Privacy policy

The short version

• Nothing goes to us. SnagThis has no server. We never receive your browsing, your videos or anything about you.
• It stays on your computer. What the extension notices about a page stays in your browser. It is only passed to your own SnagThis desktop app, on your own computer, when you ask for a download.
• No tracking of any kind. No analytics, telemetry, advertising or third-party trackers, in the extension, the app or on this website.
• Never sold or shared. Your data is not sold, rented or transferred to anyone, and it is not used for anything other than saving the videos you choose.

What this policy covers

This policy covers the three parts of SnagThis:

• the SnagThis Chrome extension,
• the SnagThis desktop app for Mac and Windows, and
• this website, snagthisvid.com.

SnagThis is free, open-source software (GPL-3.0). You can read every line of its code on GitHub and check the statements below for yourself.

The Chrome extension

What it reads, and why

To find the videos on the page you’re watching, the extension looks at:

• The page’s address and title, so it can name the video and tell which page it came from.
• The page’s video and audio: the addresses of media files and streaming playlists, their poster images, length, available qualities, audio tracks and subtitles. It also notices when a video is protected with DRM, only so it can tell you it can’t be saved.
• The page’s media network requests, through Chrome’s webRequest permission. It watches the page’s media, XMLHttpRequest/fetch and other media-like requests (not its documents, scripts, styles, images or fonts) to spot videos a player loads in pieces.
• The request headers for that media. A site often only serves a video to the browser that is watching it, so the extension keeps the headers Chrome sent with each media request. These can include cookies, authorization and Referer headers for that video’s server. They are read only from Chrome’s own network events, never from the page’s scripts.
• Which page and frame a request belongs to, using webNavigation, so detected videos are matched to the right page and cleared when you navigate away.

The extension asks for access to all websites because videos can appear on any site and inside embedded frames. That access is used only to find videos. It is not used to bypass a login, a paywall or DRM. SnagThis never captures, records, decrypts or screen-captures DRM-protected video.

Where that information stays

Detected videos and their request headers are kept in the extension’s memory and in Chrome’s in-memory session storage for that tab. The extension does not write them to disk. They are cleared when you leave the page, when you close the tab, or when you quit Chrome, whichever comes first. Headers for requests that turn out not to be media are dropped when the response arrives, or after a short time for replies that might still be a playlist.

When anything leaves the extension

Information about a video only leaves the extension in these cases, and only because you asked:

• You send a video to the desktop app. The extension sends that one video’s details (its address, the page address and title, your chosen quality, tracks and subtitles, and the request headers the site needs, which can include cookies and authorization) to your own SnagThis desktop app. The app runs on your computer and the extension only talks to it at 127.0.0.1, your computer’s private local address, using a key created when you paired them. Nothing is sent over the internet to SnagThis.
• You download a file with Chrome. For direct MP4 and WebM files, Chrome Downloads fetches the file straight from the site it comes from, just like any other download.
• You preview a video. The extension fetches a small part of that video from its own site. While the preview is open, a temporary rule (declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess) restores the Origin and Referer the site expects, only for the extension’s own requests to that video’s server. The rule is removed when the preview closes.

In every case, requests go directly to the site the video comes from or to your own desktop app. There is no SnagThis server in between, and nothing is ever sent to us.

What it stores on your computer

Using Chrome’s storage permission, the extension keeps a few things in its local storage:

• The pairing key for your desktop app, so you only connect once.
• Your preferences, such as preferred quality, subtitle language, notifications and accent colour.
• Download references for files it saved with Chrome: Chrome’s download ID and a little display information so the popup can show them again. It does not keep source addresses or request headers in these records.

Chrome keeps its own download history, including source addresses and file locations, which you can manage in Chrome Downloads. Removing the extension deletes everything the extension stored.

Other permissions

• downloads starts and manages the direct downloads you ask for, so they continue after the popup closes.
• scripting adds SnagThis’s own detection script to tabs that were already open when it was installed or updated, and to the current tab when you open the popup and detection isn’t running there yet.

Chrome Web Store Limited Use

The use of information received from Chrome APIs by the SnagThis extension complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

In plain terms, the extension uses what it reads only to find videos and save the ones you choose. It does not use or transfer that information for any other purpose: not for advertising, not to build profiles, not to determine creditworthiness or for lending, and not for any purpose unrelated to saving videos. No person reads it, and it is never sold or transferred to anyone, other than to your own desktop app on your own computer when you ask for a download.

The desktop app

• Downloads go directly to the source. The app fetches videos, and any page links you paste, straight from the site they come from. Their own privacy terms apply to those requests.
• Its data stays on your computer. The app keeps your download list (titles, source addresses and progress), preferences and the Saved library index in its local data folder. Cookies and authorization headers are used only for the download they belong to and are not written to its saved download list or to diagnostics.
• The connection to Chrome is private. The app listens only on 127.0.0.1, so other computers can’t reach it, and it only accepts requests carrying the key made when you paired a browser. Each browser gets its own key, and either side can disconnect at any time.
• Use Chrome sign-in is opt-in, one download at a time. For some videos that need you to be signed in, the app offers Use Chrome sign-in. Only after you confirm, the downloader reads the matching sign-in from Chrome’s cookie store on your computer for that one download. The choice isn’t saved, and the cookies are not stored in the library or diagnostics.
• Update checks contact GitHub. To offer new versions, the app checks SnagThis’s releases on GitHub and downloads updates from there. Like any web request, GitHub sees your IP address and the app version it’s asked for. You can turn off Check automatically in the app’s settings.
• Optional services only if you set them up. If you add your own TMDB or SubDL key in settings, the app sends a video’s title to that service to look up a poster or subtitles. Without a key, nothing is sent. Keys stay on your computer and are left out of diagnostics.
• Diagnostics only when you choose. The app never sends crash reports or logs anywhere. If you export or copy a support bundle, it is created on your computer with web addresses, cookies, tokens, keys, file paths and titles redacted. You decide whether to share it, and with whom.

Removing a video from the app’s list keeps the file. Moving the file to the Trash is a separate choice you make.

This website

snagthisvid.com is a plain static site. It sets no cookies and uses no analytics, trackers, ads or third-party scripts or fonts. The accent picker on the home page only changes colours in your open tab and isn’t saved.

The site is hosted by Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare processes standard connection information, such as your IP address, to deliver and protect the site, under Cloudflare’s privacy policy. Links to GitHub and other sites take you to services with their own privacy terms.

What SnagThis never does

• Send your data to a SnagThis server. There isn’t one.
• Collect analytics, telemetry or usage statistics.
• Show ads or share data with advertisers.
• Sell, rent or transfer your data to anyone.
• Use your data to decide creditworthiness or for lending.
• Use your data for anything unrelated to saving the videos you choose.
• Record, decrypt or unlock DRM-protected video.

Your choices

• Disconnect the extension and the desktop app from either side at any time. This deletes the pairing key.
• Close the tab or quit Chrome to clear everything the extension noticed on a page.
• Remove the extension to delete its preferences, pairing key and download references.
• Manage Chrome’s own download history in Chrome Downloads.
• Turn off automatic update checks in the desktop app’s settings, or uninstall the app and delete its data folder.

Because we never receive your data, there is nothing held by us to access, correct or delete. Everything SnagThis keeps is on your own computer and under your control.

Children

SnagThis doesn’t collect personal information from anyone, including children.

Changes to this policy

If SnagThis changes how it handles information, we’ll update this page and its effective date before the change ships. If a change would use information in a new way, we’ll say so clearly in the release notes and, where required, ask for your consent first. Earlier versions of this policy are kept in the project’s history on GitHub.

Contact

Questions or requests about privacy? Email privacy@snagthisvid.com. You can also open an issue on GitHub, but please don’t include cookies, tokens or private video links in a public issue.

To report a security problem privately, email privacy@snagthisvid.com or follow the security policy.