Colab Idle Guard privacy policy

Colab Idle Guard is a Chrome extension, VS Code extension, and Windows desktop app published by Mist Technologies. It releases idle Google Colab runtimes so they stop using compute units. This policy explains what it handles. The short version: nothing leaves your computer.

What the extension reads

On colab.research.google.com tabs only, the extension notices:

• the kind of activity (for example a click, key press, or scroll) and when it happened, but never which keys you pressed or what you typed;
• whether a notebook cell is running and whether the tab is connected to a runtime.

It does not read notebook content, code, outputs, files, or anything on other websites.

Where that information goes

Only to the Colab Idle Guard desktop app running on the same computer, at http://127.0.0.1. It is never sent to Mist Technologies, Google, or anyone else. There is no telemetry, analytics, advertising, or account.

What is stored

• The extension stores a pairing token and port number in your browser (chrome.storage.local), so it can connect to the desktop app.
• The desktop app stores its settings and local log files on your computer. Logs record activity kinds and runtime events, not content, and the pairing token is redacted.

Uninstalling removes the extension's stored data. You can delete the desktop app's data from its settings folder at any time.

What the extension does on Colab

If you turn on automatic release, the extension uses Colab's own "Disconnect and delete runtime" command after the idle warning. This deletes the runtime's in-memory state and files under /content. Your notebook is kept. Automatic release is off by default.

Sharing and selling

Mist Technologies does not collect, sell, or share any data from Colab Idle Guard, because none of it is sent to us.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new effective date. Questions: help@misttechnologies.net. Source code: https://github.com/MSteier/colab-idle-guard.

Colab Idle Guard is an unofficial project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. "Colab" is a trademark of Google LLC.