Privacy Policy — Zhongwen Enhanced

Last updated: 2026-06-04

Zhongwen Enhanced is a browser extension that provides a Chinese-English pop-up dictionary and Chinese-learning tools. This policy explains what data the extension handles and how.

Summary

• The extension does not have its own servers and does not collect, transmit, or sell your personal data to the developer.
• Dictionary lookups happen entirely on your device using a bundled offline dictionary (CC-CEDICT).
• Your word lists, settings, and API keys are stored locally in your browser (chrome.storage.local).
• Text is sent to a third-party AI service only when you explicitly use the optional "Break down sentence" feature, and only to the provider you selected, using your own API key.

Data stored locally on your device

The following are saved only in your browser's local extension storage and are never sent to the developer:

• Your saved words, sentences, vocabulary lists, notes, and study progress.
• Your preferences/options (theme, fonts, display settings, etc.).
• The API key(s) you optionally enter for AI providers.

You can remove this data at any time by clearing the extension's data or uninstalling the extension.

Optional AI sentence breakdown (third-party processing)

The extension includes an optional feature that produces a grammatical breakdown of a Chinese sentence using an AI model. This feature is off by default and only runs when you actively trigger it (for example via the right-click "Break down sentence" menu item).

When you use this feature:

• The selected text is sent directly from your browser to the AI provider you have configured. Supported providers are:
  • Anthropic (Claude) — privacy policy
  • Google (Gemini) — privacy policy
  • OpenAI — privacy policy
• The request is authenticated with the API key you supplied for that provider. Your key and your text are sent only to that provider's API endpoint, not to the extension developer.
• The provider's own privacy policy and terms govern how they handle the submitted text. Please review the relevant policy above.

If you never enter an API key or never use the breakdown feature, no text or data leaves your device through this extension.

Permissions

• storage — to save your word lists, settings, and API keys locally.
• tabs / contextMenus — to enable the dictionary on the active tab and provide right-click menu actions.
• Access to web pages (<all_urls>) — required so the pop-up dictionary can read the text you hover over on any page you visit. Page content is processed locally and is not transmitted, except as described in the optional AI feature above.
• Host access to the AI provider API endpoints — used only to send requests for the optional breakdown feature.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted in the project repository at github.com/Proe24/zhongwen-enhanced.

Contact

Questions can be raised via the project's issue tracker: github.com/Proe24/zhongwen-enhanced/issues.