Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 14, 2026

This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) pertains to the URL Historian browser extension (“extension”) provided by New York University’s Center for Social Media, AI, and Politics (“CSMaP,” “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). We are committed to protecting your personal information and research participants’ (“you,” “your”) right to privacy.

You have been invited to take part in a research study to help researchers at CSMaP understand how our ever-shifting online environment impacts politics, policy, and democracy.

URL Historian is a browser extension that collects browsing data from registered research participants who agree to be part of a study. To be part of a CSMaP study, a participant first completes a survey and opts in to sharing web browsing data through the URL Historian extension. The participant is then provided a participant ID, which is required to register and use the URL Historian extension.

Data collected through URL Historian is anonymized and used for academic purposes only. All collected data is securely stored on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and only accessible by CSMaP researchers.

What the extension collects

Web browsing history

When the extension is registered and activated, it automatically begins collecting URLs visited and how you engage with those pages, such as time on page, scrolling, and the number of clicks and key presses. What you type is never collected. Sites on sensitive-site lists, such as banking, email or health sites, are recorded only as a category, never by address. You can block specific domains from being collected by adding them to a blocklist within the extension; the blocklist stays on your computer.

Past browsing history

When you register, you can opt in to sharing a one-time copy of up to six months of your browser history from before you registered.

AI chatbots and YouTube

You can also opt in to sharing data from AI chatbots and YouTube. The ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini options collect the questions you ask, the chatbot’s responses and the sources it cites, and a copy of the conversation page. The YouTube option collects the videos you watch, how long you watch them, and the videos recommended alongside them. Each option is activated separately. Data will only be collected from the sites you have opted in to sharing.

Controlling what you share

Choosing what you share

You can turn each chatbot and YouTube on or off at any time in the extension’s Settings, and add sites to or remove sites from your blocklist. Changes apply from then on.

Removing data

You can revoke your shared data at any time. Contact NYU CSMaP Engineers at csmapsupport@nyu.edu to request your data be deleted. Removing the extension stops all data collection. At the end of the study, the extension removes itself.

Participation

Participation in this study is voluntary. You may refuse to participate or withdraw at any time without penalty. To revoke your consent of any portion of a study, email csmap-surveys@nyu.edu, where your request will be handled by the appropriate teams.

Data storage and access

Data collected through the URL Historian extension will be held on encrypted storage managed by CSMaP. Only approved researchers will have access to the data. CSMaP will not share or sell your data to commercial third parties. All data collected will be anonymized and used for research purposes only.

Information that is anonymized and does not contain personal identifying information may be used in more than one research study, shared with other academic researchers, or placed in a data repository without your additional consent.

Contact

If there is anything about the study or your participation that is unclear or that you do not understand, or if you have additional questions or wish to report a research-related problem, you may contact csmap-surveys@nyu.edu.