Last updated: July 28, 2026
SideRead is a browser extension that translates selected text, readable webpages, and PDF documents. It can display PDF documents in original, translated, or bilingual reading modes while preserving the document's visual layout.
When you explicitly request a translation, SideRead processes the text you selected or the readable content of the current webpage. This content is processed locally in your browser and is not transmitted to SideRead, its developer, or a SideRead-controlled server.
When you open a PDF using the SideRead viewer, the extension requests the document from the URL where you opened it. PDF parsing, rendering, and text extraction are performed locally in your browser using PDF.js.
PDF documents and their extracted text are not uploaded to SideRead or to a SideRead-controlled server. The original website or server hosting the PDF will receive the normal network request required to download the document.
SideRead uses Chrome's on-device Translator API. Translation is performed locally by Chrome. SideRead does not send the text you translate to an external translation service or to the developer.
Chrome may download language models required to support the selected language pair. These downloads are managed by Chrome and not by SideRead.
SideRead stores your preferred source and target languages in
chrome.storage.local. It may also store a bounded local cache
containing up to 250 translated text entries to avoid translating the same
content repeatedly.
This information remains within your Chrome profile and is not transmitted to the developer or stored on a SideRead-controlled server.
SideRead uses temporary access to the browser tab where you invoke the extension. This allows it to determine whether the current page is a webpage or PDF and to perform the requested translation.
SideRead does not collect, store, or transmit your browsing history. It does not monitor your browsing activity in the background for analytics, advertising, or profiling.
We do not sell, rent, or share your selected text, webpage content, PDF content, browsing activity, language preferences, or translation history with advertisers, data brokers, or other third parties.
SideRead does not use advertising, analytics, user accounts, or a developer-controlled translation service.
Language preferences and cached translations remain in your browser until they are replaced, cleared, or the extension is removed. Uninstalling SideRead removes its locally stored extension data from your Chrome profile.
Because SideRead does not maintain user accounts or store your document content on its servers, there is no server-side document or translation history associated with you.
SideRead requests browser permissions only to provide its translation and document-reading features. These permissions allow it to:
SideRead does not execute remotely hosted code. Its executable code, including PDF.js, is packaged with the extension.
If SideRead's data-handling practices change, this privacy policy and the extension's Chrome Web Store disclosures will be updated before the changed behavior is released.
SideRead's use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Questions about this policy? Email andredurante.jr@gmail.com