Privacy policy

Purpose Ratio is made by Chain Bridge Labs. Questions about this policy, or about your data, go to support@purposeratio.com.

The free version of the extension does not see what you do inside the sites you track -- only when a tracked site opens and closes, and what you chose to give it. Today it also makes no network requests of any kind: no analytics, no error reporting, no telemetry, nothing sent on install, on use, or in the background. Everything below lives in your browser's local storage (chrome.storage.local) and is readable only by the extension, on your device.

It can occasionally offer you a link to a survey, a store review, or a conversation. Those open only if you click them, they carry nothing but which invitation you clicked, and there is no identifier of any kind in them.

What it stores, and why:

• The sites you choose to track. Nothing is tracked by default. Each site is one you added yourself, and Chrome asks you to confirm access to that site specifically before it's added.
• Sessions. For each visit to a tracked site: the site's name, when it started, how long it lasted, the purpose you typed when you opened it, and your answer (yes / kind of / no, and anything you added) when you left. The purpose text is stored exactly as you typed it, and it powers Purpose Ratio's own features -- recalling it when you return, and, over time, showing you your own patterns. It is not sold or shared, and it leaves your device only in a plan or feature you've explicitly opted into, such as a paid plan that syncs or analyzes your history.
• Settings. Your tracked-site list, display names, and preferences.
• A diagnostic log ("Options → Diagnostics"), recording site names, timestamps, and whether time was counting at each moment -- built so you can see what happened if something looks wrong, and safe to hand to someone else for help because of what it deliberately leaves out: it does not record what you typed, not your purposes, not your notes, and no page content or addresses beyond the site name you already granted access to. Capped at the most recent 500 events, downloadable, and clearable at any time.

What it doesn't do:

• Read the words on a page, anything you type outside its own prompts, or your browsing on sites you have not explicitly added.
• Read your video's picture or sound. To keep timing accurate while you watch something, it checks whether a sufficiently large video on a tracked page is currently playing or paused -- nothing about what the video shows.
• Sell or share anything it stores, with anyone.
• Send your sessions, purposes, answers, or history anywhere without your explicit opt-in -- for example, a paid plan that syncs or analyzes them for you.
• Use cookies, device fingerprinting, or any cross-site tracking.

What the browser permissions are for:

• Storage -- saving your tracked sites, sessions, and settings, on your device.
• Alarms -- a periodic internal check (about once a minute while something is being tracked) that keeps timing accurate even after the browser puts the extension to sleep. Sends nothing anywhere.
• Idle detection -- noticing when you've stepped away from the keyboard and mouse, so time isn't silently counted while you're not there.
• Scripting -- showing the "what are you here for?" prompt directly on a page, only on sites you've added, not elsewhere.
• Side panel -- displaying your dashboard.
• Access to a specific site -- requested individually, at the moment you add that site, and only for that site. It's what lets the extension notice when a tab on that site opens and closes.

Your controls:

• Export a full backup at any time (Options → Export), as a plain JSON file you keep.
• Import a backup back in; existing sessions are not overwritten.
• Remove a tracked site at any time; past sessions for it are kept, since removing a site is a different decision from deleting your history.
• Download or clear the diagnostic log at any time.
• Uninstalling the extension deletes everything. There is no server copy. An export beforehand is the only way to keep a copy of your own data.

Like the extension, the Android app does not see what you do inside the apps you track -- only when a tracked app opens and closes, and what you chose to give it. It makes no network requests of any kind: no analytics, no telemetry, nothing sent on install, on use, or in the background, and no automatic error reporting. If the app crashes, it writes a technical stack trace -- code locations only, not what you typed -- to the on-device diagnostic log below, and that stays on your phone unless you choose to share it. (Google Play itself may record crashes and ANRs if you have usage & diagnostics turned on in your device settings; that is Google's, under your control, not something the app sends.) Everything below is stored on your phone, readable only by the app.

