Legal
Last updated September 5, 2026
Covers the “Web Reader for LingQ” browser extension for Chrome and Firefox. If you use Safari on iOS or macOS instead, you’re using the Lichtung app and its embedded Safari Extension (also named “Lichtung” within Safari), see its own Privacy Policy instead, which also covers the standalone ereader, local-only languages, and local dictionaries available there. See also the Extension’s own Terms of Use.
We (“we,” “our,” or “us”) are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how the “Web Reader for LingQ” browser extension (“the Extension”) handles your information on Chrome and Firefox. The Extension is an unofficial companion to LingQ and is not affiliated with or endorsed by LingQ.
The short version: we don’t collect anything. The Extension has no servers of its own, no analytics, and no third-party services. The only network traffic the Extension generates is between your browser and lingq.com, on your behalf.
To sync with your LingQ account, you provide your LingQ API key to the Extension. It’s stored in the browser extension’s local storage (storage.local), sandboxed to the Extension and isolated from other extensions and websites. It is never synced via your Google or Mozilla browser account sync, and it is held only in the Extension’s background service worker, never exposed to the content script running on the pages you visit, and never exposed beyond what’s needed to show connection status in the popup.
The key is sent only to lingq.com to authenticate your requests. It is never logged and never sent anywhere else. Signing out removes it from your browser.
The Extension downloads your vocabulary (words, statuses, and translations) from your LingQ account and caches it locally in your browser so that pages can be highlighted instantly and offline. When you tap a word to change its status or translation, that change is queued locally and sent to lingq.com to update your LingQ account. Signing out deletes the local vocabulary cache.
To highlight words, the Extension reads the text of the webpages you visit and matches it against your locally cached vocabulary. This happens entirely in your browser. The content of the pages you read is never transmitted anywhere: not to us, not to LingQ, not to anyone.
Your preferences (selected language, translation language, sync interval, highlighting on/off) and local diagnostic records (such as the offline write queue and a log of unexpected LingQ API responses) are stored in the Extension’s own browser storage and are never transmitted.
We do not:
The Extension communicates exclusively with lingq.com: to validate your API key, download your vocabulary and language list, fetch community translations, and upload the word changes you make. These requests are made on your behalf using your API key, exactly as if you were using LingQ’s own website. Your use of LingQ is governed by LingQ’s own privacy policy and terms of service.
You can:
The Extension complies with applicable laws regarding children’s privacy. We do not knowingly collect any personal information from children, or from anyone else, since the Extension collects no personal information at all.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the “Last Updated” date.
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at josh@lichtung.xyz or through our contact page.