Privacy Policy

Last updated

Digital Clock Online operates the website at onlinedigitalclock.com (the "Website") and the Digital Clock Online browser extension (the "Extension"). This policy explains what information each one handles, where it goes, and how you can remove it.

The Website uses a hosting provider and Google Analytics. You can contact us by email. Most Extension data stays on your device. The Extension's browser sync, YouTube, and radio features are described separately below. The Extension has no sign-in. The Extension does not send usage analytics or crash reports to Digital Clock Online. Errors stay on your device unless you choose to share them with us.

This policy describes the Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Opera versions of the Extension. Opera does not let extensions replace its start page, so on Opera the clock opens from the Extension's toolbar button. It collects and stores the same data as the other versions. On Firefox, the first search asks for Firefox's permission to send your search words to YouTube. If you say no, the search does not run, and the rest of the Extension still works.

1. Information handled by the Website

Cookies and browser storage

The Website remembers a few display choices in your browser. None of them identifies you.

  • Clock preference cookies: five cookies store whether to show seconds, 12- or 24-hour time, the clock size, the separator, and the flip clock's clean layout. They are named clock-show-seconds, clock-is-24-hour, clock-card-scale, clock-separator, and clock-clean-mode. A cookie is set only when you change that setting. Each one expires after one year. Your browser sends them with page requests, and the flip clock page reads them on the server so it opens in your chosen format.
  • Theme preference: local browser storage keeps your light, dark, or system theme choice under the key theme.
  • Homepage time comparison: local browser storage keeps the list of countries in the homepage comparison. The list starts with the United Kingdom, the United States, and France. It changes when you add or remove a country.
  • Country page time zone: on some country pages you can pick a time zone or city. Session storage keeps that choice until you close the tab.

Some pages compare their time with yours. To do that, the page reads your device's time zone in your browser. Your time zone is not sent to us or to Google Analytics.

You can remove these items through your browser's cookie and site-data controls. Removing them resets the related preferences.

Server time check

The Website's clocks check the time against our server so they stay accurate. Your browser asks the Website for the current time several times during a visit. The reply contains only the time. The Website does not store anything from these requests. Vercel handles them like any other request, as described under Website hosting below.

Google Analytics

The Website uses Google Analytics 4. It loads on every page visit. The Website does not show a consent prompt before it loads.

Google Analytics collects the pages you view and what you do on them, the page that sent you, your browser and device type, and your approximate location. It stores a random identifier in first-party cookies named _ga and _ga_<container-id>. Google sets these cookies to expire after two years, and a later visit can renew them. Google uses IP addresses during collection to work out approximate location and to protect the service. Google states that Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses.

Besides page views, the Website sends these events to Google Analytics:

  • Clicks on the Chrome Web Store, Microsoft Edge Add-ons and Firefox Add-ons buttons and links, with where on the page they were and which store
  • Clicks on the extension details link and the extension privacy link
  • Views of the extension welcome page and the uninstall page
  • Clicks on the main button of the welcome page
  • The reason you choose on the uninstall feedback form
  • Clicks on the reinstall link
  • Clicks on the Amazon offer banner, with the page it was on and which offer

The uninstall feedback form offers a fixed list of reasons and has no text box. When you send it, the reason you picked goes to Google Analytics with the rest of that visit's analytics data. The form does not ask for your name, email address, or an installation identifier.

When the Extension is installed or removed, it opens a page on the Website. That page address includes the Extension's version number and campaign tags. Google Analytics records the address like any other page address.

We keep user-level and event-level Google Analytics data for two months. Standard aggregated reports are not affected by that setting. Google signals is turned off. The Google Analytics data sharing settings are turned off. We do not send names, email addresses, or email content to Google Analytics.

We use analytics to understand how people find and use the Website and to improve its content and tools. We do not use it to build Extension profiles.

You can block Google Analytics with a content-blocking browser extension or with the tracking protection built into some browsers. Google also offers the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. You can also block cookies for this site in your browser settings, but then the clock preferences above are not saved either.

Website hosting

Vercel hosts and delivers the Website. We do not use Vercel's analytics or performance-measurement products.

To deliver and protect the Website, Vercel processes technical request information. This can include your IP address, the page requested, the time, and your browser or device type. Vercel's documentation states that the request logs available to us on our hosting plan are kept for one hour. Vercel handles this information under its own privacy policy.