What it stores, and why:

• The apps you choose to track. Nothing is tracked by default. Each one is an app you added yourself, from your own recent or installed apps.
• Sessions. For each visit to a tracked app: the app's name, when it started, how long it lasted, the purpose you typed when you opened it, and your answer (yes / kind of / no) when you left. The purpose text is stored exactly as you typed it, and it powers Purpose Ratio's own features -- recalling it when you return, and, over time, showing you your own patterns. It is not sold or shared, and it leaves your device only in a plan or feature you've explicitly opted into, such as a paid plan that syncs or analyzes your history. An unanswered session is kept for 3 days in case you come back to answer it, then dropped automatically.
• Settings. Your tracked-app list, display names, and preferences.
• A diagnostic log (Settings → Diagnostics), recording app names, timestamps, and whether time was counting at each moment -- plus a stack trace if the app has crashed -- built so you can see what happened if something looks wrong. It does not record what you typed, not your purposes, not your notes. Capped at the most recent 500 events, viewable and clearable at any time, and it leaves your device only if you choose to share it.

What it doesn't do:

• Read what's on your screen inside a tracked app, or notice anything about apps you have not explicitly added.
• Sell or share anything it stores, with anyone.
• Send your sessions, purposes, answers, or history anywhere without your explicit opt-in -- for example, a paid plan that syncs or analyzes them for you.

What the permissions are for:

• Usage Access -- noticing when an app you've chosen to track opens or closes, so it can ask what you're there for and later confirm whether it matched. Does not read what's on screen inside another app.
• Notifications -- one ongoing notification showing what's counting right now (including the purpose you typed, shown back to you), and a prompt to confirm each session when it ends. Both are marked sensitive, so Android can hide their text on your lock screen if your phone is set to hide sensitive content.
• Display over other apps -- shows the "what are you here for?" prompt directly over a tracked app the moment it opens. Only a small card near the top of the screen; the app underneath stays fully visible and usable.
• Background/foreground service -- keeps the measurement running so timing stays accurate even when you're not looking at Purpose Ratio itself.
• Battery optimization exemption -- requested during setup so Android's battery management doesn't silently pause measuring during normal idle periods.
• Restart after reboot -- so measurement resumes automatically after your phone restarts, instead of staying silently off until you reopen the app.
• Viewing installed app names -- used only to show a readable name and icon for apps that already show up in your own usage history when you're choosing what to track. Not used to build or send a list of what's installed on your phone.

Your controls:

• Export a full backup at any time (Settings → Export), as a plain JSON file you keep.
• Import a backup back in; existing sessions are not overwritten.
• Remove a tracked app at any time; past sessions for it are kept, since removing an app is a different decision from deleting your history.
• View, share, or clear the diagnostic log at any time.
• Uninstalling the app deletes everything. There is no server copy. An export beforehand is the only way to keep a copy of your own data.

Separate from the extension, and collects more, because it runs on a server rather than only in your browser.

• Joining the waitlist stores your email address, which page or link you signed up from, and, if you answer it, which of a fixed set of reasons brought you here. We use this to email you about early access and to understand what people want built. It's handled by Loops, our email provider, acting as our processor.
• Page analytics. The site uses Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights to see which pages get read and how fast the site loads. Both are cookieless and are not tied to your identity.
• We do not sell this data or share it with advertisers.

Purpose Ratio does not have a paid tier yet. If one launches, it would involve sending some of your data to a server so it can be synced or analyzed there, a genuinely different data practice from the free tier described above, and it would require your explicit opt-in. This policy will be updated to describe exactly what that tier stores, before it processes anything. Purpose Ratio does not capture what you did inside a tracked site or app, so that is not part of what it sends; what you've typed and answered is sent only where you've explicitly opted in, a paid plan being the expected example.

Purpose Ratio is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.

If this policy changes, the effective date above will change with it. Material changes will also be noted in the extension's release notes.