FollowGrid Privacy Policy

What FollowGrid Does

The FollowGrid extension lets you load, review, and export Instagram follower and following information available through your connected Instagram session. Available online tools can process supported requests through our backend and service providers. Available features differ between the website and extension; describing the extension's following functionality does not mean a following web tool is available.

Information We Handle

Accounts and authentication

We use Clerk for sign-in and session management. We receive account identifiers and information such as your email address and, where provided, name and profile image. Our backend uses authentication tokens to authorize requests and associate activity, credits, and history with your account. The website and extension communicate to complete sign-in and refresh account or purchase status.

Instagram session information

The extension uses Chrome's cookie permission to check and use Instagram authentication cookies for connection checks and Instagram requests you initiate. It does not display or export those cookie values or upload them to our backend, cloud dataset storage, or analytics. This is separate from FollowGrid account authentication tokens, which are sent to our backend to authenticate your requests.

Profile, relationship, and task information

We process usernames or profile URLs you enter and information returned for a requested task. This can include Instagram IDs, usernames, display names, profile links and images, account visibility or verification, follower/following counts, and relationship records. Task records can contain the target account, relationship type, requested and returned counts, timestamps, progress, completion status, and error categories.

For cloud-backed extension tasks, collected records and associated task data are uploaded to our backend and cloud storage for validation, history, credit settlement, and later downloads. Processing is not limited to your device. Online tools send the input needed to perform a request to our backend and, where required, a data collection provider such as Apify. These providers receive the request data needed for the selected tool, not your extension's Instagram authentication cookies.

Payments and support

Stripe processes payments. We store purchase and payment references, amounts, currency, payment status, credit balances and usage, and refund records; checkout information may include an email address. FollowGrid does not receive or store your full payment card number or card security code. If you contact support, we process the information and attachments you choose to send.

Browser storage and operational information

The website and extension use cookies or browser storage for authentication, language preferences, installation identifiers, login and purchase flow context, and active-task behavior. Requests also involve technical information such as IP addresses, browser information, timestamps, and diagnostic data needed to operate and secure the service.

How We Use Information

We use information to authenticate users, process requested tasks, display and export results, provide cloud history and downloads, calculate credit usage, process purchases and refunds, respond to support requests, prevent abuse, diagnose failures, and improve the service. Where applicable law requires a legal basis, these purposes may involve performing our agreement with you, legitimate interests in operating and securing the service, legal obligations, or consent where required. You remain responsible for having permission or another lawful basis for the data you request and how you use exported information.

Service Providers and Disclosures

We use Clerk for authentication, Stripe for payment processing, DigitalOcean infrastructure and Spaces for hosting and cloud file storage, and PostHog for operational analytics. Supported online tools may use Apify for requested data collection. Providers process the information necessary for their respective functions. Authorized personnel may access information as necessary for support, security, and operations, subject to the restrictions below for data obtained through Chrome permissions.

We may also disclose information where required by law or necessary to address fraud, abuse, security incidents, or protect legal rights. We do not sell personal information or use collected relationship records for advertising. Information may be processed in countries other than your own; applicable legal requirements govern any required transfer protections.

Analytics

Operational events help us understand feature usage, reliability, and purchase flows. They may include installation and flow identifiers, extension version, language, task type, counts, duration, status and error categories, credit usage, and purchase references. Signed-in or payment events may include an internal user ID and email address. Activity before sign-in may be associated with your account after sign-in; these events are not necessarily anonymous.

The FollowGrid event pipeline does not intentionally include collected relationship rows, Instagram authentication cookie values, or exported file contents in analytics events. This restriction on analytics does not mean that task records and datasets are absent from the backend or cloud storage.

Storage, History, and Retention

Cloud-backed tasks store dataset files and task records remotely. Authorized downloads use time-limited links. CSV, JSON, and XLSX exports can be prepared in the extension from retrieved data and saved on your device. Closing a tab, signing out, clearing browser storage, or uninstalling the extension does not delete previously uploaded data or account records.

Current history access windows are 24 hours for eligible anonymous history, 7 days for accounts without a paid purchase, and 30 days for accounts with a paid purchase. These windows control history visibility and access; they are not promises that the underlying files, task metadata, logs, or backups are automatically deleted at those times. An expired download link also does not mean that its underlying file has been deleted.

We retain information as needed for the purposes described here, including service operation, accounting, security, disputes, and legal obligations. Retention depends on the record type and purpose. You can contact us to request deletion; some records may need to be retained for those reasons, and removal from backups may take longer than removal from active systems. Downloaded copies under your control remain your responsibility.

Chrome Permissions and Limited Use

The extension uses cookie access for Instagram session checks and requests; storage for preferences, authentication coordination, and task context; Instagram host access for requested profile and relationship data; and service host access for sign-in, backend operations, analytics, and cloud uploads/downloads. Website-to-extension messaging supports login completion and opening or refreshing the extension.

Our use of data obtained through Chrome permissions follows the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. Such data is used to provide or improve the prominently described user-facing features. Transfers and human access are restricted to the circumstances permitted by that policy, with any required consent. We do not use such data for personalized advertising, creditworthiness, or unrelated profiling.

Your Choices and Requests

You may stop new extension collection by signing out of Instagram, revoking extension access, or uninstalling the extension. You can sign out of FollowGrid, clear browser storage, and remove files you have downloaded. These actions do not themselves cancel purchases or erase server-side records.

Depending on applicable law, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of personal information, restrict or object to processing, or withdraw consent where processing relies on it. Contact us to make a request, including requests about your information in a collected dataset. We may need to verify your identity and clarify the records involved. You may also have a right to complain to your local data protection authority.

Security

We use authentication, access checks, HTTPS service connections, and time-limited cloud transfer links to protect information. No system can guarantee complete security. Keep account credentials and download links private, and protect exported files.

Children

FollowGrid is not directed to children under 13 or anyone below the higher minimum age required in their jurisdiction.

Changes and Contact

We may update this policy as the service changes, revise the effective date, and provide notice or seek consent where required. For privacy questions or requests, contact support@commentgrid.com.