Privacy policy
Last updated 22 September 2026
Roughcut is built so that almost nothing about you ever leaves your computer. This page lists everything that does, and why.
What stays on your computer
These are stored locally in your Chrome browser and are never sent to us:
- Your library: summaries, chapters, clips, and saved videos
- Your collections and how you've organized them
- Your settings, and the folder you choose for Markdown export
Uninstalling the extension deletes this data from Chrome. If you connected a Markdown folder, the files there are yours and are not touched.
What we receive
| Data | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
| The ID of a YouTube video you choose to analyze | To generate its summary, chapters or clips | Only while processing |
| A random install ID | To count your monthly free uses. It is generated on install and is not linked to your name, email or Google account | While you use Roughcut |
| Your IP address | To prevent abuse of the free tier. Our host, Cloudflare, processes it briefly to rate-limit requests, as any web server must. What we store is only a salted one-way hash, which cannot be reversed to recover your address — your actual IP is never written to our database | The hash is kept while needed to enforce monthly limits |
| Titles and summaries of videos you select to combine | Only when you use "Combine into one", to build the synthesis | Only while processing |
| Most-replayed timing data from the video page | To rank clips by what viewers rewatch. These are public numbers from YouTube, not about you | Only while processing |
Shared cache
When we generate a summary, we keep a copy keyed to the video, not to you, so the next person who asks about the same video gets it instantly. These cached results contain nothing about who requested them. They expire after 90 days.
What we read on YouTube
On a YouTube watch page, the extension reads the video's ID, title, channel name, and public replay data so it can label your library and find clips. It does not read your YouTube account, history, comments, subscriptions, or anything on other websites.
Who else is involved
- Google (Gemini API) analyzes the video and generates the summary. It receives the video's public URL.
- Cloudflare hosts our server.
- Dodo Payments handles Pro subscriptions. If you subscribe, they collect your name, email and payment details under their privacy policy. We never see your card number.
What we don't do
- No analytics, tracking pixels, or advertising
- No selling or sharing of data with anyone else
- No accounts — we don't know who you are unless you subscribe
Chrome Web Store
Roughcut's use of information received from Chrome APIs adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Data is used only to provide the features described above.
Your choices
You can delete any summary from your library at any time, or remove the extension to delete everything stored in Chrome. To have the usage records tied to your install ID deleted, email support@rough-cut.in.
Changes
If this policy changes in a way that affects what we collect, we'll update the date above and describe the change here.