Data Saver

A browser extension that blocks ads, images, and autoplaying video to reduce bandwidth use.

Effective: September 15, 2026
Applies to: Data Saver v2.3+
Data collected: None

In short

Data Saver collects nothing, sends nothing to any server, and has no analytics. Every rule it enforces ships inside the extension itself and runs entirely inside your own browser. Your settings and your blocked-request counts are stored by Chrome on your own device — we never see them, because there is no server for them to be sent to.

What this extension does

Data Saver blocks advertising and tracking requests, blocks images, and stops video/audio from autoplaying or streaming, using Chrome's built-in declarativeNetRequest API. Blocking decisions are made by Chrome itself, evaluating rule files bundled inside the extension package — Data Saver's own code never inspects, reads, or otherwise has access to the content of your browsing.

Data we collect

None. "Collect" here means what Chrome means by it: transmitted off your device. Nothing this extension records ever leaves your machine, because the extension makes no network requests of its own and there is no server to receive them.

We do not collect, log, or transmit your browsing history, page content, or the URLs you visit.
We do not run analytics, telemetry, or crash reporting of any kind.
We do not operate any server. Nothing your browser does is ever sent anywhere by this extension.

What is stored on your own device

Being precise about this matters more than the sentence above, because the extension does keep things — it just keeps them where only you can see them.

Your settings — the on/off preference for each blocking category, sites you've chosen not to block on, any per-site rules you've created, and the optional data-budget figures. Held in Chrome's storage.sync, under your own Google account if Chrome Sync is enabled, never accessible to us.
Blocked-request counts — how many ads, images and videos have been blocked, an estimated byte total, and a per-day tally for the last 60 days, so the extension can show you your own savings. Numbers only; no addresses, no page content.
A list of sites where something was blocked — only if you switch it on. This is the one thing the extension records that resembles browsing history, so it is off by default. Turning on "Remember which sites" in the dashboard stores a capped list of hostnames so the dashboard can show where your savings came from. Switching it back off deletes that list immediately. It stays on your device either way.
An administrator policy, if one has been deployed to your machine by a school or employer. That is read-only, read locally, and nothing is reported back to the administrator by this extension.

Everything above can be cleared from the extension itself — the savings counter has a Reset control, and the site list has its own separate Clear control.

Optional features that act on the page

Two features, both off unless you switch them on, do more than block requests:

Answering cookie banners. When enabled, the extension looks for a consent banner and presses the most privacy-preserving option it offers — "reject all" or "necessary only". It never presses accept. If no privacy-preserving option can be found, the banner is hidden and no consent of any kind is recorded on your behalf. It reads nothing from the page except the text of candidate buttons.
Blocking pop-ups. When enabled, windows a page tries to open without you clicking are prevented from opening. Windows you open yourself still work. Nothing about the page is read or recorded.

Permissions we request

Chrome requires every permission to be declared up front. Here is what each one is actually used for:

Permission	Why we need it
host_permissions <all_urls>	The extension's entire purpose is blocking ads/trackers/images/video on any site you visit — that only works if its rules and scripts can apply to any site, which is what a broad host permission grants. It is not used to read or collect page content.
declarativeNetRequest declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess	Lets Chrome itself block matching network requests (ads, trackers, images, video) using rule files bundled in the extension — the blocking decision happens inside Chrome, not in code we control.
storage	Saves your toggle choices, per-site rules, pause list and blocked-request counts — locally, or synced via your own Chrome account, so they persist between sessions. The same permission is how the extension reads an administrator policy if your school or employer has deployed one; that is read-only and read locally.
scripting	Registers the on-page scripts that pause autoplay video/audio, clean up broken-image placeholders left behind by blocked images, and count how many requests were blocked so the popup can show you your own total. Two further scripts — answering cookie banners and blocking unrequested pop-ups — are registered only if you switch those features on.

One of these on-page scripts (active only while "Block Videos" is on) deliberately opens closed shadow DOM roots so autoplay video hidden inside them can still be paused. This is a real, disclosed trade-off: it weakens shadow-DOM encapsulation site-wide while active, which in principle could let other scripts on that page read content a site intended to keep closed. Turn off "Block Videos," or use "Pause on this site," on any page where you don't want this active.

Third-party rule data

The ad/tracker blocklist bundled inside the extension is compiled, at build time, from Peter Lowe's ad and tracking server list — a maintained, publicly available list of known ad and tracking domains, credited here per its usage policy. This data is a static list of domain names, refreshed manually by re-running a build script; the extension does not fetch anything from this or any other server while it's running in your browser.

Data sharing & sale

There is nothing to share or sell, because nothing is collected. Data Saver has no business model built on user data — it doesn't have a business model at all.

Children's privacy

Data Saver is a general-purpose browser utility, not directed at children, and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, of any age — see "Data we collect" above.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the "Effective" date at the top of this page will be updated accordingly. Material changes will also be reflected in the extension's Chrome Web Store listing.

Contact

Questions, bug reports and privacy enquiries — including from the Chrome Web Store review team — should go to the project's issue tracker:

github.com/RatKush/Data-saver-extension/issues

The source for this extension is public at github.com/RatKush/Data-saver-extension, so every claim on this page can be checked against the code rather than taken on trust.