Email

The Website has no contact form. You can reach us by email at digitalclockonline@gmail.com.

When you email us, we receive what you choose to send. That can include your email address, your name, your message, and any attachments. We use it to answer you.

Our inbox is a Gmail account, so Google handles these messages under the Google Privacy Policy. We keep emails until we delete them. There is no automatic deletion period.

2. Information stored by the Extension

Extension data is kept in browser storage on your device. This includes:

  • Clock, theme, and appearance settings, including the time zone you chose
  • Saved and temporary music lists in IndexedDB, and which list you last selected
  • YouTube details for the videos in your lists, such as titles, channel names, thumbnail links, and durations
  • The player volume, mute, whether the mini-player is hidden, and the music source you are listening to
  • Whether "Sync with your browser" is on, and the records it uses to merge changes

With "Sync with your browser" on, your settings and saved lists are also copied to your browser's sync storage. Section 3 describes that copy.

This data remains until you delete it in the Extension, clear it in the browser, or uninstall the Extension. Your browser's own rules for extension data also apply.

3. Browser sync

Browser sync is on by default. You can turn it off with the "Sync with your browser" switch in the Extension's settings.

While it is on, the Extension saves a copy of your clock settings to your browser's sync storage. The settings include the time zone you chose.

Your saved music lists go there too, as links rather than full copies. A list of YouTube videos you added is saved as its name and the video IDs. An imported YouTube playlist is saved as its name and its link. Any videos you added to it are saved as their IDs. A radio list is saved as its name and its stream link.

Each saved list in sync storage also has a random identifier and the time it last changed. When you delete a saved list, its identifier and the time of deletion stay there for 60 days. This lets your other computers delete the list too.

Video titles, channel names, thumbnails, and play state are not saved to sync storage. Temporary lists, the list you are playing, and the player volume also stay on this device. A saved list too large for sync storage stays on this device, and the Extension's settings say so.

Chrome copies sync storage to your other devices only if Chrome sync is turned on. Google processes Chrome sync data under the Google Privacy Policy. Firefox copies it only if you use Firefox Sync with a Mozilla account and Add-ons is selected in Firefox's Sync settings. Microsoft Edge copies it only if you are signed in to Edge and Edge sync is turned on. Microsoft processes Edge sync data under the Microsoft Privacy Statement. Opera's help pages list bookmarks, Speed Dial, history, passwords, settings and open tabs as what Opera Sync copies. They do not list extension data, so on Opera the sync copy may stay on that computer.

Turning off "Sync with your browser" stops new copies. It does not delete the copy already in sync storage.

4. YouTube search and playback

The Extension has no Google sign-in. It does not ask for access to your Google account, your YouTube account, or Google Drive.

When you search YouTube or add a YouTube link, the Extension asks YouTube's own web API for the results. It sends your search words, or the video or playlist ID from the link. It also asks YouTube for the titles of videos in your lists that do not have one yet.

These requests go from your browser to www.youtube.com. They are sent without your YouTube cookies and without sign-in. They include your device's offset from UTC, which the YouTube library adds to each request.

Playback uses YouTube's embedded player from youtube-nocookie.com. Thumbnails load from YouTube's image servers. Google and YouTube receive the connection and playback requests needed to provide the player and content. The Extension cannot upload, edit, or delete anything in your YouTube account.

Digital Clock Online has no server that receives these requests or YouTube's answers. The titles, channel names, thumbnail links, and durations that YouTube returns are saved with your lists on this device. They stay until you delete the list. Deleting Extension data does not delete data held by YouTube.

Use of YouTube features is also governed by the YouTube Terms of Service. Google processes information under the Google Privacy Policy.

If you used an earlier version

Version 1.2.1 of the Extension offered Google sign-in and Google Drive sync. Version 2.0 removes both.

When the Extension updates, it moves your settings and saved lists into its new storage. It then deletes the old Google tokens, the account link, and the old Drive sync records from this device.

The update does not revoke the access you gave version 1.2.1. You can remove it in your Google Account third-party access settings.

The update does not delete an old Google Drive backup either. If you used Drive sync, the Extension shows a one-time notice about it. To delete the backup, open Google Drive's Settings, then Manage apps. Find the Extension, open Options, and choose Delete hidden app data.

