Privacy Policy for ReadThis - Text to Speech Reader
Last Updated: September 27, 2026 (version 3.4.0: natural voices)
Overview
ReadThis is a text-to-speech Chrome extension that reads webpage content aloud using your browser's built-in voices or, if you choose them, natural voices that run entirely on your device. We do not collect, transmit, or share any personal data.
Data Collection
What We Store Locally
ReadThis stores the following data locally on your device only:
- User Preferences: Voice selection, playback speed, pitch, volume, theme, and other settings (stored in Chrome's sync storage for cross-device sync if you have Chrome Sync enabled)
- Reading Bookmarks: Page positions you choose to save so you can resume reading later (stored in Chrome's sync storage)
- Usage Counters: Local-only counters for pages read and words processed (stored in Chrome's local storage, never transmitted externally)
What We Do NOT Collect
- Browsing history or page content
- Personal information (name, email, etc.)
- Analytics or telemetry sent to external servers
- Cookies or tracking data
- Location data
- Financial or health information
- Authentication credentials
- Any data transmitted to third parties
How the Extension Works
- When you trigger reading (via extension icon, keyboard shortcut, or right-click menu), the extension extracts visible text from the current webpage
- The text is processed locally to split it into sentences
- The text is spoken by the voice you picked:
- Browser voices use your browser's built-in Web Speech API. Voices supplied by your operating system run on your device. Some voices supplied by Chrome (for example those named "Google …") are online voices: Chrome itself sends the sentence being spoken to its speech service. ReadThis does not send it anywhere.
- Natural voices (optional, English) are generated by the Kokoro-82M speech model running inside the extension on your device. The page text is never sent anywhere.
- ReadThis itself never sends page text or any other data off your device
Permissions Explained
| Permission | Purpose |
|---|---|
activeTab |
Access the current tab's content when you request it to be read aloud |
storage |
Save your preferences and bookmarks locally |
contextMenus |
Add "Read with ReadThis" to the right-click menu |
scripting |
Inject the reading interface into webpages when needed |
offscreen |
Run the on-device natural voice model and play its audio in a hidden extension page (only when you choose a natural voice) |
Content Script
The extension uses a content script that runs on all webpages to enable text-to-speech functionality. This script:
- Is completely idle until you explicitly trigger reading
- Does not read, collect, or transmit any page content on its own
- Only processes text when you click play, use a keyboard shortcut, or select the context menu option
- Speaks with your browser's voices or with the on-device natural voice — it never sends page text to any server
Third-Party Services
ReadThis does not send your data to any third-party service, API or server.
Natural voice download: the first time you use a natural voice, ReadThis downloads the voice model files (about 160–330 MB, depending on your device) and the voice you picked from Hugging Face (huggingface.co), a public model host. This is a plain file download: no page text, settings or personal data are included in the request. Like any web download, Hugging Face can see your IP address. The files are then stored in the extension's browser cache, so later use works offline. All program code, including the speech engine, ships inside the extension; nothing executable is downloaded.
Data Security
- All data remains on your device
- Settings sync only via Chrome's built-in encrypted sync storage
- No external network requests, except the one-time natural voice model download described above (files only, no user data)
- No server-side processing
- No remote code execution
Your Rights
- You can clear all extension data by removing the extension
- You can view stored data via Chrome DevTools (Application > Storage)
- No account or registration is required
- No data deletion requests needed — we don't have your data
Children's Privacy
ReadThis does not knowingly collect any information from children or any other users. The extension processes all data locally and does not transmit any information externally.
Contact
For privacy questions or concerns: - Email: hello@favabeans.app
Changes to This Policy
We will update this policy as needed. The "Last Updated" date at the top indicates the most recent revision.
Summary: ReadThis processes everything locally on your device. We collect no personal data. The only network request ReadThis makes is the optional one-time download of the natural voice model files, which contains none of your data.