Privacy Policy
Effective date: June 29, 2026
Job Buddy has no servers. Everything stays in your browser's local storage by default. Three optional features can send data off-device, and only when you explicitly enable them:
- Cloud Backup uploads your profile to your own Google Drive.
- AI Resume Import sends a résumé file you choose to Google's Gemini API for extraction.
- AI Autofill assist sends form-field metadata and your profile to Google's Gemini API when the rule-based autofill cannot confidently resolve a field.
All three are off until you turn them on. Job Buddy itself never stores your data on any server and is not a party to your connection with Google.
What Job Buddy stores
When you fill out your profile, the following categories are saved to your browser's local storage so the extension can autofill job application forms:
- Personal information — name, email address, phone number, date of birth, and optional EEO fields (gender, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status). EEO fields are optional, provided voluntarily, and used solely to autofill matching questions on application forms.
- Address — street, city, state or province, postal code, and country.
- Professional summary — a career summary and notice period you write yourself.
- Salary information — current salary and expected salary figures you enter, including currency and pay period.
- Work authorization — your authorization status, visa type, and visa expiry per country.
- Work history — company names, job titles, dates, locations, work arrangement, and descriptions.
- Education — institutions, degrees, fields of study, dates, and descriptions.
- Languages — languages and proficiency levels.
- Links — LinkedIn, portfolio, and other URLs you add.
- Documents — if you upload a CV or résumé, it is stored on-device as encoded file data. It is not sent anywhere by default; if you enable Cloud Backup it is included in the Drive backup.
Job Buddy also stores supporting data generated as you use the extension:
- Learned field mappings — when you manually assign a profile field to a form field, Job Buddy remembers that pairing for the site's domain. Only field-name-to-profile-path associations are stored, never the values you typed or page content.
- AI settings — if you enable AI features, your Gemini API key and selected model are stored locally. The key is never included in export bundles and never sent to anyone other than Google's Gemini API.
- Cloud Backup state — if you connect Google Drive, the OAuth token and a small amount of bookkeeping (Drive file ID, last sync time, pending-sync flag) are stored locally. The token is never included in export bundles.
- Theme preference — your System / Light / Dark choice is saved so it persists across sessions.
Special category data (GDPR Article 9)
The optional EEO fields — gender, ethnicity, veteran status, and disability status — are special category data under Article 9 of the GDPR. Job Buddy processes this data solely on the basis of your explicit consent, which you provide by voluntarily entering values. This data is stored only on your device, is never sent to Job Buddy's servers (which do not exist), and reaches third-party APIs only through opt-in features you activate. You can delete any of these fields at any time from the Options page.
What Job Buddy does not do
- No network requests by default. The extension runs entirely on your device out of the box. Network access only happens through the three opt-in features described below.
- No selling or sharing of data. Nothing you enter leaves your device through Job Buddy except through opt-in features. Even then, the connection is directly from your browser to Google's API, with no intermediary.
- No Chrome account sync. Job Buddy uses on-device local storage only. Your profile will not appear on other devices unless you opt in to Cloud Backup.
How Job Buddy accesses web pages
Job Buddy includes a content script that runs on web pages so that, when you click Auto Fill, it can scan the page for form fields and fill them using your profile. The script is present on all pages, which is why Chrome may show a permission notice describing access to "your data on all websites."
In practice, the script does nothing on its own. It only scans or fills a page when you actively trigger it. It does not read, monitor, or transmit page content in the background.
One exception, limited to fields you have already autofilled: if your profile is updated while a job application tab is open, Job Buddy may silently fill fields it identified earlier but had no value for, without touching any fields it already handled.
Cloud Backup (optional)
When enabled, Cloud Backup syncs your profile to your own Google Drive using the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.appdata scope. This scope grants access only to a hidden application-data folder inside your Drive, not your general Drive contents. The backup file is not visible in the regular Google Drive UI.
Your local profile is the source of truth. Drive never overwrites your local data silently; restoring from Drive is always explicit. Your OAuth token is stored only in local extension storage and is never included in any export bundle. Disconnecting from Settings revokes the token and, at your choice, deletes the backup file from your Drive.
AI features (optional)
Two optional AI features use Google's Gemini API via an API key you supply yourself. Both are off until you paste a key into Settings. The key is yours, obtained directly from Google AI Studio.
AI Resume Import. When you upload a PDF or DOCX résumé, the file is sent to the Gemini API as base64 inline data. Extracted suggestions are shown in a review screen where you accept or reject each one; nothing writes to your profile until you confirm.
AI Autofill assist. After the rule-based autofill runs, unresolved fields are sent to the Gemini API along with your profile JSON. Only field labels, names, and surrounding text are sent; the full HTML of the page is not.
If you do not provide a Gemini API key, neither AI feature runs. Clearing the key stops all future AI requests immediately. Data sent to the Gemini API is processed by Google under their API terms. Job Buddy is not in the middle of that connection and never receives a copy.
Permissions and why they are needed
| Permission | Why it is needed |
|---|---|
storage |
To save your profile, learned field mappings, AI settings, theme preference, and Cloud Backup state in your browser's local storage. |
identity |
To perform the Google OAuth flow if you opt in to Cloud Backup. Used only when you click Connect Google Drive in Settings. |
| Content script on all pages | To allow the Auto Fill and field-picker features to work on any job application page, only when you trigger them. |
Host access to https://www.googleapis.com/* |
Used by Cloud Backup to upload, download, and delete your backup file inside Drive's hidden application-data folder. |
Host access to https://oauth2.googleapis.com/* |
Used to revoke your Google OAuth token when you disconnect Drive from Settings. |
Host access to https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/* |
Used by the optional AI features. Never contacted unless you have configured a Gemini API key. |
Your rights under GDPR
If you are in the European Economic Area, you have the following rights over your personal data:
- Access — view all data Job Buddy holds by opening the Options page, or export a full JSON copy via Settings.
- Rectification — edit any field in your profile at any time from the Options page.
- Erasure — delete individual fields, or use Settings to reset all data permanently. Uninstalling the extension also removes all local data.
- Portability — Settings exports a JSON file containing your profile, learned mappings, and application history, importable into another Job Buddy instance.
- Withdraw consent — for EEO fields, you can delete them at any time; withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of prior processing.
Because Job Buddy stores data exclusively in your own browser and has no backend, you exercise these rights directly within the extension; no request to the developer is required.
Data retention
Your data is retained in your browser's local storage for as long as you keep the extension installed and do not delete it. There is no automatic expiry. Uninstalling the extension removes all locally stored data.
If you have connected Google Drive, your Drive backup is retained until you disconnect and choose to delete the file, or until you delete it manually from your Google account.
Changes to this policy
If Job Buddy's data practices change, this policy will be updated and reflected in the Chrome Web Store listing.
Contact
Job Buddy is an open-source project. For questions about this policy, please open an issue on the GitHub repository: