Why does a currency extension need access to websites?
Chrome's warning "Read and change all your data on all websites" sounds alarming, and it is fair to ask why an exchange rate tool needs it. The reason is the hover card: to show a price in your currency on any shop, booking site or invoice, the extension has to read the text where you point and draw a card next to it. Chrome has no narrower permission for "any site the user happens to read".
What the extension does with that access is limited:
- it looks only at the text around the place you hover or select;
- recognition and conversion run on your computer;
- it does not change prices or anything else on the page — the card sits on top and disappears;
- it runs only in the main page, not inside embedded frames;
- you can switch it off for one site, or for all sites, from the board.
Permissions, one by one
| Permission (as Chrome names it) | Why Exchange Rate needs it |
|---|---|
| Read and change data on all websites | Find a price where you point or select, and show the card next to it |
| Storage | Keep your board, settings and alerts |
| Alarms | Download fresh rates once an hour and check your alerts |
| Side panel | Open the board next to the page |
| Context menus | "Convert" in the right-click menu of a selection; on/off in the icon's menu |
| Scripting | Start working in tabs that were already open when you installed it |
| Notifications (optional) | Tell you when a rate reaches your target; asked with your first alert |
What is stored, and where
| Data | Where | Deleted |
|---|---|---|
| Currencies on your board, language, theme, decimals | Chrome's extension storage (synced if you use Chrome Sync) | When you remove the extension |
| Sites where it is off, what "$" means on a site | Same | Same |
| Rate alerts (pair and target) | Same | When the alert fires, when you remove it, or with the extension |
| Last downloaded rates | Chrome's local extension storage | Replaced every hour; removed with the extension |
What is sent to our server
| Request | Contains | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange rates, once an hour | Nothing about you or your pages | To keep the board and the card current |
| Country lookup, once at install | Your IP address, as in any web request | To put your own currency on the board |
The rate server is operated by PayForSay s. r. o.. The country is looked up on that server and not stored. Like any web server, it keeps a short technical log of requests for security; see the privacy policy.
What is not collected
- the addresses and content of the pages you visit;
- the prices you hover over and the amounts you type;
- accounts, e-mail addresses or payment details — there are none.
No ads, no selling of data, no tracking across sites. Questions: info.hotpancake@gmail.com or the contact page.