authentication information: If you create an account or sign in, we process your email address, account identity, authentication/session data, and related security information so we can provide account-scoped features.
  • Parent settings: We store settings such as age limits, child-profile labels and avatars, channel allow/block lists, flagged words, overlay preferences, history choices, and parental-control configuration so the extension can apply the parent's rules.
  • Active YouTube video content: To provide the extension's core safety feature, the extension processes the active video's transcript or captions and basic context such as the YouTube video ID, title, and channel. It sends the information needed for analysis to our backend, which returns an age classification, summary, safety indicators, and block/allow decision shown by the extension.
  • Optional activity history: Activity history is off by default. If a parent enables it, the parent's account may store YouTube video IDs, titles, channels, timestamps or other viewing context, classification results, and watched, blocked, or allowed outcomes for the activity viewer and monitoring features. This is web browsing/history and user-activity data, even though it is limited to YouTube.
  • Account-linked service activity: Even when detailed history is off, signed-in analysis creates operational records used for quota/credit enforcement and the service's decision workflow. Those records use a generated activity/video identifier instead of intentionally retaining the real YouTube video ID, title, or channel, but can retain credits used, decision/classification outcomes, and content-derived analysis fields. This is user-activity data.
  • Subscription information: We process plan, entitlement, status, and usage information needed to provide free and paid features. Stripe handles payment-card entry; the extension does not receive or store full payment-card details.
  • Feedback and diagnostics: If you email support, we process the message and the contact information supplied by your email provider. The extension never sends diagnostic information automatically. You may prepare, review, and manually copy diagnostic details into an email if you choose.

2. Optional Protection Features

The optional Protection Wizard can provide administrator-policy downloads and an optional heartbeat for stale-install or tamper awareness. The heartbeat is off unless a signed-in parent with an active Premium or Ultimate plan affirmatively enables it after seeing the in-product disclosure. If enabled, each heartbeat sends exactly a random install-specific UUID, browser-reported install type, extension version, and coarse platform category. The server records the receipt time. It does not send the parent's email or account ID, visited websites, YouTube video IDs, titles, channels, transcripts, browsing history, a full user agent, or self-management status. Turning it off or signing out clears the extension's heartbeat schedule and random identifier; heartbeat availability does not change core video filtering.

The heartbeat service accepts only the configured Chrome extension, verifies the signed-in account, associates the installation record with that verified account's UUID, and checks paid entitlement on the server before storing it. Ordinary heartbeat records are generally kept for 90 days after the last receipt. Turning the heartbeat off or signing out also requests prompt retirement of active installation details. If that request cannot reach the server, local sending still stops; remote retirement is best-effort. A minimal retirement record may remain for 90 days after retirement. Section 8 explains retention targets and exceptions.

If Chrome removes the extension, the browser opens the fixed guidance page https://www.youtubeparentalcontrol.com/api/uninstall. The URL contains no query string, device identifier, extension ID, timestamp, token, account ID, or other uninstall telemetry. The page provides reinstallation and administrator-policy guidance.

3. Chrome Extension Permissions

The intended Chrome Web Store package requests only the permissions and website origins described below.

  • identity: Used for Google and GitHub sign-in through Chrome's WebAuthFlow and PKCE. The extension does not request identity.email and does not use this permission to read the Chrome profile email.
  • storage: Used for extension settings, local feature state, and background-owned authentication state. If a parent enables optional heartbeat monitoring, it also stores the random installation identifier needed by that feature.
  • alarms: Used only to schedule the optional Protection Wizard heartbeat after the required affirmative parent choice.
  • https://www.youtube.com/*: Used for the extension's single purpose: detecting the active YouTube video or Short, obtaining transcript/caption and basic video context, and displaying or enforcing the parent's visible block/allow decision. This grant does not include mobile YouTube, YouTube Music, embedded youtube-nocookie players, or unrelated websites.
  • https://www.youtubeparentalcontrol.com/* and https://youtubeparentalcontrol.com/*: Used for our own APIs, account and checkout pages, safe authentication-status checks, and the one-time website-to-extension authentication handoff.

The extension does not request host access to accounts.google.com, GitHub, or another OAuth-provider origin. Chrome's WebAuthFlow displays Google and GitHub provider pages without granting the extension broad host access to those sites. The two exact HTTPS YouTube Parental Control website origins above are the only externally connectable sites.

4. Account Sign-In

The launch sign-in choices are email/password, magic link, Google, and GitHub. Twitter/X is not a launch sign-in provider. Google and GitHub use Chrome's WebAuthFlow and PKCE. Email/password and magic-link sign-in occur on the HTTPS product website. hCaptcha runs only on ordinary website account forms and is not packaged or executed as extension code.

For website-mediated sign-in, the website sends the named extension only a short-lived, single-use code and state. The extension background worker redeems that code directly using PKCE. Website page scripts, content scripts, URLs, and external-message responses do not receive raw access tokens, refresh tokens, cookies, or full sessions.

5. How We Use Information

  • Provide the extension's YouTube parental-control and safety-classification features.
  • Authenticate parents and provide account-scoped settings and subscription features.
  • Apply parent-selected age, channel, flagged-word, history, and monitoring settings.
  • Operate optional support, feedback, diagnostic, and Protection Wizard features.
  • Protect the security, reliability, and integrity of the service.
  • Meet applicable legal obligations.

6. Service Providers And Disclosure

Inquiring Minds, LLC operates this service. We use Supabase for account authentication and database services, Vercel for website and API hosting, OpenAI for the requested transcript-based analysis, Stripe for subscription payments, Resend for transactional and enabled monitoring email, and hCaptcha for abuse prevention on website account forms. Support messages are handled through our Gmail support inbox. These providers receive information needed for their respective services; payment-card entry takes place on Stripe's hosted pages.

We and our providers may process information in the United States and other countries where we operate. Privacy laws can differ between countries. We remain responsible for using providers and transfer arrangements consistent with applicable law and this policy. Contact us for information about the arrangements relevant to your request.

We do not sell personal information or use YouTube activity for targeted advertising. Disclosures are limited to operating and improving the disclosed service, preventing fraud or abuse, meeting legal obligations, and a permitted business transfer. Extension user data is subject to the additional restrictions in Section 11, including prior explicit consent for a merger, acquisition, or sale-of-assets transfer.

7. Security

We use administrative and technical safeguards intended to protect information, including encrypted transport, access controls, server-side secret handling, least-privilege extension origins, one-time authentication handoffs, and diagnostic redaction. No method of transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

8. Retention And Deletion

We keep information for the service, security, support, and billing purposes described in this policy. Our retention targets are:

  • Account, profile, and policy settings: While your account is active, unless removed earlier through an available control or a supported deletion request.
  • Short-lived verification records: Normally removed within 24 hours after expiry. This includes sign-in handoffs, parental verification and recovery records, deletion challenges, and expired monitoring email confirmations whose delivery outcome is understood.
  • Analysis and activity: Operational analysis, quota, and replay records not needed for optional activity history are generally kept for 13 months. Optional history, its associated analysis results, and the links needed to manage it are generally kept for 24 months. Turning history off stops future detailed collection; it does not itself erase earlier history.
  • Support, feedback, and diagnostics: Application records of ordinary closed requests and reports have a 24-month target after closure. An unresolved report is not treated as closed just because it is old. Financial evidence connected with a request follows the billing rule below.
  • Heartbeat and monitoring delivery: Ordinary heartbeat records are generally kept for 90 days after the last receipt. Turning heartbeat off or signing out stops new sending and requests prompt retirement of active installation details; a minimal retirement record may remain for 90 days after retirement. Completed monitoring delivery metadata generally becomes eligible for removal 30 days after its latest relevant delivery or handling event.
  • Deletion receipts: Minimal ordinary completion records with account and session identifiers removed are generally kept for 90 days after completion or later necessary handling.
  • Security and audit records: The ordinary target is 12 months. Authentication audit records are currently subject to an incident hold and are being retained until that hold is explicitly resolved.
  • Billing and financial evidence: We retain invoices, tax, refund, chargeback, dispute, and related financial evidence for at least seven years, and longer where a continuing obligation or unresolved matter requires it. Account deletion does not mean that these records are erased.

These are operational schedules, not a guarantee of deletion at an exact hour. Scheduled cleanup can take longer during an outage or backlog. Legal or security holds, unresolved support or billing matters, and uncertain record ownership can require longer retention. Some older analysis records remain under ownership and history review and are not yet covered by ordinary automated expiry. We also preserve monitoring evidence when we cannot establish whether an email was sent; an error response alone is not proof that nothing was delivered.

For application and runtime logs and operational backups, our targets are 30 days and 35 days respectively where those periods can be configured. Provider-controlled logs, audit streams, and backups can have different retention limits. Removing data from active application systems does not immediately erase existing backup copies or emails already delivered to recipients; those copies follow their applicable controls and schedules.

You may request account or data deletion through the available account controls or by contacting support. Some requests require additional identity, security, or billing review. We distinguish completed deletion from a request that is still awaiting that review, and explain records that must be retained.

9. Your Choices And Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict processing of, object to processing of, or receive a copy of certain personal information. Parents can manage settings, optional activity history, diagnostic attachments, and available heartbeat controls. You can stop using the extension by disabling or uninstalling it; this does not itself cancel billing or delete stored information.

Contact our support address below to make a privacy request. We verify your authority before disclosing account information or changing data, and may ask for the information needed to complete that verification. We explain any applicable limit, required retention, or additional review rather than treating a pending request as completed. We respond within the periods required by applicable law. You may also contact your local data-protection authority where that right applies.

10. Children's Privacy

Accounts are created and controlled by parents or legal guardians who are at least 18 years old. Child profiles are settings within the adult's account; they are not independent child accounts. A parent supplies profile labels and age settings and decides whether to enable optional viewing history and monitoring. Video context, analysis results, and any enabled history can describe a child's viewing activity, so the data practices and retention rules in this policy apply to that information too.

Parents are responsible for supervising use and providing any notices or consent required for their household's use. This does not remove our obligations under applicable children's privacy law. Contact us if you believe a child has created an account without an authorized adult, or to request review or deletion of information relating to a child. We verify the request and address it through the appropriate security and deletion process.

11. Chrome Web Store Limited Use

Our use of information received through Chrome extension and Google APIs complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. We use transcript and video context for the disclosed parental-control features and their operation, security, and reliability. The same restrictions cover derived and anonymized extension data.

  • We do not sell extension user data, use it for personalized advertising or lending decisions, or provide it to advertising platforms, data brokers, or information resellers.
  • Transfers are limited to those necessary for providing or improving the disclosed features, legal compliance, abuse prevention, or a business transfer with your explicit prior consent.
  • Human access requires your explicit consent to specific information, such as a support attachment, or a permitted security or legal need. Internal operational review may use aggregated, anonymized data subject to applicable law and these same purpose restrictions.

12. Changes To This Policy

We may update this policy to reflect product, operational, legal, or regulatory changes. We will post the updated policy and change the date above when we do so.

13. Contact Us

Questions or privacy requests may be sent to parental.controls.extension@gmail.com.