For the Reveal Top Hacker News Stories Chrome extension. Last updated October 25, 2026: added the optional points next to links.
Short version: the extension doesn't collect anything about you, and it doesn't send the pages you visit anywhere.
The extension checks each page you open against a list of top Hacker News stories that it keeps in your browser. It stores these things locally, and nowhere else:
Removing the extension deletes all of it.
Once a day the extension downloads the story list from this website, which is hosted on GitHub Pages. Everyone downloads the same files. Like any web request, it tells GitHub your IP address, but nothing about which pages you read. GitHub's own privacy statement covers what they do with request logs.
A page address only leaves your browser when you click something that asks for it: search opens a Hacker News search on Algolia with that address, and submit opens Hacker News' submit page with it. Choosing Find this link on Hacker News on a link opens its thread, or an Algolia search for the link's address when the local list doesn't have it. Tracking parameters such as utm_source are removed first. The Alt+Shift+Y shortcut only opens a thread the local list knows, and otherwise opens the popup. Searching from the address bar only goes to Algolia if nothing in the local list matches and you press Enter.
If you tick "points next to links" in the settings, Chrome asks you to let the extension read all sites. It needs that to see the links on a page. A small script then collects the link addresses on each page you open and checks them against the same local list, inside your browser. It doesn't read anything else on the page, and the addresses aren't sent anywhere. The badges are drawn so the page can't read them, but a page could still notice that something was added next to its links. To keep that from revealing your settings, the badges always use the full 400-point list and ignore your own minimum and muted sites. Untick the setting and the extension gives the permission back; you can also revoke it in chrome://extensions.
At install, Chrome says the extension can "read your browsing history". That is the tabs permission: the button has to see each tab's address to check it against the list. If you turn on points next to links, Chrome asks to let it "read and change all your data on all websites". The extension uses that only to read link addresses. In both cases nothing is sent anywhere.
The code that builds the story list is public. The extension's own code isn't, but the package in the store isn't minified, so you can read exactly what runs.
No analytics, no tracking, no ads, no accounts, no selling or sharing data, and no code loaded from anywhere else.
Open an issue at github.com/Show-Hacker-News-Points/show-hacker-news-points.github.io. If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it.