Subtly - AutoSubs
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 19 August 2026
Summary
Subtly - AutoSubs has no server of its own. The author never receives, stores, or sees any of your data. There is exactly one destination your data is sent to: Soniox, the speech recognition service you sign up for and pay for yourself.
Data we handle
Tab audio
When you press "Start subtitles", Subtly captures the audio of the tab you selected and streams it to Soniox over an encrypted connection for transcription and translation.
- Capture begins only when you press start, and only for the tab you chose. Nothing is captured in the background.
- Audio is never recorded and never written to disk anywhere in Subtly.
- Stopping the session closes the connection immediately.
- How Soniox handles that audio is governed by their own policy: soniox.com/privacy.
Soniox API key
You provide the key; Subtly uses it to connect to your own Soniox account.
- Encrypted with AES-GCM using a key generated on your machine that cannot be extracted from the browser.
- Stored only on your machine and never transmitted anywhere except to Soniox itself when opening a connection.
- Removing the extension deletes it.
An honest note on the limits: local encryption protects the key from casual inspection of extension storage. It does not protect against malware running with your browser's own permissions.
Subtitle text
Subtitle text exists in memory only while a session is running, purely to render it on screen. Stopping the session clears it. Subtly keeps no transcript history. If you use the Copy button, the text goes to your clipboard and nowhere else.
Settings
Interface language, target language, text size, colours, and the subtitle box position per site. These are stored in Chrome's synced storage, so they may follow your Chrome account to another device. This is configuration data and contains none of the content you watch.
What Subtly does NOT do
- No server of its own; no data is ever sent to the author
- No analytics, no tracking pixels, no advertising
- Does not read page content - it only injects a container that displays subtitles
- Never sells or shares data with any third party
- Does not store your browsing history or which videos you watch
Permissions and why they are needed
| Permission | Purpose |
|---|---|
tabCapture, desktopCapture |
Capture the audio of the tab you selected so it can be translated |
offscreen |
Keep the audio pipeline and transcription connection alive while a session runs |
sidePanel |
Show the control panel and the live transcript |
storage |
Store your settings and the encrypted API key |
activeTab, tabs, scripting |
List open tabs so you can pick one, and display the subtitle box on that tab |
Access to stt-rt.soniox.com |
Stream audio to the recognition service. This is the only network destination the extension contacts. |
Children
Subtly is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect data from them.
Changes to this policy
If data handling changes, this page will be updated with a new date, and any significant change will be noted in the Chrome Web Store release notes.
Contact
Privacy questions: <YOUR_EMAIL>