SEO Inspector privacy policy
SEO Inspector is a free, open-source Chrome extension developed by Anand Bajrangi (anandbajrangi.com). It has no servers, no accounts, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking. This policy lists everything the extension stores and every network request it can make, so you can verify those claims against the source code.
Summary
- Core SEO analysis runs locally in your browser. Page content is never sent to the developer or to anyone else; there is no SEO Inspector server to send it to.
- SEO Inspector does not collect, store or transmit your browsing history.
- It does not sell data, inject ads, or modify the pages you visit.
- It reads a page only when you ask: after you click the toolbar button (or use the keyboard shortcut) on that tab, or, if you explicitly turn on the optional “Allow on all sites”, on the tabs you switch to while the SEO Inspector side panel is open.
- Network requests to third parties happen only when you click a feature that needs one, and each is described below.
What SEO Inspector reads
When you open SEO Inspector on a tab, a script is injected into that tab to read the page’s DOM (titles, meta tags, headings, links, images, structured data, visible text, and timing entries from the browser’s Performance API). The results stay inside the extension and are shown to you. They are discarded when you close the popup or side panel, except as noted under “What is stored”.
The injected script also watches for URL changes and DOM changes on that tab so the interface can tell you the report is out of date. It only notifies the open SEO Inspector window; nothing leaves your browser.
What is stored
| Data | Where | Why | How to remove |
|---|---|---|---|
| Settings (toolbar behavior, scoring weights and thresholds, display options) | chrome.storage.sync (synced by Chrome if you use Chrome Sync) |
Remember your preferences | Change them in Settings (“Reset scoring” restores the defaults), or remove the extension |
| PageSpeed Insights API key (optional) | chrome.storage.local (this device only, never synced, never exported) |
Call the PageSpeed API on your behalf | “Remove key” in Settings, or remove the extension |
| Last PageSpeed results per URL (only if you ran one) | chrome.storage.session (memory, cleared when the browser closes) |
Avoid spending your quota twice | Close the browser |
| Last opened tab in the interface | localStorage of the extension page |
Convenience | Remove the extension |
| Score on the toolbar badge | Chrome’s per-tab badge | Optional display | Cleared when the page reloads or navigates; turn off “Show score on the toolbar icon” in Settings |
SEO Inspector stores no page content, browsing history, or analysis results beyond the session cache described above. Exported reports are files you download; they are not uploaded anywhere.
Network requests
SEO Inspector makes no network requests on its own. The following happen only when you trigger them:
| Feature | Request | Sent to | What is sent |
|---|---|---|---|
| robots.txt tool (“Fetch robots.txt”) | GET /robots.txt |
The site you are viewing | A normal request, without cookies |
| Sitemap tool (“Inspect sitemap”) | GET the sitemap URL |
The site hosting the sitemap. For another domain, Chrome first asks you to allow that one host | A normal request, without cookies |
| Header check (“Check HTTP headers”) | GET the current page URL |
The site you are viewing | A normal request with your cookies for that site, like reloading the page |
| PageSpeed Insights (“Run PageSpeed”) | Google PageSpeed Insights API (www.googleapis.com) |
The page URL, the strategy (mobile/desktop) and your API key if you added one. Google’s privacy policy applies to that request | |
| Validator links in the Schema tab | Opens a new tab | validator.schema.org or search.google.com | The page URL, because you clicked the link |
| Image thumbnails and social previews | GET image URLs referenced by the page |
The image host | A normal image request with no referrer. Turn off “Load images in previews” in Settings to disable |
| SERP preview favicon | GET the favicon URL declared by the page |
The site you are viewing | Same as above |
Fonts and all code ship inside the extension; nothing is downloaded from a CDN.
Permissions
| Permission | Purpose |
|---|---|
activeTab |
Access the current tab only after you invoke the extension on it |
scripting |
Inject the analysis script into that tab |
storage |
Save settings and the optional API key |
sidePanel |
Show SEO Inspector in Chrome’s side panel |
Optional http://*/*, https://*/* |
Only if you enable “Allow on all sites” or approve access to a sitemap’s host. You can revoke this in Settings or on chrome://extensions |
Chrome Web Store User Data Policy
SEO Inspector complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. The data it handles is used only for its single purpose, inspecting the SEO of the page you are viewing. The developer receives none of it, and it is never sold, transferred to third parties (other than the user-initiated requests listed above), used for advertising, or used to determine creditworthiness or for lending.
Children
SEO Inspector is a developer and marketing tool and is not directed at children. It collects no personal information from anyone.
Changes
When this policy changes, the “Last updated” date above changes with it and the change is listed in the extension’s changelog. Because the extension is open source, every change to data handling is visible in the code history.
Contact
SEO Inspector is developed by Anand Bajrangi. For questions about this policy, get in touch through anandbajrangi.com. Please report security problems privately through the same site rather than in a public issue.