Your codes stay on your computer
Barcode Reader turns a barcode you can see - on a page, in a file, or in front of your camera - into a number you can copy. Scan results stay on your device, and no account is required. When you first install the extension, the welcome page sends one install event with a random client ID, the product name, and the extension version through this site, which derives the country from the connection and stores nothing. The event contains no barcode value, screenshot, or file. The extension may request pictures already on a page you asked it to scan. Optional uninstall and low-rating feedback open the hosted pages described below.
What stays on your device
Everything the extension touches stays on this device:
- The codes you scan. Decoded numbers are kept in a local list so you can copy them or export them to a CSV file, together with where each came from (tab, file name, page number, camera) and when. The list holds the 300 most recent results and is capped at 1 MB; older entries fall off.
- Screenshots of the tab. When you scan the visible tab or select an area, the picture is held in local browser storage only long enough for the decoder to read it. It is deleted as soon as it has been read. If a scan is interrupted, the leftover picture stops being usable after 150 seconds and is erased the next time the extension takes a screenshot, or when you remove it.
- Images and PDFs you choose. A file you pick is held in local browser storage just long enough to hand it to the decoder, and is removed when it is read. If you pick a file and then close the window without scanning it, it stops being used after ten minutes and is erased the next time you open a file, or when you remove the extension.
- Camera. Frames are decoded as they arrive and are never written anywhere. The camera runs only while you have the camera source open, and stops when you leave it.
- Your settings. Small preferences, kept by the browser.
Clear clears the list. Removing the extension removes everything it stored. One thing is never kept at all: if a decoded value starts with the AAMVA file header ANSI (US/Canada driver-licence PDF417, optionally after the documented control prefix), the extension shows it to you and lets you copy it, but it is never written to the list and never exported. Ordinary PDF417 and other identity documents without that header are not classified this way.
Legal bases
Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we process data on the basis of your consent and to perform the feature you asked for (for example, we process what you scan only to give you the number you asked for, because that is the feature you started). You can withdraw consent at any time by stop using a source, or remove the extension.
Retention and deletion
- Decoded results: until you press Clear, or until they fall off the 300-item list, or until you remove the extension.
- Tab screenshots: deleted as soon as they are decoded. An interrupted one expires after 150 seconds and is erased on the extension's next screenshot, on overwrite, or when you remove the extension.
- Camera frames: not retained at all.
- Files you choose: removed when the decoder reads them; an unused one expires after ten minutes and is erased when you next open a file, or on uninstall.
- On our side: nothing. We have no copy of any of it.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you have rights over your personal data:
- GDPR / UK GDPR: access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, withdrawing consent, and lodging a complaint with a supervisory authority (such as the ICO).
- CCPA / CPRA (California): to know, access, delete, and correct your data, and to not be discriminated against for exercising these rights. We do not sell or share your personal information.
Because everything lives on your own computer, you can exercise most of these yourself: the list is in front of you, Clear deletes it, and Export CSV is your copy of it. If you would still like to make a request or ask a question, write to us and we will answer.
Analytics and optional feedback
The welcome page sends one install event on a first installation through this site, which derives the country from the connection and stores nothing. It contains a random client ID, the product name, and the extension version. The hosted goodbye and rating pages send analytics page-open events used to count removals and rating visits by country. These events do not include barcode values, screenshots, or files.
If you submit optional feedback after a low rating or removal, we receive the reason you choose, any comment, the extension version, and the interface language. The feedback response does not include your name, email address, install identifier, or IP address. Comments are delivered to us through Telegram so we can read them. Submissions without a comment are stored only as counts. We do not sell this information.
Security
The extension sends nothing it scanned anywhere. The decoder is bundled inside the extension, so no code is fetched from the internet while it runs. If you remove the extension, Chrome opens the hosted goodbye page. Choosing 1-3 stars in the rating row opens the hosted rating page. Choosing 4-5 stars opens this item's Chrome Web Store reviews page. The hosted pages receive no barcode values, screenshots, or files. Your results are protected by your browser profile, the same way the rest of your browsing data is.
Children
Barcode Reader is intended for users 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
What we do not do
- No accounts, no sign-up, no subscription.
- No advertising and no ad networks.
- Analytics are limited to welcome and optional feedback page events; no scan data is included.
- We do not sell or share your data.
- A decoded link is never opened on its own. Nothing happens to a result until you press Copy.
Limited Use
The use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above. The current version always lives here.