🔒 Short version: By default, PriceDropCatch stores all your data locally in your browser and collects no personal information. PriceDropCatch also contributes anonymous price data (product URL, price, timestamp — no personal info) to a public price-history database; this is always on and cannot be disabled, but everything you've contributed can be permanently erased at any time with one click. If you're in the EU, EEA, or UK, Section 5 covers your GDPR / UK GDPR rights, including that one-click erasure.
PriceDropCatch is a browser extension designed to track product prices. By default the extension operates entirely locally within your browser.
By default we collect no personally identifiable information. Specifically, unless you choose one of the optional features described below, we do not collect:
The data stored by the extension — the product information you deliberately save (title, price, URL, image), your price history, and your alert preferences — is kept in Chrome's local storage on your device.
The extension also always contributes anonymous price data points to our public Public Price History feature — there is no on/off switch in settings. See that section for exactly what is sent and how to erase it.
Optional account. Creating an account is entirely optional — PriceDropCatch works fully without one. If you choose to sign in, we store the email address you provide so we can send a passwordless sign-in link and sync your tracked products across your devices. We never store a password (sign-in is by one-time email link only). You can delete your account and its email at any time. If you never sign in, no account or email is created.
Aside from Public Price History (always on) and the optional account / email-alert features above, the only other server interactions are anonymous usage events such as add_product and remove_product with the product URL, used for understanding which retailers are in demand.
If you are in the EU, EEA, or UK, see Section 5 for the legal basis we rely on to process this data and the rights available to you under GDPR / UK GDPR.
The product data you save is used solely to:
Unless you opt in to Public Price History, this data does not leave your device in any form that identifies the product you are tracking.
All local data is stored using the Chrome Extension Storage API (chrome.storage.local), which keeps data on your local device only. This data is:
local, not sync storage)For anonymous price data collected under Public Price History (Section 4), see the retention policy described there.
PriceDropCatch includes a feature called Share anonymous price history. This feature is always on and cannot be disabled from the extension — it is core to how PriceDropCatch builds the public price-history charts at /p/ and helps other users' extensions cover a product when their own browser is closed. To keep this acceptable without an on/off switch, we've deliberately kept the data minimal and fully anonymous (see exactly what is and isn't collected below), and you can permanently erase everything you've contributed at any time — see Erase your data below.
Each time the extension successfully observes a new price for a product you have added to tracking, it sends a small payload to our server containing:
What we do not send or store:
The aggregated, anonymous data is displayed on public product pages (e.g. /p/<store>/<product>) so that any visitor can see the price history for a product. Data from multiple users tracking the same product is merged into a single history. We reserve the right to remove or anonymize individual data points that appear to be inaccurate, duplicated, or abusive.
Retention. Anonymous price data is retained for up to 24 months, after which it is automatically deleted.
Erase your data at any time. Open the extension settings and click the erase my data link under Data. This sends your randomly generated client identifier to /api/forget-client.php, which permanently deletes every price point uploaded from your installation and recomputes affected products' aggregates. You can also trigger the request manually by visiting https://www.pricedropcatch.com/api/forget-client.php?clientId=<your-id>; your identifier is stored under pdcClientId in the extension's local storage.
What erasure does and doesn't do. Erasing removes every price point already uploaded from your installation, immediately and permanently. Because this feature has no on/off switch, continuing to use the extension afterward will resume contributing new, anonymous price observations going forward — erasure clears your past footprint, it does not pause future collection. If you want future collection stopped as well, contact us ([email protected]) with your client identifier and we will honor that request; see Section 5.
If you are located in the European Union, the European Economic Area, or the United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and/or the UK GDPR give you specific rights over any personal data we process about you. This section explains those rights and how PriceDropCatch applies them in practice.
Who is the data controller? PriceDropCatch is built and operated by an independent developer, not a registered company. For the purposes of GDPR, the operator acting as data controller can be reached at [email protected] for any privacy question or rights request. We have not appointed a separate Data Protection Officer, as this is not required for an operation of our size and processing scope, but privacy requests are personally reviewed and actioned by the operator.
