Privacy policy
Last updated: November 4, 2026
The short version. Altly does not track your browsing, does not collect personal information, and never sells or shares data for advertising. Images are sent only to the AI service you choose, only to describe them.
This policy explains what information the Altly browser extension (“Altly”, “the extension”), the website at altly.app, and the Altly Cloud service (together, “the Services”) process, and why. It is written to be read, not skimmed past — if anything is unclear, email [email protected].
The Services are operated by SoftPeak, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (131 Continental Dr, Suite 305, Newark, DE 19713, USA), which is responsible for your information as described here.
1. What the extension processes
Images
To write a description, Altly needs the image. When an image needs a description — automatically in “Automatic” mode, or when you ask — the extension downloads that image, shrinks it to at most 1024 pixels, and sends it to the AI provider you selected. Along with the image, it may send small pieces of context that improve accuracy: the page title, a nearby caption (up to about 400 characters), the image’s existing alt text, and the address of a link that wraps the image. When you ask a follow-up question, your question is sent too.
Altly does not send the full page, your browsing history, form contents, or cookies to any AI provider.
Where images go
| If you choose | Images are sent to | Governed by |
|---|---|---|
| Your own OpenAI key | OpenAI, directly from your browser | OpenAI’s API terms and privacy policy |
| Your own Anthropic key | Anthropic, directly from your browser | Anthropic’s commercial terms and privacy policy |
| Your own Google Gemini key | Google, directly from your browser | Google’s Gemini API terms. On Google’s free tier, Google may use submitted content to improve its products; on the paid tier it does not. |
| OpenAI-compatible server | The server address you entered | That server’s operator |
| Altly Cloud | Our server, which forwards it to our AI model provider | This policy (see section 3) |
When you use your own key, Altly’s servers are never involved. We cannot see your images or questions.
Stored on your device
The extension stores the following locally in your browser’s extension storage. It is not synced and never sent to us:
- Your settings and the list of sites where you turned Altly off.
- Your API keys or Altly Cloud license key.
- A cache of up to 800 recent descriptions, keyed by a one-way hash of the image address, so the same image isn’t described twice.
- A count of descriptions this month and in total, shown to you in settings.
You can clear saved descriptions or reset everything in Altly’s settings. Uninstalling the extension deletes all of it.
Changes to web pages
Altly writes descriptions into the alt text of images on pages you visit so your screen reader can read them. These changes exist only in your browser tab and disappear when you leave the page.
2. Permissions the extension requests
- Read and change data on websites you visit — to find images without descriptions, add descriptions, and download images so they can be described. Altly does not read or collect other page content.
- Storage — to save your settings, keys, and cached descriptions on your device.
- Context menus — to add “Describe this image” to the right-click menu.
- Scripting and active tab — to start Altly on tabs that were already open when you installed it.
3. Altly Cloud
If you subscribe to Altly Cloud, our server (hosted on Cloudflare) receives each image and its context, sends them to our AI model provider (currently models accessed through OpenRouter, configured to use only providers that do not store or train on submitted data), and returns the description. We do not store images, descriptions, or questions. We keep only:
- Your license key and its status (active or cancelled).
- A monthly count of how many descriptions your license used, to apply your plan’s limit.
- Short-lived technical logs (such as error codes and timestamps, without image data) kept up to 7 days for reliability and abuse prevention.
4. Payments
Payments and free trials are handled by Stripe. We receive your email address, subscription and trial status, and the Stripe customer and subscription IDs. A free trial needs only your email. We never see your card number. Stripe’s use of your information is governed by the Stripe privacy policy.
5. Website
altly.app does not use cookies, analytics trackers, or third-party fonts. Our host, Cloudflare, may process IP addresses in standard server logs for security.
6. What we never do
- We do not sell or rent your data.
- We do not use or transfer your data for advertising, credit decisions, or purposes unrelated to describing images.
- We do not let humans read your images or descriptions, except where required by law.
Altly’s use of information received from browser APIs adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
7. Children
The Services are not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
8. Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR, UK GDPR, or CCPA), you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export your personal information, and to object to processing. Because we store so little, most requests are simple: email [email protected] and we’ll respond within 30 days. You may also complain to your local data protection authority.
9. Changes
If we change this policy, we’ll update the date above. For significant changes, we’ll also show a notice in the extension before they take effect.
10. Contact
SoftPeak, LLC — questions or requests: [email protected].