Privacy Policy

July 7, 2026 · View on GitHub

Last updated: 2026-07-07

The Downloader Browser Integration extension is designed to send download links to the Downloader desktop application on your own computer. It is built to collect as little data as possible.

What the extension accesses

  • The page you're on / links you click: when you choose "Download with Downloader" (context menu or popup), or when the extension detects a media stream (video/audio/HLS) on the current tab, it reads that URL so it can hand it to the desktop app.
  • Network requests on pages you visit: the extension observes response headers to detect downloadable media (e.g. .m3u8, video/audio content types). This happens locally in your browser.
  • Cookies for a link you explicitly send: when you send a link to the app, the extension reads the cookies for that exact URL only (via the browser's cookies API) so that a site needing a signed-in session (e.g. YouTube) can be downloaded. It never reads cookies for other sites, and never reads them except at the moment you send a link.

What it does with it

  • The captured URL — and, when present, the cookies for that one URL — are sent only to the Downloader desktop app running on your own machine, over a local loopback connection (http://127.0.0.1:15151, or the next port in the small declared 15151–15155 range when that one is taken by another program). Nothing is sent to the developer or any third-party server.
  • Cookies are treated as secrets: the app writes them to a temporary file used only for that one download and deletes it immediately afterward, and neither the extension nor the app ever logs a cookie value.

What it does NOT do

  • It does not collect, store, or transmit your browsing history, personal data, or analytics.
  • It has no remote servers and makes no third-party network calls — cookies and links go only to your own local app, never off your device.
  • It does not use cookies for tracking, and does not read cookies except for a single URL you explicitly choose to send to the app.

Permissions

  • contextMenus, tabs, scripting, notifications — to add the menu, read the active tab's links on request, and show local status.
  • webRequest + host access — to detect media on the current page locally.
  • storage — to remember two local preferences (add silently vs open the app's Add dialog, and the app's last-known listen port).
  • cookies — to read the cookies for a single URL you send to the app (only at that moment), so a site that needs a signed-in session can be downloaded. Sent only to your local app, never logged, and the app deletes them right after the download attempt.
  • Host access to 127.0.0.1/localhost (ports 15151–15155 only) — to talk to the desktop app.

Contact

Questions: open an issue at https://github.com/bezzad/Downloader.Desktop/issues.