Privacy Policy

Nowly consists of three parts: a browser extension, a Nowly Host, and a website (library). The extension detects media content in your browser and passes it to Nowly Host, which sends it directly to the Discord client on your machine via a local IPC connection. This activity data never touches our servers.

The browser extension stores the following data locally in chrome.storage.local — it never leaves your device:

• Installed presences (metadata, signed bundles, activation state).
• Current activity (content title, platform, duration, thumbnail).
• A debug log (timestamps, actions, visited URLs).
• Onboarding state and a local snapshot of your Discord profile (ID, username, avatar) used solely for UI display.
• Display preferences and per-presence settings.

This data can be erased by uninstalling the extension or using the reset option in the extension settings.

The extension requires certain permissions to operate:

• Access to all pages (<all_urls>): a lightweight script is injected on every page you visit in order to detect supported platforms. It collects no data outside recognized platforms and sends nothing to our servers.
• User Scripts: this permission allows presence scripts to run on supported sites. Each script is cryptographically signed (ECDSA P-256) and verified locally before it runs — no unauthorized script can execute.

Nowly Host writes a log file to %LOCALAPPDATA%\NowlyClient\nowly-host.log containing timestamps and activity information sent to Discord. This file is stored locally, can be deleted at any time, and is never sent to our servers.

The extension offers, during installation, the option to enable anonymous analytics (disabled by default). If enabled, the following is collected:

• An anonymous device ID (locally generated UUID, not linked to your identity).
• Browser, OS, language, extension version, and Nowly Host version.
• Installed presences and activity sessions (duration, platform).

This data is used solely to improve the service and measure presence popularity. You can withdraw consent at any time from the extension settings — all data associated with your device ID will then be deleted.

Nowly communicates with the Discord client via a local IPC interface. The following information may be transmitted to Discord solely for displaying your Rich Presence:

• The platform name (e.g. YouTube).
• The content title you are watching.
• The channel or author name.
• Playback state (playing / paused).
• Duration and elapsed time.

This information is visible to anyone who can see your Discord profile. Nowly has no control over how Discord processes this data once received. Please refer to Discord's Privacy Policy for more details.

In accordance with Article 6 of the GDPR, each processing activity relies on a legal basis:

• Anonymous analytics — your consent, collected on an opt-in basis (Art. 6(1)(a)).
• Image proxy (third-party thumbnails) — legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)).
• locale cookie (language preference) — legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)).

Your data is not kept longer than necessary:

• Analytics events: automatically purged after 12 months.

Nowly uses the following third-party services:

• Railway (United States) — website, API, and PostgreSQL database hosting. Transfers to the United States are governed by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs). Railway Privacy Policy.
• Cloudflare (United States) — static asset delivery (thumbnails, Nowly Host installer) via CDN. Transfers are governed by the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and the EU/UK–US Data Privacy Framework.
• Chrome Web Store / Google — browser extension distribution.
• Google AdSense — optional ad display on the website. Google may use cookies or similar technologies under its own rules and your consent choices.
• Ko-fi — optional donations. Nowly shares no personal data with Ko-fi.
• OpenAI — automatic changelog generation. Only PR titles and code diffs are sent — no user data.

For advanced users, the extension allows configuring a custom API URL pointing to a self-hosted instance. In that case, your data is sent to the server you configured: this Privacy Policy does not apply to that server, over which Nowly has no control.

The Nowly website uses a strictly necessary cookie:

• locale: language preference cookie, not shared with third parties.

When ads are enabled, Google AdSense may also use cookies or similar technologies. See our Cookie Policy for full details.

Nowly runs a server-side image proxy that fetches thumbnails from third-party platform CDNs (YouTube, Twitch, Netflix, etc.) for display in the UI. This proxy collects no personal data — it processes only public image URLs server-side, with no link to your identity.

Presence packages are cryptographically signed (ECDSA P-256) before distribution. The extension verifies the signature before installing or running any presence, ensuring only authorized code executes on your machine. Authentication tokens (JWT) are valid for 30 days and are delivered in a way that avoids server-side logging.

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights:

• Access: request what data we hold about you. The extension's developer mode also exposes an "Analytics logs" tab that displays the collected analytics events locally.
• Deletion: disable analytics from the extension settings to erase device data.
• Objection: opt out of analytics at installation or disable them at any time.
• Portability: export all of your analytics data yourself in JSON format, in self-service, from the consent management page.

To exercise these rights, contact us via the GitHub repository or at the address listed in the Legal Notice.

For any questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us via the GitHub repository or at the address listed in the Legal Notice.