For the Japanese Vocab Maker subtitle definitions browser plugin. Last updated 2 September 2026.
While you watch, the plugin sends the subtitle line currently on screen to this website so it can look up the words in it. The line is turned into definitions and discarded. Once per episode it also sends the show's name and episode number, to check whether Japanese subtitles for that episode exist. That check is what decides whether the Full episode vocabulary button appears. Neither is kept against you. There is no account, no advertising, and nothing is sold or shared with anyone.
| Data | Why | Kept |
|---|---|---|
| Website content, meaning the subtitle line showing in the player | It is the text being defined. Without it there is nothing to look up. | Not stored. Used to produce definitions, then discarded. |
| The show's name, season and episode number, once per episode | To check whether Japanese subtitles for that episode are available, which is what decides whether the Full episode vocabulary button is shown at all. | A yes/no answer is cached by title so the check is not repeated, and is never tied to you. |
| Up to two timing numbers per episode: how many seconds the subtitles needed to be shifted to match your stream, and how long that synchronization took | The offset is shared anonymously so the next viewer of the same episode gets their subtitles faster. The other number shows whether synchronization is fast enough in practice, so slow cases can be found and fixed. Both are properties of the episode, not of you. | Kept alongside other viewers' numbers for the same episode. Never tied to a person or an IP beyond the ordinary 30-day request log. |
| Your IP address, as with any web request | Serving the request, and blocking abuse of a public endpoint. | In a server log for up to 30 days, then deleted. |
| The plugin version number | So a broken release can be identified and fixed. | In the same server log, same 30 days. |
On Crunchyroll, and on Netflix when an episode offers no Japanese subtitle text in the player, there is no subtitle text for the plugin to read. Instead it fetches the episode's Japanese subtitles via this site and lines them up with your stream by analyzing the audio inside your own browser tab.
That analysis runs entirely on your device and never leaves the tab. No audio is recorded, stored, or transmitted, not to this site and not to anyone. The only things derived from it that ever reach the server are the timing numbers described in the table above.
The definitions panel has a button for reporting a wrong subtitle or definition. Pressing it sends the show's name, episode number, the exact playback time, the subtitle line that was on screen, and the plugin's timing state at that moment, so the problem can be reproduced and fixed. Reports are kept in a file read by a human for exactly that purpose.
Using Google's own categories, the plugin does not collect any of these: personally identifiable information, health information, financial and payment information, authentication information, personal communications, location, web history, or user activity.
Use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. In plain terms:
Only to www.japanesevocabmaker.com, over HTTPS. No third party receives anything.
Your preferences, such as text size and where the definitions appear, are stored by the browser using its own sync storage and are never sent to this website.
The plugin is not directed to children, and no data is knowingly collected from anyone under 13.
If what the plugin collects ever changes, this page will be updated and the plugin will say so before the change takes effect.
Questions or requests about data can go through the feedback form on this site.