Last updated: 2026-08-05 · Applies to Bonsai Citations v3.0.0 (extension) and this website, including the web tool.
What we collect
Nothing about you. Bonsai has no servers of its own, no accounts, and no user profiles. We never see, receive, or store your citations, your bibliography, or any personal information. This website has no analytics, no trackers, and no cookies.
The web tool and paste-to-cite
When you paste a link, ISBN, or DOI into the web tool and ask it to look up the details, that single value is sent to Wikimedia's Citoid API — the same public citation-lookup service behind Wikipedia — solely to fetch the source's title, author, and date. Nothing else about you is sent, and the result is used only to build your citation in your browser. If you type the details in by hand, the web tool makes no network requests at all.
Your bibliography stays on your device
Citations you save in the web tool are stored in your browser's localStorage, on your device only. They are never uploaded. Remove them at any time with the Clear control in the tool, or by clearing your browser's site data for this site.
The extension stays on your device too
The Chrome extension makes zero network requests. Everything you create in it is saved locally using Chrome's storage.local and never leaves your computer:
- your saved citations and bibliography,
- your annotations,
- your recent-citation history,
- your preferences (such as the light/dark theme).
You can remove this data at any time from within the extension (remove single entries or clear a whole format), or by removing the extension.
Cookies
None. The site sets no cookies and uses no cookie-based tracking — so there is no cookie banner to click, because there is nothing to consent to.
Feedback
A "Feedback" link simply opens your own email app with a message addressed to us. Nothing is sent unless you choose to send that email, and we only ever see what you write in it. We don't sell or share anything — there is nothing to sell.
The page you cite (extension)
When you click "Cite This Page," Bonsai reads the current tab's citation details (title, author, date, site name, and canonical URL) to build the citation. This happens only when you click, only on the active tab, and the information is used solely to produce your citation on your device. It is never sent anywhere.
Permissions
- storage — to save your citations and preferences on your device.
- activeTab — to read the current page's details, only when you click Cite.
- scripting — to run the one-time reader that collects those details.
Bonsai requests no host permissions and no access to your browsing history.
Schools
The School tier changes none of this. There are no student accounts and no student data — a license identifies a school, delivered through Chrome's managed-storage policy, and is verified on the device with no network call. Nothing about a student is collected, transmitted, or stored on a server.
Changes
If this policy ever changes, the updated version will be posted here and the "Last updated" date above will change.
Contact
Questions: vishnumovva@icloud.com