Privacy Policy for SEO Panel
Transparency, zero tracking, and local-first architecture for the SEO Panel Chrome extension.
1. Summary
SEO Panel is a free, open-source Google Chrome extension designed for web developers, technical SEOs, and content creators. It provides real-time on-page SEO audits, heading structure validation, Core Web Vitals metrics, and structured data analysis directly within Chrome’s native side panel.
Our Core Privacy Commitment
- Zero Personal Data Collection: We do not collect, harvest, store, or transmit any personal information, identities, or accounts.
- No Remote Tracking or Analytics: The extension contains no Google Analytics, Sentry, Mixpanel, telemetry pings, advertising tags, or remote tracking scripts.
- 100% Local Execution: All document analyses and DOM inspections run entirely on your local machine within your browser. Visited URLs, web page content, and audit findings are never sent to any external server.
2. What Data Is Processed and Where?
SEO Panel operates strictly on a local-first paradigm. It processes only the minimum data required to calculate SEO metrics on demand for the web page currently loaded in your active tab.
Local Analysis
When you open the side panel on an active browser tab, the extension inspects the tab’s Document Object Model (DOM) locally using Chrome’s content script APIs:
- Meta Tags & SEO Signals: Reads title tags, meta descriptions, robots directives (
noindex,nofollow), canonical URLs, Open Graph, Twitter Cards, and hreflang annotations. - Heading Hierarchy: Scans heading tags (
<h1>through<h6>) to validate structural ordering and flag missing or empty elements. - Links & HTTP Diagnostics: Analyzes internal and external hyperlinks, anchor texts, and link relationship attributes (
rel="nofollow",rel="sponsored"). When you explicitly request broken link checks, status requests are initiated directly from your browser with no intermediate server. - Core Web Vitals: Retrieves real-time performance indicators (such as Largest Contentful Paint [LCP], Interaction to Next Paint [INP], and Cumulative Layout Shift [CLS]) recorded locally in your browser session via the native
PerformanceObserverAPI. - Structured Data: Extracts JSON-LD scripts and Microdata attributes for in-browser syntax and schema validation.
Local Storage
SEO Panel utilizes Chrome's sandboxed local storage API (chrome.storage.local). This data remains strictly on your machine and is never synced across devices unless enabled by your personal Chrome browser profile sync settings:
- User Configuration: Preferences such as active panel tabs, visual theme, custom score thresholds, and UI display settings.
- Audit History (Optional): If you choose to keep an audit history, timestamps and extracted metrics for audited pages are saved locally to allow comparison over time. You can disable history recording or clear your stored history at any time from the extension's Settings tab.
3. Chrome Permissions Used and Justifications
In compliance with the Chrome Web Store Developer Program Policies, SEO Panel requests only the minimum set of permissions strictly necessary to execute its declared core features:
| Permission | Type | Justification & Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| sidePanel | API Permission | Allows the extension to display the SEO analysis, diagnostic tools, and metrics inside Chrome's native side panel interface without obstructing the page content. |
| scripting | API Permission | Allows running lightweight inspection scripts in the context of the active tab to extract on-page SEO elements (such as meta tags, headings, structured data, and Core Web Vitals metrics). |
| storage | API Permission | Provides access to chrome.storage.local to save user preferences, theme options, custom audit thresholds, and optional local audit history directly on your device. |
| favicon | API Permission | Used exclusively to render the website icon next to audit entries in the local audit history view. |
| clipboardWrite | API Permission | Allows you to copy audit summaries, heading outlines, structured data JSON snippets, or diagnostic reports to your clipboard with a single click. |
| http://*/* and https://*/* | Host Permissions | Required to access the Document Object Model (DOM) of web pages you inspect and to perform optional, user-initiated HTTP status code checks (broken link verification). No data is collected or transmitted. |
4. Third-Party Services & Remote Code
SEO Panel adheres to modern Chrome Manifest V3 architectural guidelines:
- No Remote Code Execution: The extension does not load dynamic scripts from remote CDNs or external web endpoints. All code, templates, and libraries are bundled locally within the extension package at compile time.
- No Third-Party Analytics: We do not integrate third-party telemetry, tracking pixels, cookies, or monitoring libraries (such as Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or Sentry).
- Credentialless User Requests: When verifying external link health, status requests are issued by your browser without sending cookies, headers with personal authentication, or sensitive credentials.
5. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect modifications in browser extension capabilities, updates to Google Chrome policies, or the addition of new features. Any modifications will be posted to this page along with an updated "Last Updated" revision date at the top of the policy.
Because SEO Panel does not collect email addresses or contact details, we encourage users to review this page or the open-source repository change log when installing version updates.
6. Contact & Source Code
If you have questions, feedback, or privacy concerns regarding the SEO Panel Chrome extension, you can reach out directly:
Developer: Sonni Vasquez — Technical SEO Consultant
Email:[email protected]
Website:https://sonnivasquez.com/