Distila is designed around a simple principle: your reading never leaves your device. All summarization happens locally in your browser using Chrome's built-in Summarizer API. Distila has no server, collects no data, and does not use analytics or tracking of any kind.
What Distila does
Distila is a browser extension that summarizes the article on the web page you are currently viewing. When you click the extension icon and choose to summarize, Distila reads the visible text of that page and generates a summary using an on-device AI model (Gemini Nano, provided by Chrome). The summary is displayed in the browser's side panel (or in a popup on browsers without side panel support), and you may optionally copy it to your clipboard.
Data we access
Distila requests the following browser permissions, and uses them only as described:
-
activeTab— grants temporary access to the tab you are viewing, only after you explicitly click the Distila icon on that tab. The access ends when the tab navigates to another website or is closed. Distila cannot read any tab unless you interact with it first; opening the side panel or switching tabs does not grant access to other tabs. -
scripting— allows Distila to extract the readable text content of the current page (for example, the contents of an<article>element) so it can be passed to the summarization model. -
sidePanel— lets Distila show its interface in the browser's side panel. It gives no access to page content. -
offscreen— runs the summarization in a hidden extension page, so it keeps going if you close the side panel. It gives no access to page content. -
storage— keeps the summaries and your summary preferences, as described under "Data storage and retention" below.
Distila does not request access to your browsing history, other open tabs, cookies, passwords, or any data beyond the single page you choose to summarize.
Where your data goes
Nowhere outside your device. Summarization is performed entirely on-device using Chrome's built-in Summarizer API. Distila does not operate any backend server, does not transmit page content or summaries over the network, and does not share data with any third party.
Data storage and retention
Distila does not store the text of the pages you summarize: it is held in memory only while the
summary is waiting in Distila's queue or being generated, and it is discarded as soon as the
summary is done, cancelled, or its tab is closed. The generated summary, the address of the summarized page and its
detected language are kept in the browser's session storage (chrome.storage.session,
held in memory and never written to disk), so the side panel can show each tab's summary again
when you return to it. They are discarded when you close that tab or quit the browser.
Your summary preferences (type, length and format) are saved with
chrome.storage.sync, which your browser may sync across your devices if you use
browser sync. Distila does not use cookies or any tracking mechanism.
Clipboard access
When you click "Copy summary," Distila writes the generated summary to your system clipboard using the standard browser Clipboard API. This action only occurs when you explicitly click that button, and only the summary text is copied — nothing else.
Third parties
Distila does not integrate with any third-party analytics, advertising, or data-processing service. The only "external" component involved is Chrome's own on-device Gemini Nano model, which is downloaded and managed directly by your browser, not by Distila.
Children's privacy
Distila is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect any information from anyone, regardless of age, since it collects no information at all.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be published at this same URL with a revised "Last updated" date. Continued use of Distila after a change constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
Contact
Questions about this privacy policy or about Distila can be sent to: your-email@example.com