Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 2026
Explain This is a learning and reference browser extension designed to help users understand specialist terminology while browsing the web.
It can identify and highlight relevant terms, provide context-aware explanations, allow users to build a personal vocabulary, and support deeper learning through more detailed explanations and further-reading resources.
Information Explain This processes
When you use Explain This, the extension may process the term you select, a limited amount of nearby webpage text needed to understand the context in which that term appears, explanations generated or retrieved for terms, and information associated with your personal vocabulary.
Explain This does not need to send the complete contents of every webpage you visit to a cloud AI service simply because the extension is installed.
Context-aware explanations
Explain This first attempts to obtain an explanation using available cached or existing definition sources.
When an explanation needs to be generated using a cloud AI service, Explain This may send the selected term and a limited amount of nearby webpage text to the service. This context is used to help determine the intended meaning of the term and produce a relevant explanation.
Explain This may also use cloud services for learning features such as more detailed explanations and further-reading functionality. Information sent to these services will be limited to what is required to provide the feature requested by the user.
On-device AI
On supported devices, Explain This may use on-device AI capabilities to generate explanations locally.
When an explanation is generated entirely on the device, the text used for that generation does not need to be sent to Explain This's cloud AI service for that purpose. The availability of on-device AI depends on the user's device and browser capabilities.
Cloud services
Explain This uses third-party infrastructure and AI services where necessary to provide its features. These currently include Supabase, which provides backend services, and Groq, which provides cloud AI processing for explanations.
When cloud AI is required, the selected term and relevant contextual text may therefore be processed by these services for the purpose of producing the requested explanation.
Personal vocabulary and accounts
Users can save terms and explanations to a personal vocabulary. Account and vocabulary information may be stored using Explain This's backend services so that a user's vocabulary can be available when they sign in again or use supported synchronization features.
Passwords are not stored by the browser extension itself. Authentication is handled through the authentication service used by Explain This.
Local storage
Explain This uses browser storage to support features such as cached explanations, vocabulary information and extension state.
Caching explanations can make previously encountered terms available more quickly and reduce unnecessary AI requests.
How information is used
Information processed by Explain This is used to provide and improve the functionality requested by the user, including identifying terminology, retrieving or generating explanations, maintaining a personal vocabulary, synchronizing supported account data, and providing learning features such as deeper explanations and further-reading resources.
Explain This does not use user information for advertising and does not sell user information.
Data sharing
Information is shared with service providers only where necessary to operate the relevant Explain This feature, such as backend hosting, account functionality or generating a requested cloud explanation.
Explain This does not sell personal information to third parties.
Changes to this policy
Explain This is currently under development. Its features may change as the extension develops, including its AI, vocabulary, detailed-explanation and further-reading features.
This Privacy Policy will be updated when necessary to reflect material changes in how information is processed.
Contact
Questions about this Privacy Policy or the handling of information by Explain This can be sent to: