Privacy and security are top priorities

1. Information We Collect

We collect data to provide the analytics you request, operate and secure your account, communicate with you, and improve the Service. Some of it you give us directly; some is collected automatically as you use the Service; and some is retrieved from the YouTube API Services on your behalf.

1.1 Information You Provide

When you create or manage an account, or contact us, you may provide:

• Account and profile information - your name or username, email address, and password (which we store only in hashed form).
• Billing information - if you subscribe to a paid plan, your billing details are collected and processed by our third-party payment processor (see Section 4.3). We do not store full payment card numbers on our servers.
• Communications - the content of messages you send us (for example, support requests), along with your email address and our replies.
• Tracking lists and preferences - the channels you choose to monitor, competitor lists you create, and settings you configure within the Service.

1.2 YouTube Data and Google Account Information

The core of YTinspector is YouTube analytics. To deliver it, we retrieve data from the YouTube API Services, including:

• Public channel and video data for the channels you track - for example, channel statistics (subscriber counts, view counts, video counts), video metadata (titles, tags, descriptions, publish dates, topic categories), and engagement metrics.
• Historical snapshots - we periodically capture metrics for the channels you track and store them over time so you can view trends, growth, and historical performance.

If you choose to connect your own Google or YouTube account, we may also access information associated with that account as needed to provide the features you request (for example, retrieving analytics for a channel you own). We only request the minimum scope of access necessary, and we never access, store, or share Google user data beyond what is required to operate the features you use.

You can revoke YTinspector's access to your Google account at any time - see Section 2 below.

1.3 Automatically Collected Usage and Device Information

Like most websites, we automatically collect technical information when you use the Service. This may include your IP address, browser type and language, referring and exit pages, device and operating system details, the pages you view, links you click, and the date, time, and duration of your visits.

• Cookies and similar technologies. We use cookies and similar technologies ("Cookies") to keep you signed in, remember your preferences, secure your session, understand how the Service is used, and improve your experience. If you disable Cookies, some features (particularly those requiring sign-in) may not work properly. See Section 7 for your cookie choices.
• Pixels and analytics tags. We may use small graphics ("Pixels," sometimes called web beacons) embedded in pages or emails to understand whether emails are opened and how the Service is used, for statistical and product-improvement purposes.

1.4 Information from Other Sources

We may receive information about you from service providers and partners - for example, our payment processor, analytics providers, or authentication providers - and combine it with information we already hold to operate, secure, and improve the Service.

1.5 Location Information

We may infer your approximate location (such as your country or region) from your IP address to understand how the Service is used and to help comply with regional legal requirements. We do not collect precise GPS location.

2. How We Use YouTube API Services

YTinspector uses YouTube API Services. This section is in addition to the rest of this Privacy Policy and governs our use of YouTube data.

• By using YTinspector, you agree to be bound by the YouTube Terms of Service, available at https://www.youtube.com/t/terms.
• Our use and transfer of information received from the YouTube API Services adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
• Please also review the Google Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy, which describes how Google handles your information.

What we access. We retrieve public channel and video data, statistics, and metadata for the channels you track. Where you connect your own Google or YouTube account, we access only the data needed to provide the specific features you request.

How we use it. We use YouTube data solely to provide and improve YTinspector's analytics features - including channel statistics, historical snapshots, trend analysis, and competitor comparison. We do not use YouTube data for advertising, and we do not sell it.

How long we keep it. We retain historical snapshots of public channel statistics, and the metrics we calculate from them, for up to 36 months so you can view performance over time. Other YouTube content (titles, descriptions, creator names, thumbnails and comment text) is refreshed or deleted within 30 days. See Section 6 for details.

Revoking access. You can revoke YTinspector's access to your Google account at any time by visiting the Google security settings page at https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions. You may also delete your YTinspector account to remove your stored data, subject to the retention exceptions in Section 6.

3. Third-Party Analytics Providers

We may use third-party analytics providers (such as Google Analytics) to understand how the Service is used. These providers use Cookies and similar technologies to collect usage information - for example, pages viewed, time spent, browser and device type, and IP address. Their handling of your information is governed by their own privacy policies:

• Google Analytics - Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy. You can opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

4. How We Use Your Information

4.1 General

We use the information described above to:

• Provide, operate, and maintain the Service and the analytics features you request.
• Create, secure, and manage your account.
• Process subscriptions and payments.
• Communicate with you, respond to inquiries, and provide support.
• Personalize and improve the Service, including developing new features.
• Conduct research, testing, and analysis to improve performance and reliability.
• Detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, security incidents, and technical issues.
• Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from authorities.
• Carry out a business transfer as described in Section 5.4.

4.2 Account-Related Emails

When you create an account, we may use your email address to send Service-related notices (including any legally required notices), updates, and - where permitted - news and product messages. Marketing emails include an unsubscribe link, and you can adjust your preferences in your account settings. Even if you opt out of marketing emails, we may still send essential service messages about your account.

4.3 Payment Processors

If you subscribe to a paid plan, your payment is handled by a third-party payment processors These processors have their own privacy policies, which govern how they handle your payment information. We recommend reviewing them at the links provided during checkout. We do not store full payment card details on our servers.

4.4 De-Identified and Aggregated Information

We may use de-identified or aggregated information - which does not identify any individual - to operate, analyze, and improve the Service. If we combine de-identified information with personal information, we treat the combined data as personal information.

5. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only as described below, and where we share it with service providers, we require them by contract to keep it confidential and use it only to perform services for us.

5.1 Service Providers

We share information with vendors who help us operate the Service - for example, cloud hosting, database hosting, payment processing, analytics, email delivery, and customer support providers - strictly to the extent needed to perform those services.

5.2 No Sale of Personal Information

We do not sell personal information, and we have not sold personal information.

5.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose information where we believe in good faith it is necessary to comply with applicable law, a court order, or a lawful government request; to enforce our Terms of Service; or to protect the rights, safety, or property of YTinspector, our users, or others. Where permitted by law, we will attempt to notify you of any legal request for your information.

5.4 Business Transfers

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will require any recipient to honor the commitments in this Privacy Policy.

5.5 Disclaimer

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. While we work hard to protect your information, we cannot guarantee that it will never be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by a breach of our safeguards.

6. Data Retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service, and afterward only as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and maintain security. When you delete your account, we delete or de-identify your personal information, subject to the exceptions above.

YouTube data. Consistent with YouTube's API Services policies, we apply the following retention rules to data obtained through the YouTube API:

• Statistics and calculated metrics. Public statistics (such as view, like, comment and subscriber counts) and the metrics we calculate from them (such as views-per-hour, outperformer, velocity, acceleration and engagement scores) are retained for up to 36 months to support long-term trend analysis.
• Other YouTube content. Video titles, descriptions, creator names, thumbnail image URLs, tags and comment text are refreshed or deleted within 30 days.
• Re-verification. At least every 30 days we re-verify that videos whose statistics we retain still exist, and that any authorization you granted us remains valid; data for deleted videos or revoked authorizations is removed.
• Deletion on request. You may ask us to delete the data we store about you, and you can delete your account from your account settings. We action such requests within 7 days. Deleting data here does not delete anything on YouTube - to remove data on YouTube, use YouTube directly.

7. Your Privacy Rights and Choices

7.1 General Choices

You can always decline to provide personal information, though some features may not work without it - for example, we cannot provide analytics for a channel you own without the relevant Google account access. You can update your account information and communication preferences in your account settings, and revoke Google account access as described in Section 2.

7.2 European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland (GDPR)

If you are located in the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland, you have the following rights regarding your personal information, subject to applicable law:

• The right to withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent.
• The right to access your personal information and request a copy.
• The right to correct inaccurate information.
• The right to erase your personal information.
• The right to data portability.
• The right to restrict or object to processing.

You may exercise these rights free of charge by emailing contact@ytinspector.com. We may need to verify your identity first. If you are in the EEA, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local Data Protection Authority; if you are in the UK, with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Legal bases. Where the GDPR applies, we process personal information on the basis of: performance of our contract with you (to provide the Service); your consent (for example, certain marketing or cookies); our legitimate interests (such as securing and improving the Service); and compliance with legal obligations.

7.3 California (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to:

• Know the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the sources, the purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties we share it with.
• Delete personal information we collected from you, subject to legal exceptions.
• Correct inaccurate personal information.
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information - note that we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under California law.
• Non-discrimination - we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

To exercise these rights, email contact@ytinspector.com with "California Privacy Rights" in the subject line. We will verify your request before responding and aim to respond within the timeframes required by law. You may use an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf.

7.4 Cookie and Tracking Choices

Most browsers accept Cookies by default, but you can set yours to refuse Cookies or to alert you when one is sent. Some features (particularly those requiring sign-in) may not function properly if Cookies are disabled. Because "Do Not Track" signals are not yet uniform across browsers, the Service does not currently respond to them.

8. Security

We use physical, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect your information, including encryption of data in transit using TLS/SSL or similar technologies, hashed storage of passwords, and access controls on our systems and databases. No safeguard is perfect, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a breach affecting your personal information occurs, we will take reasonable steps to investigate and will notify you where required by applicable law.

9. International Users and Data Transfers

YTinspector is operated from different countries, and your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in United States and other countries where we or our service providers operate. These countries may have data protection laws different from those in your country. By using the Service, you consent to the transfer and processing of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) for international transfers.

10. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at contact@ytinspector.com and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

11. Third-Party Links

The Service may contain links to third-party websites and services, including YouTube and Google. We are not responsible for the content, features, or privacy practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party site or service you visit.

12. YTinspector Browser Extension

We offer a browser extension (the "Extension") that overlays YouTube analytics - outlier scores, performance statistics, and title/thumbnail change history - directly on youtube.com. This section describes exactly what the Extension processes and transmits. It applies in addition to the rest of this Privacy Policy.

12.1 What the Extension Processes

• Sign-in. The Extension requires a YTinspector account (Google sign-in). It stores authentication tokens in your browser's extension storage so you stay signed in; they are removed when you sign out or uninstall the Extension.
• Publicly visible YouTube data, processed in your browser. To render badges and statistics, the Extension reads publicly visible information from the YouTube pages you view (for example, video titles and view counts) and computes scores locally. To fetch known scores, it sends the video and channel identifiers currently on your screen to our servers. This is required for the Extension to function.
• Cached analytics. Scores and settings are cached in your browser's extension storage to keep YouTube fast; caches expire automatically.

12.2 Optional, Opt-In Contribution of Public Video Statistics

The Extension has an optional "Contribute public video stats" setting, off by default. If - and only if - you turn it on, the Extension sends us publicly visible statistics of videos shown on pages you browse: the video ID, channel ID, view count, video title, thumbnail address, and the time of observation. We use these contributions solely to improve the shared analytics database that powers features like outlier scores and view-history charts for all users.

Contributions never include your watch history as such, your search queries, page URLs beyond the video identifiers, private or unlisted content, or any information about you personally beyond the association with your account needed for abuse prevention. You can turn the setting off at any time in the Extension popup; the Extension is fully functional without it.

12.3 Error Reports

If the Extension encounters an error, it sends us a first-party error report (the error message, technical stack trace, and Extension version). We use these solely to fix defects. The Extension contains no third-party analytics or advertising SDKs.

12.4 What the Extension Does Not Do

• It does not read or transmit pages outside youtube.com.
• It does not collect your YouTube watch history, searches, or comments.
• It does not sell or share your data for advertising; see Section 5.2.
• It communicates only with youtube.com (the page you are already on) and our own API at api.ytinspector.com.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

Because our practices and applicable law evolve, we may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the Effective Date above and, where appropriate, notify you (for example, by posting a notice on the Service or emailing you). Your continued use of the Service after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information, please contact us: