Privacy policy for MavelyLink Link Shortener

1. Who we are

MavelyLink Link Shortener is the browser extension of MavelyLink, the link shortener at mavelylink.com. It has a single purpose: turning a long web address into a short mavelylink.com link — the same kind of short link the website makes, with the same options. It is published by the owner of mavelylink.com, who is responsible for the data described on this page.

2. What the extension sends

The extension contacts mavelylink.com only when you open it after accepting its first-run notice (to ask for the site’s current settings for the extension — nothing but the extension version, the browser name and, if you connected it, the connection token is sent then), for the anonymous usage counts (when it is installed or updated, at most once a day when you open it, and the goodbye page after removal — see “Anonymous usage counts”), when you press Shorten, choose a right-click menu item, connect or disconnect it, type a security word, or change the description of a link you just made. Everything is sent over an encrypted HTTPS connection, and only to mavelylink.com:

• The address you shorten — the one you typed or pasted, the address of the current tab when you press “Use this page” or choose “Shorten this page”, or the link you right-clicked.
• The options you choose — the short-link domain, ADD FB LINK, Only USA/CA/UK, other countries, and your description when “Add my Description with my short link” is ticked. QR codes are drawn inside your browser and are not sent.
• Two random ids created by the extension, in the website’s own formats: a device id, which (with your IP address) lets mavelylink.com recognise an address you already shortened, so you get your existing short link instead of a duplicate; and a creator id, which the website’s shorten box also sends. When you visit mavelylink.com in the same browser, the extension uses the website’s own device id instead, so the website and the extension treat you as one visitor (not from private windows, where the extension does not run, nor from other Firefox containers). The ids are random apart from the time they were created, and contain nothing else.
• The extension’s version and your browser’s name (Chrome or Firefox).
• The connection token, if you connected the extension to mavelylink.com: a random code that tells the site which connected browser is asking. It is not a password and opens nothing else. When you connect with a key, the extension also sends the name you give this browser (by default your browser and operating system, for example “Chrome on Windows”), so the site owner can tell connected browsers apart.
• The security word you type, when the site asks for one after many links in a short time.

Like any website, mavelylink.com also sees your IP address with each request.

After a link is created, the extension can make two of the follow-up requests the website makes (the site owner turns them on or off): it tells mavelylink.com the new short link, the address it points to and your description choice, so the site’s deal cards stay current — and tells it again if you then change the description or the “Add my Description” box — and it asks the site to finish looking up the link’s final destination. Nothing else is sent: no country lookup, and no counter other than the anonymous usage counts described below.

3. What the site stores

• The short link, exactly like a link made on the website: the address, where it finally leads, a title, description and picture taken from that page, the options you chose, the time it was made, and your IP address. The website records the IP address for every link: the site owner’s dashboard groups links by it, and it is used to stop abuse. A link made with the extension is also marked as such, with the connected browser’s id, the browser’s name, the extension version and the domain you chose.
• A list of links made with the extension (the newest 5,000), for the site owner: the short code, the time, the address, the page title, the domain, the browser, the connected browser’s name and the IP address.
• For a connected browser: the name it was given (for example “Chrome on Windows”), the browser, the extension version, when it was connected and last used, the last IP address it used, how many links it made, and a one-way fingerprint of its token — never the token itself.
• Protection against spam, as for the website: short-lived counters of how many links an IP address made in the last minute, failed connection attempts per IP address (kept for 15 minutes), and a one-way fingerprint of your IP address and device id next to each address you shortened, which is how a duplicate is recognised.

4. What stays in your browser

The extension keeps these in your browser’s extension storage. They leave it only as described in section 2:

• your options, language and theme;
• the random device id and creator id, and the connection token if you connected the extension;
• the last 50 links you made, so you can copy them again;
• the site’s settings for the extension, refreshed when you open it;
• that you accepted the first-run notice;
• a random install number used only for the anonymous usage counts, and the day it last counted.

5. What we never do

• No browsing history. The extension does not watch the pages you visit. It reads the address of a tab only when you ask it to, by pressing “Use this page” or choosing a menu item.
• No address is sent until you act — until you press Shorten or choose a menu item. Opening the extension asks mavelylink.com for its settings and, at most once a day, sends the anonymous usage count.
• Not in private windows. The extension does not run in private (incognito) windows, so nothing from a private session is sent or stored.
• Nothing is read on other websites. On mavelylink.com itself a small script lets the dashboard connect the extension and reads the website’s device id — nothing else.
• No selling, no advertising, no tracking. Data is never sold or rented, never used for ads, and the extension contains no trackers and no third-party services. The only counting is the anonymous usage count described below.
• No remote code. Everything the extension runs is inside the package you installed.

Anonymous usage counts

After you accept the first-run notice, the extension tells https://mavelylink.com/api/extension.php when it was installed or updated, that it was used (at most once a day), and, through the short goodbye page your browser opens after removal, that it was removed. Each message carries only a random install number made by the extension (not the browser id used for your links, not your connection token), the extension’s version, the browser and the package’s build name. No address, link or page is part of it. The counts keep a one-way fingerprint of the number and daily totals for 120 days; your IP address is only used for an hourly limit and is not stored with the counts. The goodbye page’s address contains the number, so, like any page you open, it can appear in the web server’s access log for the time the host keeps such logs. A browser that accepted this notice before these counts existed is never counted. In Firefox it is also controlled by “Technical and interaction data” (install prompt, or Add-ons → the extension → Permissions); the extension works the same without it.

6. Permissions explained

• storage — keeps your options, connection and recent links in your browser.
• activeTab — lets the extension read the address of the tab you are on, and only after you click its toolbar button or a menu item, for “Use this page”.
• contextMenus — adds “Shorten this link” and “Shorten this page” to the right-click menu.
• Access to mavelylink.com — sends the address to mavelylink.com and receives the short link, and lets the mavelylink.com dashboard connect the extension.

Firefox shows that the extension collects browsing activity (the address you shorten), website content (a link you right-click) and authentication information (the connection token). That is the data described in section 2, and nothing more. Optional, and on by default in the install prompt: technical and interaction data, the anonymous usage counts above.

7. Retention and deletion

• Short links stay on mavelylink.com until the site owner deletes them or the site’s automatic clean-up removes them. You can ask the site owner to delete links you made.
• The list of links made with the extension keeps the newest 5,000 entries; older ones drop off by themselves, and the site owner can clear it at any time.
• Disconnecting the extension in its settings deletes this browser’s record on mavelylink.com. The site owner can disconnect or delete a connected browser at any time.
• The spam counters expire by themselves within minutes.
• Uninstalling the extension deletes everything it stored in your browser.

8. Chrome Web Store Limited Use

The use of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

In plain words, the data the extension handles:

1. is used only to provide its single purpose — creating and managing your short links — and the features described on this page;
2. is passed to no one else, except when that is needed to provide that purpose, to comply with the law, to protect against malware, spam, fraud or abuse, or as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, and then only with your explicit consent first;
3. is never sold, never used or passed on for personalised advertising, and never used to decide credit-worthiness or for lending;
4. is not read by people, unless you ask for help with specific data and agree to it, it is needed for security (such as investigating abuse), the law requires it, or it has been aggregated and anonymised for running the site.

9. Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request to delete links you made: use the contact options on mavelylink.com.

Last updated: 21 October 2026