PRIVACY POLICY FOR AURA MUSIC - SONG FINDER FOR BROWSER
Last Updated: October 2026
At AURA Music, we are committed to upholding the highest standards of user privacy, digital security, and transparency. This Privacy Policy details how the AURA Music Chrome extension operates, how audio data is handled, and why each permission is strictly necessary.
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1. CORE PRIVACY COMMITMENT
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• We do NOT access, listen to, or record your microphone or external room audio.
• We do NOT collect, store, or sell any personally identifiable information (PII).
• We do NOT track your browsing history, URLs visited, search queries, or passwords.
• We do NOT inject advertisements, affiliate scripts, or third-party tracking cookies.
• All song history is saved strictly locally on your own machine.
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2. PERMISSIONS EXPLAINED & "ARE ALL THESE PERMISSIONS STRICTLY NEEDED?"
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Yes. Every permission requested by AURA Music has been audited to comply with the Google Chrome Web Store "Principle of Least Privilege". Below is an exact breakdown of why each permission is required and why no narrower alternative exists under Chrome Manifest V3:
1. "tabCapture":
• What it does: Captures the digital audio output of the specific browser tab where music is currently playing.
• Why it is strictly necessary: Mobile apps (like Shazam) require physical microphone access, which can capture private conversations and ambient room noise. In contrast, AURA Music uses `tabCapture` to isolate only the webpage's digital sound. It activates ONLY when you explicitly press the "FIND SONG" button and terminates immediately after identification.
• Alternative considered: Microphone access. Rejected because accessing a user's physical microphone is far more invasive and prone to ambient noise interference.
2. "offscreen":
• What it does: Creates a lightweight, hidden background document with media capabilities.
• Why it is strictly necessary: Under Chrome's Manifest V3 architecture, background extensions run as Service Workers. Service Workers do NOT have access to the DOM, `AudioContext`, or the Web Audio API. Chrome explicitly requires developers to use the Offscreen Document API (`chrome.offscreen`) to process audio streams and calculate acoustic frequencies.
• Alternative considered: None exists in Manifest V3 for audio analysis.
3. "storage":
• What it does: Enables `chrome.storage.local` to remember your identified songs and user preferences.
• Why it is strictly necessary: When AURA Music identifies a song, it saves the song title, artist, album art, and timestamp locally so you can review your history later. It also remembers your preferred streaming platform (Spotify, YouTube, etc.) and auto-listen preferences.
• Data residency: All storage is 100% offline on your device. It is never synced to external servers unless you manually export it. You can clear your history anytime with one click.
4. "activeTab":
• What it does: Grants temporary access to the active webpage only while the extension popup is open or activated by keyboard shortcut.
• Why it is strictly necessary: Chrome requires access to the active tab to connect the `tabCapture` stream. Using `activeTab` ensures the extension NEVER has permanent access to your tabs or URLs and CANNOT inspect background tabs.
• Alternative considered: Broad host permissions (such as `<all_urls>`). Rejected because granting access to all websites is unnecessary and overly permissive.
• ZERO Host Permissions: The extension requests NO broad web host permissions, ensuring completely safe operation without intrusive permission dialogs.
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3. AUDIO DATA PROCESSING & RETENTION
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• Transient Processing: When you initiate song recognition, the tab audio stream is loaded into volatile device memory (RAM) for approximately 3.5 seconds.
• Acoustic Fingerprinting: The audio signal is converted into a numerical acoustic fingerprint (frequency peaks and rhythm signatures).
• Immediate Disposal: As soon as identification completes, the raw audio buffer is immediately overwritten and destroyed. No audio files or recordings are ever written to your disk or uploaded to any server.
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4. DATA SECURITY & USER CONTROL
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• Local Storage: Your song history and settings are stored locally within your Chrome profile using Chrome's sandboxed storage mechanism.
• Full Control: You can delete individual songs from your history, clear the entire history database, or export it to a JSON file at any time from the History tab.
• Instant Uninstallation: Removing the extension immediately purges all associated local data and settings from your browser.
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5. THIRD-PARTY STREAMING LINKS
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When you click on a streaming link (e.g., Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, SoundCloud, or Deezer), AURA Music simply opens the corresponding public search URL in a new browser tab. AURA Music does not share any user identifiers with these external services.
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6. COMPLIANCE & CONTACT
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AURA Music complies fully with the Google Chrome Web Store Developer Program Policies, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
If you have questions, feedback, or inquiries regarding your privacy, please visit the extension guide page or contact us through the Chrome Web Store support portal.