Summary
Onhand does not run an analytics service, does not sell personal
information, and does not operate a separate hosted account database.
The extension stores its settings and saved study sessions in
chrome.storage.local on your device.
When you ask Onhand a question, the extension may send the relevant page content, your prompt, selected text, screenshots, voice input, or generated transcript to the AI provider you configured so the model can answer in context.
Data Onhand Handles
- Questions and instructions you type into the Onhand side panel.
- Voice input and transcripts when you start the voice tutor.
- Visible page text, selected passages, headings, URLs, and page titles.
- Optional screenshots or visible-region captures used for visual grounding.
- Highlights, margin notes, saved sessions, and replay artifacts.
- OpenAI Codex sign-in state or an OpenAI API key if you choose to save one.
Local Storage
Onhand saves extension settings, provider configuration, sessions, highlights, notes, transcripts, and captured artifacts locally in browser extension storage. Removing the extension or clearing its extension storage removes this local data.
Onhand does not intentionally upload saved sessions to an Onhand server. Provider credentials are stored by the extension so it can make user-requested model calls.
AI Providers
Onhand uses the provider you configure in the extension options page. Current OpenAI-backed modes include OpenAI Codex sign-in, direct OpenAI API key calls, and the experimental Realtime voice path.
Content sent to an AI provider is handled under that provider's terms and privacy policy. Do not use Onhand on pages whose contents you do not want sent to your configured provider.
Browser Permissions
Onhand requests browser permissions so it can work inside the page you are reading. These permissions support the side panel, active-tab reading, page annotation, PDF support, page screenshots, navigation, and user-invoked browser tools.
The extension uses powerful browser APIs, including debugging and scripting APIs, because Onhand needs to inspect and annotate the page directly. The extension should be used only when you want this page-grounded assistance.
Your Choices
- You choose when to open the side panel and ask Onhand a question.
- You choose when to start or stop the voice tutor.
- You can delete saved sessions from the extension UI or by clearing extension storage.
- You can remove provider credentials from the Onhand options page.
- You can uninstall the extension at any time from your browser's extensions page.
Contact
For privacy questions or support requests, open an issue in the Onhand GitHub repository.