What personal data GDPR applies to here. As explained in Section 1, the extension operates locally by default and collects no personal data. GDPR obligations below apply only to the limited data that reaches our server: (a) the always-on anonymous price-history payloads described in Section 4, which include a randomly generated client identifier but no name, account, or contact detail; (b) the email address you provide only if you explicitly opt in to email price-drop alerts; and (c) the email address you provide only if you choose to create an optional account for cross-device watchlist sync.
Legal basis for processing (Art. 6 GDPR). We rely on the following legal bases:
add_product). This data is minimized, pseudonymous, never used to profile individuals or for advertising, and you can permanently erase it at any time — factors we weigh as outweighing our interest, and which we take into account further if you contact us to object (see below).Your rights. Subject to certain exceptions under applicable law, you have the right to:
https://www.pricedropcatch.com/api/forget-client.php?clientId=<your-id> directly. The request is processed immediately, not just queued.To exercise any of the above (other than self-service erasure), email [email protected] with your client identifier (found under pdcClientId in the extension's local storage) or the email address on file for alerts. We aim to respond within 30 days, as required by Art. 12(3) GDPR.
International data transfers. Our servers are hosted in the United States. If you are located in the EEA or UK, any data that reaches us (the always-on anonymous price-history payload, your email if you opt in to alerts, or your email if you create an optional account) is transferred to and processed in the US. All transfers happen over encrypted HTTPS connections. Given the narrow scope of data involved — no behavioral profiling, no advertising use, no data sales, and full self-service erasure — we do not currently maintain formal Standard Contractual Clauses, but will put them in place if our processing scope changes in a way that requires them.
Retention. See Section 4 for the 24-month retention period on anonymous price data. Email addresses for alerts are kept only as long as the corresponding subscription is active and are deleted immediately if you unsubscribe or request erasure. Optional-account emails are deleted when you delete the account.
When checking prices, the extension makes direct HTTP requests to the retailer websites you have chosen to track (e.g., Amazon, Walmart, eBay). These requests are identical to a normal browser visit to that page.
The pricedropcatch.com website uses StatCounter (statcounter.com) to measure page visits. StatCounter receives the page URL and standard browser headers for visited pages; it does not receive your personal tracking list. No advertising networks or data brokers are used.
When you open a product link from the PriceDropCatch extension (popup, notification, or welcome flow) or from a product page on pricedropcatch.com, we may rewrite that link through an affiliate program before the retailer page loads. Programs we may use include Amazon Associates (non-US Amazon locales where we participate), Skimlinks, Impact, Rakuten, and similar retailer affiliate networks. If you later purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps fund the extension and the public price-history service.
Affiliate tags are applied only after you choose to open a product link. The extension does not inject affiliate codes or cookies into pages while you browse in the background. Product history pages on this website may also include affiliate links (e.g., via Skimlinks) that help support the service. Clicking a link may set a cookie on the retailer's site per their own privacy policy.
The retailer websites themselves may set cookies or log requests according to their own privacy policies, which are outside our control.
Cookies and consent. The only analytics cookie on this site comes from StatCounter, which is on by default so we can see which pages get visited. A notice at the bottom of the page tells you this on your first visit; you can opt out at any time by clicking "Decline" there, or later via the cookie icon in the corner of the screen — once declined, the analytics cookie stops loading on every page you visit afterward. You can also block it yourself via your browser's cookie settings or StatCounter's own opt-out page. The affiliate-link cookies mentioned above are set by the retailer only if you click through and are governed by that retailer's own cookie policy.
The extension requests the following browser permissions:
None of these permissions are used to collect or transmit personal data.
PriceDropCatch is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction, e.g. 16 in some EU member states unless local law sets it lower). We do not knowingly collect any information from children. If you believe a child has used this extension, please contact us and we will remove any associated anonymous data.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of the extension after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. Material changes that expand the data we collect will, where practical, be surfaced in the extension itself before taking effect.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise a GDPR / UK GDPR right described in Section 5, request deletion of anonymous data associated with your client identifier, or have any other concerns, please contact us at: