Privacy policy

HonestStars is made by Pointerflow LLC ("we", "us"). We built it so that your shopping stays yours. This policy explains what we collect and why.

The short version

• We never sell or share your browsing data, and we never use affiliate links.
• Review text leaves your browser with names removed. Your identity, cart, order history and other tabs never do.
• The first 5 checks need no account. After that a free account (name, email, password) is required.

What leaves your browser

When you check a listing, the extension sends us: anonymised review text, star ratings, review dates, verified-purchase flags, reviewer statistics (for example how many reviews a profile has written), and the product ID, store and product page address (without any query string). We do not send reviewer names, your identity, your cart, your order history or any other tab.

When you check a listing, the extension also reads the price the page shows (the current price, the struck-through “was” price if there is one, and the store's own 365-day low if it shows one) and sends it with the product ID, the store and your install ID. This price observation happens as part of a check you start (by clicking, or automatically if you turned on automatic checks), at most once a day per listing, and it is not sent when you only view a page. We use it to notice when a listed “was” price is higher than any price we have seen for that listing. It contains no page address, no product title and no page text.

If the grade is D or F, the extension also sends the product title (shortened) and category to look for better-rated alternatives. Those links are plain product links, with no affiliate tags.

Where the extension runs

The extension runs automatically only on Amazon and Walmart (the stores in its published list). On any other store, including Shopify stores, it reads the page only after you click to check, or after you switch that one store on and your browser grants access to that site. You can remove that access at any time. The extension makes no request to a store other than the page you are checking and that product's own review pages, using your own browser session at a human pace. Preferences such as which badges to show are stored in your browser.

Install ID and what we keep

The extension creates a random install ID in your browser. It is sent with each check, including the price observation, so we can count your first 5 free checks and apply rate limits. Price observations are stored with a one-way hash of the install ID, not the ID itself, and expire automatically after about four months. It is not linked to your identity unless you create an account, and we cannot recover it for you. For each check we keep a record that this install ID or account checked that listing, with the product title, its link (without any query string) and the grade and score. These records are kept until you delete your account or ask us to delete them.

We store the result of an analysis (grade, the reasons, the signals behind them, and a short digest) for a listing so that others checking it get an answer quickly. Results are kept for up to 14 days, or one hour when a listing could not be graded. They contain no review text, no reviewer names and no information about you. If you share a result, the public share page shows the grade, reasons, product title and store, and nothing about you.

Our servers see your IP address as part of every request. We use it only to limit abuse, as a hashed counter that expires automatically, and we do not build profiles from it. Our functions do not log review text.

Service providers

To write the short digest of what reviewers mention, a bounded sample of anonymised review text (reviewer names removed, each review shortened) is sent to an AI model through OpenRouter (currently a Gemini model). We set OpenRouter's option that denies data collection by the model provider, so the text should not be logged or used for training. Review text is processed on our servers and by OpenRouter and its model providers, and is not stored by us after the analysis. We do not sell data to anyone.

Categories of service providers we rely on: hosting (our backend, website and web app run on a self-hosted Appwrite and servers that we operate), AI processing (OpenRouter and its model providers, as described above) and, once email delivery is switched on, an email delivery provider that sends the account emails you ask for (for example a password reset link), which receives your email address for that purpose.

Accounts

If you create a free account (name, email, password) we store your name, your email address, your settings, and your check history and watchlist so that they sync across devices. Your password is kept only as a one-way hash by our sign-in service (Appwrite); we never see or store it in readable form. The extension keeps a session token for your account in its own storage and never handles your password. We use your email only to sign you in and to send messages you ask for. You can opt in to a grade-change email for saved products and a monthly summary; your choice is saved, and those emails are sent only once email delivery is switched on.

Website and uninstall feedback

The website does not currently use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. If we add aggregate visit measurement we will say so here first. When you uninstall the extension your browser opens a page on our website, with the extension version and the number of days it was installed in the address. If you choose to send feedback we receive your chosen reason, any text you type and a random ID created for that submission (it is not your install ID), together with the extension version and days installed. We ask you not to include personal details. Feedback is not linked to an account and is kept until you ask us to delete it.

Grade corrections

If you submit a correction we store the details you give (including an email address so we can reply) and keep it until you ask us to delete it. We publish decided corrections in a public corrections log: the date, marketplace, product title, a short neutral summary of the claim, the outcome and an optional note. It never includes your email address or other contact details.

Your choices and deleting your data

You can download your check history as a file and delete your account, with its check history and watchlist, yourself from the account page, or email privacy@pointerflow.com to delete it or to ask for a copy of your data. Records tied only to an install ID (before you created an account) are not linked to you and are not changed by deleting an account. Uninstalling the extension stops all checks.

Children

HonestStars is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we will update the date above and, where appropriate, tell you in the extension.

Contact

Questions: privacy@pointerflow.com.