Privacy policy
Updated
Reading Rewind is a read-later app run by the independent developer of Reading Rewind ("we", "us"). This policy explains what we collect when you use readingrewind.com, the Reading Rewind web app, and the Reading Rewind browser extension, and what we do with it.
The short version
- We store what you save so you can read it later: page addresses, titles, tags, and the article text.
- Once you connect it, the extension syncs your browser bookmarks. It sends your open tabs only when you click Sync open tabs, and the current page only when you save it. It does not read the content of the pages you visit or your browsing history.
- We do not sell your data, show ads, or use tracking cookies. Our analytics do not use cookies.
- The no-account bookmark explorer reads your file in your browser. Only the number of bookmarks in it reaches our server.
- You can delete your account at any time in Settings.
What we collect and why
Your account and library
| Data | Why we use it | How long we keep it |
|---|---|---|
| Name, email address, and password (stored as a one-way hash, never in plain text) | To create your account, log you in, and send account emails | Until you delete your account |
| Two-factor authentication secret and recovery codes, if you turn it on (stored encrypted) | To protect your account | Until you turn it off or delete your account |
| Saves and bookmarks: page address, title, site icon, folder, tags, position, and dates | To build your reading list and library | Until you delete them or your account |
| Bookmarks you delete in your browser | Kept and marked as deleted, so you can review them in the Cleanup Center | Until you delete them in Reading Rewind or delete your account |
| Open tabs you send: page address, title, site icon address, and which browser they came from | To show your tabs in your library | Until you delete them or your account |
| Bookmarks files you import into your account, and the file's name | To add their bookmarks to your library as a source named after the file | The bookmarks are kept until you delete them, their source, or your account. Importing a file with the same name again replaces them. The file itself is not kept. |
| Browser connections: browser name and version, extension version, the source name you choose, a random installation ID, a hashed access token, and sync times | To keep each browser's sync working | Until you delete the source or your account |
| Settings, such as your auto reader-view tag | To apply your preferences | Until you change them or delete your account |
Reader copies of saved pages
To make the reader view, our server downloads the page and extracts its article text. It does this when you save a page with the extension, when a save, synced tab, or bookmark that has no reader copy yet opens in the reader, and when a page carries your auto reader-view tag (checked every six hours). When you add a link by hand without a title, the server also fetches the page to read its title.
- Reader copies are shared. We store one copy of the text for each page address. If two people save the same address, both read the same stored copy. The copy holds the page address, its title, and the text. It does not say who saved it; only your own library links you to it.
- Text only. Images are not stored. The reader copy keeps links to the original images, so your browser loads them from the original site when you open the reader view. Switching to the live page loads the original site in the app.
- The site does not learn who you are. Our server fetches the page without your cookies or logins. The site sees a request from our server, not from you.
Activity log
We log a few events to protect the service and understand how it is used.
| Event | What we record |
|---|---|
| Extension downloaded | The time and browser (Chrome or Firefox). If you are signed in, your account. If you are not signed in, your IP address instead. |
| Browser connected | The time, your account, the browser, and the source name |
| Bookmarks file imported | The time, your account, the number of bookmarks, and the source name, which includes the file name |
| Link added by hand | The time, your account, the page address, and the folder |
| Source deleted | The time, your account, the browser, and the source name |
| Unlinked bookmarks deleted | The time, your account, and the number of bookmarks deleted |
| File opened in the no-account explorer | The time and the number of bookmarks. No account and no IP address. |
Activity log entries are not yet deleted on a schedule, and they are not removed automatically when you delete your account.
Sessions, security, and logs
- Sessions. When you visit the site, we store a session record with your IP address and your browser's user agent. This keeps you logged in and helps us spot misuse. Session records expire after a period of inactivity and are cleared out regularly.
- Login protection. To slow down password guessing, we count failed login attempts per email address and IP address for about a minute.
- Error logs. Our servers record errors so we can fix them. These logs can include technical details about the request that failed.
Why we are allowed to use your data
We use your data to provide the service you signed up for, to keep it secure and free of abuse, to understand in a privacy-friendly way how it is used, and to meet our legal obligations.
The browser extension
The extension appears in your browser as "Reading Rewind: Save to Read Later". It connects your browser to your account and only talks to the Reading Rewind address you connect it to, normally https://readingrewind.com. It contains no analytics or advertising code.
Permissions
| Permission | What it is used for |
|---|---|
| bookmarks | To read your bookmarks and folders and notice when you add, rename, move, or delete one, so your library stays in sync |
| tabs | To read the address, title, and icon of your tabs: the active tab when you save it, and all open tabs when you click Sync open tabs |
| storage | To keep the connection settings, and a queue of bookmark changes waiting to be sent, on your computer |
| alarms | To send queued bookmark changes about once a minute |
| contextMenus | To add "Open Reading Rewind panel" to the right-click menu of the toolbar button |
| sidePanel (Chrome only) | To show the Reading Rewind side panel |
| Access to your Reading Rewind address (optional) | Requested when you connect, so the extension can reach the one Reading Rewind address you enter |
What the extension sends
- When you connect: the pairing link, a random installation ID, your source name, which browser it runs in, your browser and extension versions, and up to 100 of your bookmark addresses so we can recognise a browser you connected before.
- Bookmark sync: your bookmark folders and your http and https bookmarks (title, address, folder, position, and the dates they were added and changed), then each change as it happens. This runs automatically while the extension is connected. You can turn off Keep bookmark sync running automatically in the extension panel. Changes made while it is off wait on your computer until you click Sync now.
- Saving a page: the address and title of the active tab, and any tag you type.
