Chrome extension
Internet Library Privacy Policy
Effective 21 October 2026 · Internet Library 0.4.0 and later
The short version
- Internet Library has no accounts, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking. The developer receives no data from it, ever.
- When you search, your search is sent straight from your browser to the search services listed below, so they can return results. That is the only data that leaves your computer.
- Your settings and your last five searches are kept on your own computer, and nowhere else.
- Nothing is sold, shared or used for anything except building your library.
What happens when you search
Internet Library turns your new tab into a library whose books are web search results. When you type a search at the library's computer, your browser sends that search directly to these services, and each one answers with results that become books on the shelves:
- www.google.com
- www.bing.com
- html.duckduckgo.com
- en.wikipedia.org
- hn.algolia.com
- api.stackexchange.com
- api.github.com
- wiby.me
- api2.marginalia-search.com
- openlibrary.org
- archive.org
- web.archive.org
- www.gutenberg.org
- www.googleapis.com (Google Books)
- api.crossref.org
- export.arxiv.org
- api.openalex.org
- api.datamuse.com
Like any website you visit, these services receive the request itself, your IP address and your browser's standard request information. What they do with it is covered by each service's own privacy policy.
Google results come from Google's own results page, which the library opens for your search in a hidden frame inside its tab. Google receives that search as it would any Google search. Your browser may include your Google cookies with it, so if you are signed in to Google, the search may be saved to your Google account according to your Google settings.
In the whole-internet mode (the Tab key at the computer), the library searches for the names of its own subjects, not for anything you typed.
When you choose a book to visit, its web page opens in a new tab, and that website's own privacy policy applies.
What is kept on your computer
These stay in your browser's storage for the extension. They are never sent anywhere, and uninstalling the extension deletes them.
| What | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Your settings | Quality, volume, mouse sensitivity and the other choices in the menu, plus the screen resolution that runs smoothly on your computer. | Until you change them or uninstall |
| Your last five searches | Shown on the library's computer so you can search them again. | Until replaced by newer searches |
| Your place in the library | Your search and where you were standing when you left to visit a book, so the Back button returns you there. | Removed as soon as you return; cleared when the tab closes |
| Recent search results | What the search services answered for your recent searches and the library's subjects, so they fill your shelves at once the next time, even in a new tab. Kept to about 150 MB. | Three days, then deleted |
| Desk textures | Pictures of the desk's wood, signs and rugs, saved after they are first drawn so later tabs open faster. They contain nothing about you. | Until you uninstall |
What the extension's permissions are used for
- Access to the search services above lets the new tab read their results. The extension asks for no other sites and cannot read the pages you browse.
- Changing network requests is used for one thing. Google forbids its results page from being shown inside another page, so for the library's own tab only, the extension removes the response headers by which Google forbids it (and the one that would report it). No other request, tab or site is affected.
- The script on Google's search pages reads result titles and links only inside the library's hidden frame. It checks for a code the library adds to the frame's address and does nothing on Google pages you open yourself.
Commitments
- Your searches are used only to build your library. They are not sold, rented or transferred to anyone for any other purpose.
- No data is used for advertising, profiling, or deciding creditworthiness or lending.
- No person, including the developer, reads your searches.
- All requests to the search services use encrypted HTTPS connections.
- The use of information received from Chrome follows the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.
Changes and questions
If what the extension does with data changes, this page will be updated before that version is released, and the effective date above will change.
For questions about this policy, use the contact details on Internet Library's Chrome Web Store listing.