Privacy Policy

Music Time Machine ("the Extension") is a Chrome browser extension that helps you discover when a song was released and explore other hits from the same era. This Privacy Policy explains what data the Extension accesses, uses, and does not collect.

Short version: The Extension sends only the song title and artist name to a lightweight serverless API to look up release dates. No personal data is collected, logged, or shared. No analytics, no tracking, no ads.

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Data We Do Not Collect

Music Time Machine does not collect, store, transmit, or share any of the following:

• Personal information (name, email, location, IP address, etc.)
• Browsing history or activity outside of the current YouTube/Spotify page
• Listening habits or music preferences
• Analytics, tracking, cookies, or advertising identifiers

Supported Platforms

Music Time Machine works on the following music streaming platforms. When you open a song page, the extension auto-detects the song title and artist.

• YouTube — full support + inline release-year badge under the video title
• YouTube Music — full support
• Spotify (Web Player) — full support
• SoundCloud — full support
• Apple Music — full support
• Tidal — full support
• Last.fm — full support

Data Accessed Locally

The Extension reads the following data only on your device, solely to provide its features:

• Page content — the song title and artist name visible on YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, and similar music sites, in order to detect what song is currently playing.
• Last.fm API key — if you choose to enter one, it is stored locally in chrome.storage.local on your device only and never transmitted to us.
• Your birthday — if you use the "Born This Day" feature, the date is used only to query public music databases and is never stored or transmitted to us.
• Quiz data — game statistics, leaderboard scores, and difficulty preferences are stored locally in your browser's localStorage. This data never leaves your device.

Proxy Server (Vercel)

When the Extension detects a song, it sends the song title and artist name to a lightweight serverless function hosted on Vercel (AWS us-east-1). This server:

• Forwards the query to public music APIs (MusicBrainz, Wikipedia, Discogs, iTunes, Deezer) and returns the release date, album name, and a list of chart hits.
• Does not log or store any requests, IP addresses, or song data.
• Has no database, no cache, and no persistent storage of any kind.
• Each request is processed instantly and forgotten.

The source code for the proxy is open source on GitHub and can be inspected by anyone.

Third-Party APIs

To look up release dates, the Extension (via the proxy) makes requests to the following public, free APIs:

• iTunes Search API (Apple)
• MusicBrainz — open music encyclopedia
• Wikipedia API — to retrieve release information from song pages
• Discogs API — music database
• Deezer API — music streaming platform
• LRCLIB — to fetch song lyrics
• Last.fm API — optional, only if you provide your own API key

Each request includes only the song title and artist name. Please refer to each provider's own privacy policy for details on how they handle API requests.

Permissions Explained

• activeTab / scripting — to read the song title from the currently active music page
• storage — to save your Last.fm API key locally on your device
• sidePanel — to display the Time Machine panel inside Chrome
• tabs — to detect which tab is active and open the side panel on it

Children's Privacy

The Extension does not knowingly collect any information from children under the age of 13. It contains no advertising and no user accounts.

Changes to This Policy

If this policy is updated, the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will change. Continued use of the Extension after any changes constitutes acceptance of the new policy.

Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, you can open an issue on the GitHub repository or reach out via the Chrome Web Store support page for Music Time Machine.

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