Affiliate Link Inspector
Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 1, 2026
The short version
Affiliate Link Inspector runs entirely in your browser. It has no server, no account, no analytics, and no telemetry. Nothing you scan is sent to us, because there is nowhere for it to be sent.
What the extension reads
When you open the panel and scan, it reads the links on the page you are currently viewing — their URLs, their visible anchor text, and nearby headings used to name each product. This happens locally, in the page, and the result is displayed to you.
It reads nothing until you ask it to. It does not run in the background and does not watch pages you are not scanning.
What is stored, and where
The extension stores:
- your expected Amazon Associates tag
- your redirect path (for example
/find/) - your interface preference (popup or side panel)
- a short-link reveal cache containing the short URL, the tag found (or a checked no-tag redirect result), and the time it was checked
These live in your browser's own extension storage (chrome.storage.local) on your device. The reveal cache exists so the extension never spends a second real affiliate click to answer the same short-link question. It is not a general browsing history. This local data is never sent to us. Uninstalling the extension removes it.
Exports (CSV and Markdown) are written by your browser to your own downloads folder. They are not uploaded anywhere.
Network requests you choose
The scan itself makes no network request. Two optional actions contact Amazon directly from your browser.
Check live
The optional Check live button asks Amazon whether a product page still exists.
- It requests Amazon's own product pages, directly from your browser, exactly as if you had visited them in a tab.
- Because it is an ordinary browser request, it carries whatever Amazon cookies your browser already holds. Amazon sees it as you. This is standard browser behaviour, not something the extension adds.
- Access to Amazon domains is an optional permission. A fresh install requests none. The first time you press Check live, your browser asks you to allow access, and only for the Amazon marketplaces present on the page you are scanning. Decline and that one feature stops; nothing else is affected.
Reveal tag on a short link
A short Amazon link hides its tag inside a redirect. The extension never follows one automatically. If you press Reveal tag, read the warning, and confirm with a second press:
- Chrome asks for optional access to only that short-link host, such as
https://amzn.to/*. - The extension requests that one short URL directly from your browser. This registers one real affiliate click and may carry cookies already held for the short-link domain.
- A temporary listener observes only that request's redirect destination. The extension reads the tag from the redirect URL and aborts before loading the Amazon destination page. It does not monitor unrelated requests.
- The resulting tag, or a checked no-tag redirect result, is stored locally so that short URL is never followed a second time by the extension.
- Declining permission leaves the result as tag hidden and changes nothing else.
Neither action contacts a Desk Anvil server. We do not receive the page, link, result, cookies, or settings.
What we never do
- No analytics, tracking pixels, fingerprinting, or usage statistics
- No account, login, or email collection
- No selling, sharing, or transferring of your data to us or to third parties for advertising, analytics, credit, or any unrelated purpose
- No modification of the pages you scan, beyond an optional highlight you switch on yourself
- No altering of your links. The extension never rewrites, replaces, or injects affiliate tags into any page. It inspects and reports; it does not edit. This is deliberate and permanent — a tool that audits links must never quietly change them.
Affiliate disclosure
The extension's settings page may show a recommendation link to a hosting provider, marked as an affiliate link. That slot is disabled by default. If it is configured and you use it, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. It is a plain outbound link in our own interface and has no connection to the pages you scan.
The extension also shows one ordinary link to the Desk Anvil website. It opens only when you choose it and does not include scan data.
Permissions, and why each is needed
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
activeTab, scripting | Read the links on the page you choose to scan, when you press scan |
storage | Remember your settings and the short-link reveal cache on your device |
downloads | Save CSV/Markdown exports you request |
contextMenus, keyboard command | Toggle the link highlight without opening the panel |
sidePanel | The side-panel interface |
webRequest | Temporarily observe the redirect from the one short URL whose Reveal action you confirmed; the listener is filtered to that optional short-link host and removed immediately after a result or timeout |
| Amazon marketplace domains (optional) | Only for Check live, only when you allow it, only for marketplaces present on the page |
| Amazon short-link domains (optional) | Only for a Reveal tag action you confirm, and only for that link's exact short-link host |
Chrome Web Store Limited Use
Page and link data is used only to provide the user-facing inspection, export, highlight, live-check, and short-link reveal features described here. It is not used for advertising, profiling, creditworthiness, or any purpose unrelated to the extension's single purpose. No human at Desk Anvil can read it because it is not sent to us.
Children
The extension is a tool for website publishers and is not directed at children.
Changes
Any change to this policy will be published on this page with a new date. A change that affects what data is handled will also be noted in the extension's release notes.