Nothing leaves your computer

[*] 01 · the browser extension

What the extension reads, and where it goes

The extension has one job: when your browser starts a download, hand it to the Byterush app running on the same computer so that it downloads over many connections. To do that it reads:

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  Request headers: while the browser loads pages and files, the extension notes the headers of each page, frame and file request (its address, method, cookies, user agent, referer and authorization) and two of the server's answer (Content-Disposition and Content-Encoding). They stay in the extension's memory for at most two minutes and are then forgotten. They are used only if that request turns into a download.
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  The download itself: its address, file name, size and type, as the browser reports them.
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  For Download with Byterush from the right-click menu: the link, the page you were on, and the cookies the browser holds for that link.

When the extension hands a download over, it sends that download's address, file name, size, type and request headers to the Byterush app at 127.0.0.1:51723, an address that only reaches programs on your own computer. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else. Headers of requests that don't become downloads never leave the extension.

The extension stores, in the browser's local storage, whether catching is on and the sites where you turned it off; and in the browser's session storage, cleared when the browser closes, the names and sites of the last 20 hand-overs, shown in its popup. It does not inject scripts into pages, read page content or form data, keep a browsing history, or block or change any request. It has no account, analytics or ads, and it loads no code from the internet. Its permissions, each for one purpose:

• downloads: to notice a download, and to cancel the browser's copy once the app has the file.
• webRequest and access to all sites: to read the headers described above, whichever site a download comes from.
• cookies: to read the cookies for a link you send with Download with Byterush.
• contextMenus: the Download with Byterush entries.
• storage: the settings and the list of recent hand-overs.
• alarms: a check-in with the app every five minutes, so the app's setup guide can say that the extension is installed.

It answers one question from this website's setup page: whether it is installed and reaches the app. It is open source, so all of this can be checked in its code.

[*] 02 · the app

What the app stores

The app keeps its download list, settings and the progress of unfinished downloads in a file on your computer, and the downloaded files where you asked for them. It connects only to the servers you download from, with the headers the extension or you gave it. It does not check for updates, send usage data or contact any server of ours. If you turn on the clipboard watcher, the app reads the clipboard on your computer to offer links you copy; that text goes nowhere.

[*] 03 · this website

What this website does

This site is static pages hosted on Vercel, which, like any web host, may log the requests it serves (see Vercel's privacy policy). The pages set no cookies and run no analytics. The download buttons ask GitHub's API for the latest release so that they can link to the right file for your system; that request goes to GitHub directly from your browser. The setup page asks the extension, if installed, whether it reaches the app; that answer stays in your browser.

[*] 04 · changes and contact

Changes and contact

If any of this ever changes, this page changes first and the change is listed in the project's changelog. Questions go to the issue tracker. The terms of use cover the rest.