Effective March 14, 2026

ScriptLens keeps transcript scoring local by default.

ScriptLens is a Chrome extension for desktop youtube.com/watch pages. Its single purpose is to analyze the writing style of YouTube transcripts for AI-like patterns. This policy explains what the extension accesses, what it stores, and when data may leave your device.

Local scoring Limited recovery payload No ad-tech use
Default path

Scoring runs on-device.

The normal ScriptLens flow evaluates transcript content inside the extension runtime on your device.

When recovery is enabled

Transfer stays narrow.

Custom recovery-enabled builds only send the YouTube video ID and requested language to the configured backend so it can retrieve transcript-class input.

User control

Settings and data stay manageable.

You can clear extension storage, remove the extension, or disable optional recovery in builds that expose that control.

Information accessed

What ScriptLens reads

  • Desktop YouTube watch pages on https://www.youtube.com/*
  • Transcript metadata and transcript text for the active video when available
  • Video title and description only when you explicitly allow fallback text in advanced flows
  • Extension settings, compact report metadata, and session handoff state stored through Chrome extension storage
How it is used

Why the extension uses that data

  • Show the inline Analyze video button on supported YouTube watch pages
  • Retrieve the strongest transcript path available for the active video
  • Generate a verdict, score, explanation, and transcript-quality summary for that video
  • Open the side-panel workspace when you explicitly ask for deeper review
Local storage

What ScriptLens stores locally

  • Extension settings such as sensitivity and whether optional transcript recovery is enabled
  • A short recent-report history so the popup and workspace can show prior checks
  • Dismissed UI hints and small session values used to pass the active video into the side panel
  • Optional debug summaries when debug mode is enabled

ScriptLens does not intentionally store full transcript text in its recent-report history.

Not collected

What the normal flow avoids

  • No transcript text is sent to a remote server for scoring in the default flow
  • No account login or cloud identity is required to use the extension
  • No browsing history outside supported YouTube pages is collected
  • No payment data, health data, passwords, or personal communications are collected
  • No selling of user data and no advertising use of collected data
Optional recovery service

When data can leave your device

The Chrome Web Store build is designed to work local-only. Some custom builds can use a configured hosted or self-hosted transcript recovery backend when local YouTube transcript paths do not return enough usable text. When that path is enabled and used, ScriptLens sends only:

  • the YouTube video ID
  • the requested language, if one is selected

The recovery backend may then fetch caption metadata, transcript metadata, or audio according to its own recovery policy. Scoring still runs inside the extension.

Permissions and control

Why the extension asks for permission

  • storage to save settings, recent report summaries, and small session handoff state
  • sidePanel to open the advanced workspace view when you request it
  • YouTube host access on https://www.youtube.com/* to read supported watch-page content
  • A fixed recovery-backend host permission in packaged builds that ship with hosted transcript recovery enabled
Support and policy updates

Questions about privacy or data flow?

Use the public support route if you need clarification about a specific build, a recovery configuration, or how the extension handled a YouTube video.

Support page Open an issue