Last updated November 14, 2026
This policy explains what the ThinkTrail browser extension ("ThinkTrail", "we") collects, where it goes, and the choices you have. It covers the extension and this website, thinktrailapp.github.io.
Nothing is recorded until you start a session, and recording stops when you pause or stop it. While a session is recording, ThinkTrail records the following about the tab you're using:
| Data | Details |
|---|---|
| Your session goal | The text you write when you start a session. It can be empty. |
| Pages you visit | The page address, title and site, and when you arrived and left. |
| Time | Time on each page, time away from Chrome, and whether a tab was playing audio. |
| Page text | A short excerpt (up to 600 characters) after 20 seconds on a page, and up to 4,000 characters of its main text after 30 seconds. ThinkTrail uses this to understand what a page was about and to write study notes. It never reads text from a page that has a password field. |
| Interaction counts | How many clicks, keystrokes and scrolls happened, how far you scrolled, and how far your pointer traveled. ThinkTrail counts these but never records what you typed, which keys you pressed, the contents of any form field, or where your pointer was. |
On sites you add to the Excluded sites list in Settings, ThinkTrail records only the time spent there: no address, title or text.
Sessions, reports, notes, flashcards, your review history and settings are stored locally in your browser, in its extension storage. They aren't uploaded to us. The only exception is analysis with ThinkTrail's free credits (section 3), whose server keeps nothing from the session.
If you connect a folder (such as an Obsidian vault), ThinkTrail writes Markdown files into a ThinkTrail subfolder there, on your own computer. Chrome asks your permission before it can write there.
If you connect Notion, ThinkTrail sends your analyzed sessions (titles, goals, times, summaries, activities, notes, source links and flashcards) to the Notion page you choose, using the integration secret you paste. The secret is stored only in your browser. Notion's privacy policy covers what's stored in your workspace. Disconnecting in Settings stops all sending; pages already in Notion stay there until you delete them.
If you use the optional Claude Code route (section 3), session summaries are also written to a folder on your own computer, ~/.thinktrail/sessions, so Claude Code can read them.
Out of the box, ThinkTrail analyzes each session automatically when it ends, using ThinkTrail's free credits. Settings → Analysis says so, and is where you can choose another method, or turn automatic analysis off so nothing is analyzed until you press Analyze. Automatic analysis only ever uses the method chosen there (or, as a fallback, your own computer). Each option handles your data differently:
Analysis runs with the AI model built into Chrome, on your device. Your session data isn't sent anywhere. The first time, Chrome downloads the model from Google, and Google's terms for Chrome apply to that download.
If you paste an API key from Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI or Google (Gemini), ThinkTrail sends the session summary, and for notes the text of the pages that served your goal, directly from your browser to that provider, using your key. Nothing passes through us. The key is stored only in your browser. The provider's terms and privacy policy apply, and you pay the provider for what you use.
With free credits, ThinkTrail sends the session summary, and for notes the text of the pages that served your goal, to ThinkTrail's server, which runs with a cloud infrastructure provider. The server passes it to an AI model run by that provider and returns the answer to your browser. It doesn't store or log the content. To count free analyses it keeps only: a random id made by the extension for your install (not linked to your name or email), a short random id for each analyzed session, the number of sessions used today, a one-way, salted fingerprint of your network (your IP address, or for IPv6 its network prefix), so new install ids don't mean new credits, and how many sessions and how much AI time each network and everyone used today. If you enter a code for more free sessions, it also keeps the code's id and terms with your install's count, so a code can't be used by more installs than it allows. Counts reset each day, at midnight UTC. The server's logs record only sizes, timings and outcomes; the provider's automatic request logs, which can include IP addresses, are turned off. The provider processes the requests on our behalf, under a data processing agreement, and doesn't use them to train AI models.
ThinkTrail puts the session summary and instructions on your clipboard, and you paste them into the AI service of your choice, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. That service's privacy policy then applies to what you paste. ThinkTrail doesn't send anything itself.
If you set up Claude Code and press Send to Claude Code, the session summary is handed to a small program running on your computer. Claude Code reads it and sends it to Anthropic to produce the analysis, under Anthropic's terms and privacy policy.
Session summaries sent for analysis leave out query strings from page addresses, and pages from excluded sites appear without any detail.
ThinkTrail Pro is sold through Dodo Payments, which acts as the merchant of record. When you buy Pro, you enter your payment details and email address on Dodo's checkout page, never in ThinkTrail. Dodo's privacy policy covers that information. We receive the sale record from Dodo, including your email address, so we can support your purchase.
To turn Pro on and keep it working, the extension sends Dodo your license key and a device label such as "ThinkTrail on MacIntel". It does this when you activate a key, and then at most once a day while you use ThinkTrail, to check the key is still valid. Dodo's reply includes the email address on your purchase, which the extension stores locally to show which account Pro belongs to.
After checkout, Dodo emails you the license key, and you paste it into ThinkTrail yourself. The thank-you page Dodo sends you to doesn't read or show your key, and ThinkTrail runs nothing on this website.
This website is hosted on GitHub Pages. GitHub may log technical information such as your IP address when you visit, under GitHub's privacy statement. We don't add analytics, cookies or trackers to the site.
If you enter your email address in the waitlist form, it's sent to ThinkTrail's server, which stores it with the date you joined. That's all: it isn't linked to your ThinkTrail install, your sessions or your network, and the server's logs don't record it. We use it only to email you when ThinkTrail Pro, described on the form, is released. We don't share it with anyone except the service we use to send that email. Every email we send has a link that removes your address straight away, and you can also ask us to remove it (section 11). We delete the list once those emails have gone out.
ThinkTrail's use of information complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
~/.thinktrail folder.ThinkTrail isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them.
If ThinkTrail starts handling data differently, for example by adding syncing to your phone, we'll update this page and change the date at the top before the change takes effect.
Questions about this policy or your data: open an issue on GitHub.