Privacy Policy for Hotstar Ad Mute

Overview

Hotstar Ad Mute is a Chrome extension that automatically mutes advertisement audio during supported Hotstar and JioHotstar live streams and restores your previous audio state when live content resumes. This policy describes, in detail, the information the extension processes in order to do that, how it is used, and the choices you have.

This policy applies to the Hotstar Ad Mute browser extension and to this website. It does not apply to the Hotstar or JioHotstar platforms themselves, which have their own privacy policies.

About Hotstar Ad Mute

Hotstar Ad Mute is not an ad blocker. It does not block, remove, skip, or hide advertisements — advertisements continue to play normally. The extension only detects supported advertisement intervals during live streams and controls the tab's audio during those intervals, restoring your previous audio state once live content resumes.

Information the Extension Processes

To detect ad breaks and control tab audio, the extension processes the following categories of information while you are actively using it on a supported Hotstar or JioHotstar tab:

• Page and player signals — information exposed by the Hotstar/JioHotstar web player in the page, used to determine whether a live stream is currently showing an advertisement break.
• Tab audio/mute state — the current and previous mute state of the tab, so the extension can mute during an ad and restore the exact state you had before.
• Extension settings — your preferences, such as whether notifications are enabled, that you set through the extension's popup or options.

The extension does not require you to create an account, does not ask for your name, email address, or payment details, and does not process your Hotstar/JioHotstar login credentials or viewing history beyond what is needed, in the moment, to detect an ad break on the currently open tab.

How Information Is Used

The information above is used solely to operate the core functionality of the extension: detecting supported advertisement breaks, muting tab audio during those breaks, and restoring your prior audio state when live content resumes. Extension settings are used to apply your chosen preferences, such as whether to show optional notifications.

Local Processing

Hotstar Ad Mute is designed so that ad-break detection and audio-control logic run locally in your browser, as part of the extension's content script and background logic on the page you are viewing. The extension does not operate its own backend server to process your streaming activity, and it does not transmit your viewing activity to the extension developer.

Chrome Storage and User Preferences

The extension uses Chrome's built-in extension storage APIs to save your preferences (for example, whether notifications are enabled) and limited operational state (such as the per-tab audio state needed to restore your previous setting correctly). This data is stored locally by the Chrome browser in association with the extension and is not synced to any server operated by the developer.

Website/Page Information

To function, the extension needs to run on Hotstar and JioHotstar live-stream pages and read player-related signals exposed on those pages (for example, whether a video element is currently playing an advertisement). It does not read or process the content of unrelated websites, and it does not monitor your general browsing activity outside of supported Hotstar/JioHotstar tabs.

Advertisement and Player Detection Data

Detection relies on signals exposed by the Hotstar/JioHotstar player and page — such as player state changes that indicate an ad break has started or ended. This data is used transiently, in the browser, to decide when to mute or restore audio. It is not aggregated into an advertising profile, and it is not shared with advertisers or analytics providers.

Audio State

The extension keeps track of whether a tab was muted or unmuted before an ad break began, so that when live content resumes, it can restore that exact state rather than blindly unmuting the tab. This audio-state information is tab-specific, used only for this purpose, and is not linked to any personal identifier.

Notifications

Hotstar Ad Mute may optionally show browser notifications (for example, when audio is muted or restored). Notifications are off by default and are only shown if you enable them in the extension's settings. Enabling notifications does not cause any additional data to be sent off your device.

Data Sharing

Third-Party Services

The extension itself does not integrate third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking SDKs. This website may be hosted on third-party infrastructure (such as Vercel), which may process standard web server logs (for example, IP address and request metadata) as part of serving these pages, under that provider's own privacy practices.

Data Retention

Settings and operational state stored via Chrome extension storage persist on your device until you change them, reset them, or remove the extension. Uninstalling the extension removes the data Chrome has stored for it. The extension developer does not separately retain a copy of this data, since it is not transmitted to a developer-operated server.

Data Security

Chrome extension storage relies on the security of the Chrome browser and your device. The extension follows the principle of processing information locally and limiting what it requests to what is needed for its core functionality. As with any software, no method of storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely free of risk, and this policy does not claim otherwise.

User Controls

You control the extension's behavior at all times:

• Enable or disable optional notifications from the extension's settings.
• Clear stored settings by removing and reinstalling the extension, or via Chrome's extension storage management.
• Uninstall the extension at any time from Chrome's extensions page, which stops all processing described in this policy.

Permissions Explanation

Chrome extensions must declare the permissions they need. The permissions Hotstar Ad Mute requests are used strictly to provide its core functionality — for example, permission to run on supported Hotstar/JioHotstar pages so it can detect ad breaks, and permission to control tab audio so it can mute and restore sound. The extension does not request permissions unrelated to this functionality, such as broad access to your browsing history, bookmarks, or unrelated site data.

Children's Privacy

Hotstar Ad Mute is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect personal information from children. The extension does not include an account system, so it does not knowingly gather personal information from any user, including children.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

This privacy policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes to the extension's functionality or for legal or regulatory reasons. Updates will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. Continued use of the extension after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or the Hotstar Ad Mute extension, you can reach out at jithinkrishnan42@gmail.com.