Privacy Policy for Insta Recommends Scanner

This privacy policy explains how the Insta Recommends Scanner Chrome extension processes information when you use it on Instagram.

What the extension does

Insta Recommends Scanner helps a signed-in Instagram user search their own following graph. It starts from accounts the user already follows, expands one more hop into those accounts' following lists, and surfaces profiles whose username, full name, or bio matches the user's query.

Information the extension processes

The extension may process the following categories of information:

• User-entered query terms.
• Extension state such as scan progress, settings, logs, and recent findings.
• Instagram profile data needed to perform the scan, including usernames, full names, bios, profile privacy flags, connection-path samples, and profile image URLs.
• Limited technical metadata used for requests, such as the extension version sent to the synonym service.

How the information is used

• To run scans requested by the user.
• To match Instagram profiles against the user's query.
• To display findings and connection paths inside the extension popup.
• To preserve scan progress so the user can resume later.
• To expand the user's query with synonym suggestions.

Where data is stored

• Scan state, recent findings, and popup-related settings are stored locally in chrome.storage.local.
• Larger scan queues and scan records are stored locally in IndexedDB under the instagram.com origin.
• Temporary in-memory caches may be used during an active session for performance and UI rendering.

What is sent off your device

The extension is designed to keep Instagram scan data local to the browser. The main exception is query expansion:

• User-entered query groups may be sent to the publisher's Google Cloud Run proxy so the proxy can request synonym suggestions from Google Gemini.
• Instagram profile data gathered during scanning is not intentionally sent to that Gemini proxy as part of the query-expansion feature.
• Profile images may be fetched from Instagram or Facebook CDN hosts so result avatars can be displayed in the popup.
• Standard operational logging by hosting providers may record routine request metadata such as timestamp, IP address, and response status.

Sharing and sale of data

The extension is not designed to sell user data. Data processed by the extension is not intended to be shared with third parties for advertising, data brokerage, creditworthiness, lending, employment, housing, or other unrelated profiling purposes.

Retention and control

• Locally stored extension data remains on the device until it is cleared or overwritten.
• You can stop processing at any time by pausing the scan, resetting the job, clearing extension storage, clearing instagram.com site data, or uninstalling the extension.
• If you do not want query text sent to the synonym service, avoid entering sensitive terms.

Third-party services

The extension interacts with Instagram pages and may use Google Cloud Run and Google Gemini for synonym expansion. Those services are governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated from time to time. Material changes should be reflected by updating the effective date on this page.

Contact

For privacy questions about this extension, contact megor.studio@gmail.com.