Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 2, 2026

YouTube Collector ("we", "us", "our") operates the YouTube Collector web application. This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our service.

1. Information We Collect

Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your email address and a hashed version of your password. If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name and email from the OAuth provider. We never store your Google or Apple password.

Video Data: When you add a YouTube video to your library, we store the video URL, metadata (title, channel, duration), transcript, and AI-generated summary. This data is associated with your account.

Usage Data: We collect basic usage information such as pages viewed, videos added, and features used. With your consent (if you are in the UK, EEA, or Switzerland), we use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to aggregate this — see the Cookies section below.

Apps and browser extension: The YouTube Collector iPhone, iPad and Android apps and the Chrome extension use the same account and store the same data as this website. The apps keep you signed in with a session cookie on your device. The extension uses your existing sign-in on this website and never sees your password; when you choose to save a video, it sends that video's address (URL) to youtubecollector.com. The apps and the extension do not read the other pages you visit, do not track your browsing, and contain no advertising or third-party analytics.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To provide and maintain the service
• To manage your account and personalize your experience
• To process transcripts and generate AI summaries
• To populate the community library (video metadata only, not your personal notes)
• To enforce free tier limits and manage subscriptions
• To communicate with you about your account or service updates

3. Community Library

When you add a video, its metadata (title, channel, duration, transcript, summary) may be shared in the community library so other users can benefit from cached transcripts. Your personal notes, tags, and collections are never shared.

4. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored in a PostgreSQL database hosted by Supabase (EU region). Passwords are hashed using bcrypt. All connections use SSL/TLS encryption. We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties.

5. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

• YouTube/Google: To fetch video metadata and transcripts via public APIs
• OpenRouter: To generate AI summaries (transcript text is sent to the LLM provider)
• Supabase: Database hosting
• Railway: Application hosting
• Stripe: Payment processing (if enabled). Stripe handles all payment data; we never see your full card number.
• Google/Apple: OAuth sign-in (if used)
• Google Analytics 4: Aggregate site analytics (page views, sessions, referrers). Loaded only with your consent in the UK / EEA / Switzerland. Loaded by default in regions where consent is not legally required. Google Analytics may set the cookies _ga and _ga_<property> (typical lifetime 2 years). See Google's cookie policy and Google's GA opt-out tool.
• Microsoft Clarity: Session recordings and click/scroll heatmaps of how the website is used, so we can find and fix confusing pages. Consent-gated exactly like Google Analytics (loaded only with your consent in the UK / EEA / Switzerland). Clarity stores a pseudonymous ID in first-party cookies (_clck, _clsk) and Microsoft may set its own cookies (CLID, MUID, ANONCHK, MR, SM). See Microsoft's Clarity cookie list and the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
• Cloudflare: CDN and DDoS protection. Cloudflare sees your IP address to route traffic and applies its own security cookies (e.g. __cf_bm) which are strictly necessary for the site to work.

6. Data Retention

Your account data is retained as long as your account is active. You can delete your account yourself at any time at youtubecollector.com/account/delete (also linked from the app menu as "Delete account"). Deletion is immediate: your account, library, collections, credit history and agent tokens are removed from our live database straight away, and any subscription is cancelled. Copies in our database backups are overwritten as those backups rotate. Activity logs are kept with your name, email and IP address removed, and community library contributions (anonymized video metadata and transcripts) may be retained.

7. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Correct inaccurate data
• Delete your account and data (self-serve)
• Export your video library (JSON format via the app)
• Object to processing of your data

To exercise these rights, contact us at the email below.

8. Cookies

We use the following cookies:

• Strictly necessary: a session cookie to keep you logged in, and Cloudflare's __cf_bm security cookie. These don't require consent under PECR / GDPR.
• Analytics cookies (Microsoft Clarity): _clck and _clsk (first-party), plus Microsoft's own CLID, MUID, ANONCHK, MR and SM. Same consent rules as Google Analytics below.
• Analytics cookies (Google Analytics): _ga and _ga_<property>. These count visits, sessions, and referrers in aggregate. They are loaded only with your consent if you are visiting from the UK, EEA, or Switzerland; the consent banner you see on first visit controls this. Outside those jurisdictions analytics cookies load by default. Your choice is remembered for 180 days in a separate ytc_consent cookie. To revoke consent after granting it, clear cookies for this site or use Google's opt-out browser add-on.

We do not use advertising cookies. We do not share your data with ad networks.

9. Children's Privacy

Our service is not directed to anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at [email protected].