Where Helperbird Stores Your Data
Learn about Helperbird's browser storage, optional sync, local PDF recovery, managed settings, and which reading and writing tools use online services.
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Overview
Helperbird uses browser storage for preferences and saved content, with local and supported account-sync modes. PDF recovery is device-local. Some reading and writing features send selected content to online services to produce a result; those requests are separate from where your settings are saved.
This page explains exactly what is stored, where it is stored, and what happens when data is sent over the network.
What Is Stored on the Device
Settings use the selected local or sync storage mode. The following preferences are stored by the browser:
Font Preferences
Font family, size, and weight settings chosen by the user.
Color Settings
Background color, text color, and link color preferences.
Feature Toggles
Settings for features like reading ruler, overlay, line focus, and other tools.
Accessibility Profiles
Saved profiles that bundle multiple settings together.
Theme Preferences
Any theme or display preferences the user has configured.
Custom Settings
Any other settings the user has configured in Helperbird.
With local mode selected, these settings stay in the browser's extension storage. With Sync enabled, supported browsers use their account-sync service. This is separate from a website's cookies and storage.
PDF Recovery
The PDF Reader keeps one current PDF and its editing state in device-local browser storage (IndexedDB). Opening another PDF replaces that recovery session. This recovery copy does not sync across devices and is not an upload to Helperbird. Download your annotated PDF to keep a separate copy.
What Is Never Collected
Helperbird does not collect, keep or sell any of the following:
- Page content or browsing history
- Student names, dates of birth, or student IDs
- Health information or special education designations
- A record of what you had read aloud, translated, captured or simplified
Some features do send content to a processor to do their work. That is set out in full below. Sent is not the same as stored. Nothing in the list above is retained after the request finishes, and none of it is used to train a model.
Which Features Use the Network
This is the whole list. Every other Helperbird feature, including fonts, colors, rulers, overlays, line focus, the magnifier, reading mode and accessibility profiles, runs entirely on the device and makes no network call at all.
| Feature | Leaves the device? | Goes to | Kept after processing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word prediction | No | Runs on the device | Nothing sent |
| Text-to-speech, standard voice | No | Your browser's own voices | Nothing sent |
| Text-to-speech, natural voice | Yes | Microsoft Azure | No |
| Voice typing | Yes | Microsoft Azure | No |
| Immersive Reader | Yes | Microsoft Azure | No |
| Screenshot Reader | Yes | Helperbird API, then OpenAI | No. Zero retention. |
| Translate | Yes | Helperbird API, then OpenAI | No. Zero retention. |
| Simplify, Summarize, Grammar | Yes | Helperbird API, then OpenAI | No. Zero retention. |
| Dictionary | Yes | Helperbird API | No |
| License check | Yes | Helperbird API | Subscription state only |
All of it travels over HTTPS.
The two that need explaining
Text-to-speech depends on which voice you pick. The standard voices are the ones already installed on your computer. Choosing one keeps everything on the device, and no text is sent anywhere. The natural voices are generated by Microsoft Azure, so the text you are reading is sent there to be spoken. If your organization needs reading aloud to stay entirely on the device, use the standard voices.
Voice typing sends live audio. While the microphone is on, audio streams to Microsoft Azure to be turned into text. It is not recorded and it is not kept. The microphone only runs while you have voice typing switched on.
Zero retention, with both processors
Helperbird holds a signed zero data retention agreement with OpenAI and with Microsoft Azure, and zero retention is switched on in both accounts.
That means, for every request in the table above:
- The content is used only to produce the answer, and is then discarded.
- Nothing is written to a log or held on either provider's side.
- Nothing is used to train any model.
This applies to the audio from voice typing and the images from the Screenshot Reader exactly as it applies to text. Audio is never recorded, and a captured image is never stored.
If your organization needs the agreements themselves for a procurement or privacy review, ask us and we will provide them.
Turning Network Features Off
Any of these can be switched off for a whole school or district through managed JSON policy, so they never make a request in the first place. See how to disable Helperbird features using JSON policy.
Turning them all off leaves a Helperbird that works entirely on the device.
Admin-Managed Settings
When a school admin deploys Helperbird through the Google Admin Console or Microsoft Intune, the subscription key and feature policies are delivered through chrome.storage.managed. This is a read-only storage area controlled by the admin.
Managed values include the subscription key, admin control flag, disabled features, excluded domains, toolbar defaults, and word-highlighting settings. Subscription keys are sent to Helperbird's licensing service for validation; delivery through MDM does not make licensing an offline process.
Safari uses its native Apple configuration bridge instead of chrome.storage.managed. Raw managed keys are not copied into extension sync storage, personal settings exports, or debug exports. Managed status and allowed feature metadata remain separate from personal settings. See Safari deployment on Mac and iPhone/iPad managed settings.
For details on setting up managed policies, see How to Set Helperbird JSON Policy in Google Admin.
Sync Settings
If a user turns on the Sync Helperbird toggle in settings, their preferences are synced across devices using Chrome's built-in chrome.storage.sync. This uses the user's own Google account sync infrastructure. Helperbird does not operate its own sync server.
When sync is off (the default), all settings stay on the current device only.
For more details, see Sync or Store Data Locally in Helperbird.
Data Deletion
- Uninstalling Helperbird removes all local extension storage from the device.
- Clearing browser data in Chrome settings can also remove extension storage.
- Admin-managed settings are removed when the admin removes the policy from Google Admin or Intune.
- If your organization needs a formal data deletion confirmation, contact Helperbird support.
Related Guides
- Sync or Store Data Locally in Helperbird
- Helperbird PHIPA and MFIPPA Compliance
- How to Use Helperbird Offline
- How to Deploy Helperbird to Your School or Business
- How to Set Helperbird JSON Policy in Google Admin
Need Additional Help?
If you have any questions about data hosting, privacy, or storage, please contact the Helperbird support team. You can reach us at Helperbird support. We are happy to provide additional documentation as needed.
Printed from the Helperbird Help Center · Updated September 6th, 2026
Questions? We are happy to help — helperbird.com/support