Privacy policy

Last updated 2026-10-12

CopyCat is a tool for keeping the texts you reuse ready to copy. This policy explains what happens to your data when you use the CopyCat website, web app and browser extension. It is written to be read, so it is short and plain.

The short version

• Your snippets, tabs and groups are stored on your own device. We never receive them and cannot read them.
• There are no accounts and no sign-up.
• The website shows ads from Google AdSense, but only after you choose to allow them. If you say no, no ad scripts or ad cookies load.
• The browser extension and the mobile app contain no ads and no trackers.

Your snippets stay on your device

Everything you save in CopyCat (snippets, tabs, groups, colors and settings) is kept in your browser's local storage on this device. It is not uploaded to a server. Because we never receive it, we cannot access it, recover it, or hand it over to anyone.

That also means clearing your browser data, or uninstalling the app, deletes your snippets permanently. Use Settings, then Export, to keep a backup file.

Optional encryption

You can protect your snippets with a passphrase. The passphrase is used on your device to encrypt snippet text with AES-256, and it is never stored or sent anywhere. If you forget it, your encrypted snippets cannot be recovered by you or by us.

The browser extension (Chrome and Edge)

The CopyCat extension works entirely on your device. It does not collect, transmit or sell any data, it makes no network requests, it contains no ads or analytics, and it does not load or run remote code.

It asks for two permissions, and only uses them for these purposes:

• storage: to save your snippets, tabs, groups and settings in your browser's extension storage on this device.
• contextMenus: to add the right-click item "Save selection to CopyCat". It only receives the text you select when you click it, and saves it to your own storage. The extension cannot read pages you have not asked it to capture from, and it has no access to your browsing history.

What we collect when you visit the website

Like almost every website, our hosting provider keeps standard server logs (your IP address, browser type, the page requested and the time). These logs are used to keep the site secure and running, and are kept for a limited time by the host.

We do not run our own analytics, we do not use tracking pixels, and we do not build profiles of visitors.

Ads and cookies

CopyCat is free because the website shows ads. Ads are provided by Google AdSense. To show and measure ads, Google and its partners may use cookies and similar identifiers, and may use them to personalize ads to your interests.

We ask for your permission before any of that happens. Until you choose "Allow ads", no Google ad script is loaded on your device. If you choose "No thanks", it never is. You can change your mind at any time with the "Ad choices" link at the bottom of every page.

• Learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
• Manage Google ad personalization: adssettings.google.com
• Opt out of interest-based ads more broadly: youradchoices.com and youronlinechoices.com

What we store in your browser

• copycat_data: your snippets, tabs, groups and settings (stays on your device).
• copycat_theme: whether you picked a light, dark or system theme.
• cc_ads_consent: your answer to the ad question, so we do not ask again on every page.
• A service worker cache of the app's files, so CopyCat can open offline.

Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example the EU, the UK or California), you may have rights to access, correct, delete or move your personal data, to object to certain processing, and to withdraw consent. Our legal basis for ads is your consent, and withdrawing it is as easy as giving it.

Because your snippets never reach us, you already control them completely: export or delete them in the app at any time. For anything involving the website's server logs, or if you have any other privacy question, contact somu.analytics.gtm@gmail.com.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not knowingly share it except as described in the ads section above.

Children

CopyCat is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age of digital consent where you live), and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

Changes to this policy

If we change how CopyCat handles data, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change is significant (for example, adding accounts or sync), we will tell you in the app before it takes effect.

Contact

CopyCat, somu.analytics.gtm@gmail.com