- Sync open tabs: the address, title, and icon address of every open http or https tab.
- With every request: the extension's access token, your source name, and your browser and extension versions.
The extension does not send your browsing history, the content of pages, cookies, passwords, or form data.
On your computer, the extension stores the Reading Rewind address, the pairing link, its connection ID and access token, the installation ID, your source name, sync status, and any queued changes. Your browser deletes this data when you remove the extension.
Limited use of extension data
We use the data the extension sends only to provide the features you use: your reading list, reader copies, bookmark sync, and open tabs.
- We do not sell it. We do not pass it to anyone except the service providers listed below, who help us run Reading Rewind, or when the law requires it.
- We do not use it for advertising, and we do not use it to decide creditworthiness or for lending.
- We do not use it for anything unrelated to Reading Rewind.
- People do not read it, except the developer when you ask for help, to investigate abuse or a security problem, or when the law requires it. Our own monitoring only sees totals and event types, as described below.
The no-account bookmark explorer
At /app/bookmarks you can open a browser's bookmarks.html export without an account.
- Your browser reads the file. The file is not uploaded.
- The bookmarks are kept in your browser's local storage, so they are still there next time. Click Clear to remove them.
- Our server receives only the number of bookmarks in the file. We log it with the time, without an account or IP address.
Free tools
The free tools at /tools run entirely in your browser and don't need an account.
- The files you open in them are read by your browser and never uploaded to our server.
- The dead-link checker asks each bookmarked site whether it answers. Those requests go straight from your browser to each site, without cookies, so each site sees a visit from your IP address, much like opening the link yourself.
- The "Archived copies" links open the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, which has its own privacy policy.
Cookies and local storage
We only use cookies that the site needs to work. There are no advertising or tracking cookies.
| Cookie | Purpose | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| Session cookie | Keeps you logged in and links your browser to its session | Until you log out or the session expires |
XSRF-TOKEN |
Protects forms against cross-site request forgery | As long as the session |
remember_web_... |
Keeps you logged in if you tick "Remember me" | About 400 days, or until you log out |
The site also keeps a few settings in your browser's local storage: your light, dark, or colour theme, your reader font size, and the explorer's bookmarks. These stay on your device.
Analytics
We use Umami, hosted by us rather than by a third party, to understand how the site is used. Umami does not use cookies and does not store your IP address. It records page views and a few product events, such as downloading the extension, signing up, connecting the extension, and saving a first page. With each one, it records the page, the referring site, your browser, operating system, device type, and an approximate location worked out from your IP address. We do not send Umami your name, email address, or the pages and bookmarks you save.
Fonts
The site loads its fonts from Bunny Fonts. Your browser contacts Bunny directly, so Bunny receives your IP address and browser details as part of that request. Bunny Fonts does not set cookies.
Emails
We only send account emails, such as email address confirmation and password reset links. We do not send newsletters or marketing emails.
The developer also gets an internal email when someone signs up, connects a browser, finishes a first bookmark sync, or imports a bookmarks file. These emails include the account's email address, and the name for new sign-ups. For browsers, they also include the browser and source name.
Our own monitoring
The developer runs a private monitoring system, Imperiorum, which reads a daily summary from Reading Rewind. The summary holds totals, such as the number of users, saves, connected browsers, and synced tabs, and a short list of recent events. Each event shows only the time, the event type, and an internal user number such as "user:42". The summary never includes your name, email address, IP address, saved page addresses or titles, or the details stored with an event.
Who can see your data
The developer can see account and library data through an admin panel, to run the service, help you when you ask, and deal with abuse.
We do not sell your data and we do not show ads. We share data only:
- with the service providers below, and only what they need to do their job;
- with authorities, when the law requires it;
- with the websites you save, which receive a request from our server when it fetches a page. That request does not identify you.
Service providers
| Provider | What they do | Data they handle |
|---|---|---|
| Our hosting provider | Runs the servers and database for Reading Rewind | The data described in this policy |
| AhaSend | Delivers our emails | Your email address and the email content |
| Bunny Fonts | Delivers the site's fonts | Your IP address and browser details |
Deleting your data
- Single items. Deleting a save, bookmark, or synced tab removes it from your library. You can also delete bookmarks you deleted in your browser, and stale tabs, in the Cleanup Center.
- Sources. In Settings, then Sync, Delete Source deletes a browser or imported file source together with its bookmarks, folders, and synced tabs. Bookmarks that another source also links to are kept. Delete Unlinked Bookmarks deletes the bookmarks no source links to. Disconnect stops a browser from syncing but keeps its bookmarks.
- Your account. Go to Settings, then Profile, then Delete Account, and confirm with your password. This permanently deletes your account, saves, bookmarks, folders, synced tabs, browser connections, and their sync records straight away.
- What remains after you delete your account:
- shared reader copies and page addresses, which are not linked to you;
- the tag names you created, which are kept in a shared list of tag names and are no longer linked to you;
- activity log entries.
- The extension. Remove it from your browser to delete the data it keeps on your computer. Your browser's own bookmarks are not affected.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to see the data we hold about you, get a copy of it, correct it, delete it, and object to or limit a particular use of it. You can change your name and email in Settings, then Profile, and delete your account yourself at any time. There is no self-serve export yet. You may also have the right to complain to the data protection authority where you live.
Security
Passwords are stored as one-way hashes. Extension access tokens are stored as hashes. Two-factor authentication is available in Settings. The site is served over HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your data, we will tell you.
Children
Reading Rewind is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy, we update this page and the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will tell account holders by email or in the app before it takes effect.
Who runs Reading Rewind
Reading Rewind is run by the independent developer of Reading Rewind. See also our terms of service.