← citecove.com

CiteCove Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 14, 2026

The short version: your research library stays on your computer. CiteCove does not track your browsing, sell data, or transmit your saved clips, notes, tags, screenshots, or PDFs. A DOI is sent to Crossref when its lookup feature runs, and minimal licensing data is sent when you activate or manage CiteCove Pro.

CiteCove is a browser extension that helps you save passages and images from webpages and PDFs and generate academic citations. This policy explains what data CiteCove handles and where it goes.

What CiteCove stores — and where

Everything you save with CiteCove lives in your browser's local extension storage on your own device:

• The text you highlight and save (your "clips")
• Source details captured with each clip (page title, web address, author, journal, date, DOI)
• Screenshots you capture
• Your collections, notes, and tags
• Your settings (citation style, toggle preferences)
• Your CiteCove Pro license key, signed entitlement, and an anonymous installation identity, if you activate Pro

Your research content is not transmitted to CiteCove and CiteCove has no research-data server or database. We have no way to see your clips. The limited DOI and licensing fields described below are the only extension data sent off-device. If you uninstall CiteCove, locally stored extension data is deleted by your browser. You can also export a backup file at any time — that file is saved to your own computer and is under your control.

This local data (including your Pro license key) is stored unencrypted in your browser profile, the same way most extensions store their data. Anyone with access to your computer account or Chrome profile could read it, so keep your device and account secured as you normally would.

Network requests CiteCove makes

CiteCove connects to the internet in these limited situations:

1. CrossRef (api.crossref.org) — CiteCove sends a DOI to CrossRef, a non-profit citation database, to fetch a publication's details (journal, volume, issue, pages, authors). This happens in two cases: (a) when you click the DOI lookup button on a clip, and (b) automatically when you open a PDF in CiteCove's PDF viewer — the viewer scans the first two pages for a DOI and, if it finds one, queries CrossRef to pre-fill the citation. Only the DOI is ever sent — no clips, no page text, no browsing history, no identifiers. See CrossRef's privacy policy at crossref.org.
2. The website hosting a PDF — when you explicitly open a remote PDF in CiteCove's built-in viewer, the viewer fetches that PDF from its original web address so it can display it. The PDF is processed locally and is not sent to CiteCove. The original website receives an ordinary request governed by that website's privacy practices.
3. CiteCove's licensing gateway (license.getrefr.com) — when you activate, refresh, or deactivate CiteCove Pro, the extension sends your license key, an anonymous installation identifier and public key, the license instance identifier, the extension version, and a signed proof of the request. The gateway uses these fields only to verify the purchase, enforce the device limit, and issue a device-bound entitlement. It is stateless: CiteCove operates no licensing database, does not log request bodies, and does not retain these fields after processing the request. The gateway never receives your clips, screenshots, URLs, notes, tags, citations, PDFs, browsing history, name, or email address.
4. Lemon Squeezy — CiteCove's licensing gateway forwards only the license key and license instance identifier needed to activate, validate, or deactivate a CiteCove Pro license. The gateway discards customer information returned by Lemon Squeezy. Purchases happen on Lemon Squeezy's checkout pages under its privacy policy. As the seller, CiteCove may see the purchaser's name, email address, order details, and license status in Lemon Squeezy for purchase support and refunds, but never receives full payment-card details.

That's the complete list. CiteCove makes no other network requests.

Internet infrastructure providers, including Cloudflare for the licensing gateway, may process technical connection information such as an IP address under their own privacy policies. CiteCove does not use that information for analytics, advertising, or user profiling.

What we don't do

• No analytics or tracking. CiteCove contains no analytics libraries, no telemetry, no usage tracking, and no crash reporting.
• No CiteCove account. The extension requires no CiteCove login or cloud profile.
• No browsing surveillance. CiteCove does not build or transmit a browsing history. It accesses selected text and source metadata when you choose to save a clip, and the PDF viewer scans the first two pages for a DOI. Saved research content stays local; only a DOI is transmitted as described above.
• No selling or sharing data. CiteCove never collects data for that purpose.

If you contact support

If you email CiteCove support, we receive the email address, message, and any information you choose to include. We use it only to answer your request and operate customer support. Do not send passwords, payment-card details, or sensitive research material. Support correspondence is retained only as long as reasonably needed for support and business records, subject to applicable law and the email provider's retention practices.

Browser permissions, in plain language

• Access to websites you visit — so the Save button can appear when you highlight text, CiteCove can capture the selected text and source metadata you choose to save, and the PDF viewer can fetch the PDF you ask it to open. Saved content remains on your device. Only a DOI is sent off-device for the lookup described above.
• Storage — to keep your clips on your device.
• Tabs — to capture a screenshot region when you ask, and to detect when you're viewing a PDF so the popup can offer CiteCove's PDF viewer.
• Downloads — to save your exports and backups via your browser's save dialog.
• Clipboard — to copy citations and images when you click a Copy button.

Children's privacy

CiteCove does not collect personal information from anyone, including children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this address with a new "Last updated" date. Changes are expected to be rare and minor.

Chrome Web Store Limited Use

CiteCove's use of information received from Chrome APIs complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. CiteCove uses data only to provide or improve its user-facing research-clipping, citation, export, backup, PDF, screenshot, and licensing features. It is not used or transferred for advertising, creditworthiness, profiling, or unrelated purposes. Humans cannot read users' saved research content because CiteCove does not transmit it.

Contact

For privacy questions or support, email support@citecove.com.