The Extension leaves version 1.2.1's browser sync records and music databases in place for now. It does not write to them. This keeps a computer still on 1.2.1 from being reset.

5. Optional radio playback

If you add and play a radio stream, the Extension connects your browser directly to the stream URL you selected. The Extension plays only streams with an https address. The stream operator can receive connection information such as your IP address, browser or player details, and request time under its own privacy practices. Digital Clock Online does not proxy or record the stream.

The stream link is saved with your lists on this device. If the station is in a saved list and browser sync is on, its link also goes to sync storage. Section 3 describes this.

6. How information is used and shared

Information is used to provide, secure, maintain, measure, and improve the products described above, answer messages, and comply with law. We do not sell personal information. We do not use Extension data for advertising or to train artificial-intelligence or machine-learning models. Information is sent only to services needed for the Website or a feature you choose:

  • Vercel: Website hosting and delivery
  • Google Analytics: Website measurement, including the events described in Section 1
  • Google (Gmail): email you send us
  • Google (Chrome sync): clock settings and saved music lists, when browser sync and Chrome sync are on
  • Mozilla (Firefox Sync): clock settings and saved music lists, when browser sync and Firefox Sync for add-ons are on
  • Microsoft (Edge sync): clock settings and saved music lists, when browser sync and Edge sync are on
  • YouTube: search words, video and playlist IDs, and playback requests, when you use YouTube in the Extension
  • A radio stream operator: only when you choose to play its stream

Vercel hosts the Website and handles its requests. It does not provide analytics for the Website. Its handling is described in the Vercel Privacy Policy. Google Analytics processes visit data under Google's terms and the Google Privacy Policy. That processing may take place in the United States.

Digital Clock Online does not operate a server that receives Extension data. We see Extension information only if you choose to include it in an email to us.

7. Information the Extension does not collect

The Extension does not collect usage analytics or send crash reports and has no content scripts. It does not read the contents of other webpages or collect your general browsing history, payment information, or precise location. It does not intentionally infer sensitive characteristics from your settings or media choices.

When you install or remove the Extension, it opens a page on the Website. The Website measures that page with Google Analytics, as described in Section 1. The Extension adds only its version number and campaign tags to the page address.

8. Retention and deletion choices

  • Website preferences: remain until they expire or you clear browser data. Clock preference cookies last up to one year. The country page time zone choice ends when you close the tab.
  • Website Google Analytics: its cookies last up to two years and may be renewed. User-level and event-level data is kept for two months. Standard aggregated reports are not affected by that setting.
  • Vercel hosting: the request logs available to us are kept for one hour, according to Vercel's documentation. Vercel keeps its own records under its privacy policy.
  • Email: kept until we delete it.
  • Extension device data: remains until you delete it, clear extension data, or uninstall the Extension. This includes the YouTube details saved with your lists.
  • Browser sync copy: is updated while "Sync with your browser" is on. Deleting a saved list removes it from the copy. A deleted list's identifier and deletion time are kept for 60 days. Turning the switch off does not delete the copy.

Uninstalling the Extension removes its data from this browser, subject to browser behavior. It also opens a short feedback page on the Website.

If you used version 1.2.1, see Section 4 for how to remove its Google access and its Drive backup. To delete information held by YouTube itself, use YouTube's own controls.

9. Security

The Website and the Extension's YouTube connections use encrypted HTTPS transport. The Extension holds no passwords or account tokens. No transmission or storage method is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

The Extension asks for two permissions. The storage permission lets it save your settings and lists. The declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess permission applies only to www.youtube.com and www.youtube-nocookie.com. The Extension uses it to change two request headers on its own requests to YouTube. It sets the Referer header that the embedded player needs. It removes the Origin header, which YouTube's web API refuses from an extension.

10. Children

The Website and Extension are general-audience services. They are not directed to children under 16 in the European Union or the United Kingdom, or to children under 13 elsewhere. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us so we can review and delete it.

11. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to ask about, access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to certain processing of your personal information. Extension data is stored on your device or in your browser's sync storage. The quickest way to remove data is usually your browser settings, or the Extension and YouTube controls described above. You can also email us, and we will respond.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the Website, Extension, providers, or legal requirements change. The date shown at the top identifies the latest revision.

13. Contact

For privacy questions, complaints, or deletion requests, email digitalclockonline@gmail.com or use the contact page.