Perch ("the extension") is built to be private by design. This policy explains exactly what it does and does not do with your data.
The short version:
Everything stays on your device. Perch has no servers, no accounts, and no analytics. Your saved posts live only in your browser's local storage.
We never see your data. The developer of Perch cannot access anything you save, search, tag, or export.
AI features are optional and use your key. If you add an API key, the text of the posts you run AI on is sent directly from your browser to the AI provider you chose. It never goes through us.
What Perch stores, and where
When you click Sync, Perch reads your own X (Twitter) bookmarks and/or home timeline (For You and Following) using your existing logged-in session, and stores them in your browser's local IndexedDB database on the extension's own origin. This includes post text, author, timestamps, engagement counts, media URLs, and topic tags Perch generates.
This data never leaves your device except when you explicitly export it (to a file you save) or use an optional AI feature (see below).
You can delete it at any time with Reset library in Settings, the clear control, or by removing the extension.
Your AI API key, if provided, is stored in chrome.storage.local on your device and is only ever sent to the matching AI provider's official API.
Perch keeps up to a fixed number of posts per library locally; older items beyond that limit are removed from your device (they remain on X).
Optional auto-sync
You can turn on "Auto-sync on x.com," which quietly refreshes your local library while you are browsing x.com (roughly every 15 minutes). This runs entirely on your device using your own logged-in session; nothing is sent anywhere. It is off by default and can be toggled off at any time.
Optional AI features (bring your own key)
Perch's AI features (Ask your library, Research report, Extract resources, Digest, Smart-tag, and the semantic search index) are off by default. They only work if you add your own API key for Anthropic, OpenAI, or OpenRouter, or point Perch at a local model on your own machine (Ollama / LM Studio).
When you run an AI feature, the relevant post text is sent directly from your browser to that provider's API using your key. With a local model, the text is sent only to that server on your own machine and never leaves your computer. Perch does not proxy, log, or store these requests. Your use of those providers is governed by their own privacy policies:
Access to the AI providers is requested only when you first configure AI, the extension does not hold that permission unless you opt in.
Permissions, and why they're needed
Host access to x.com / twitter.com: to read your bookmarks and timeline from your own logged-in session and to run the on-page interface.
Host access to twimg.com: to download post media when you export a media ZIP.
Host access to the AI providers / localhost (optional): requested only when you enable AI, to send requests with your own key to the provider you chose, or to a local model on your own machine.
webRequest: to observe the format of X's own API requests so Perch can page through your data reliably. It does not read requests on any other site.
tabs / scripting: to briefly open an inactive x.com tab to capture the request format when needed, and to load Perch's interface into your x.com tab.
alarms: to schedule the optional periodic auto-sync while x.com is open.
storage / unlimitedStorage: to keep your library and settings on your device.
What Perch does NOT do
No accounts, sign-in, or user tracking.
No analytics, telemetry, ads, or fingerprinting.
No selling, sharing, or transmitting your data to the developer or any third party (other than the AI provider you explicitly choose).
No posting, following, liking, or messaging on your behalf. Perch is read-only, plus managing your own bookmarks (remove / undo).
No access to any website other than X/Twitter, its media servers, and the AI providers listed above.
Changes
If this policy changes, the "Last updated" date above will change and the new version will ship with the extension.