Privacy Policy
Voq is a free Chrome extension that reads webpage text aloud. This page explains what data Voq does — and does not — handle.
Summary
- Voq does not collect any personal data.
- Voq does not require an account or sign-up, even for the paid tier.
- Voq has no analytics, tracking, or advertising of any kind.
- By default, Voq reads text using your browser's built-in voice, entirely on your device.
- For a limited daily amount of natural-sounding speech, selected text is sent securely to Voq's own relay service and Google Cloud Text-to-Speech to generate audio, then immediately discarded.
- Removing the daily limit is optional and paid for through Stripe — Voq never sees or stores your card details.
How Voq works
Voq offers two ways to read text aloud, and an optional way to remove the daily limit on the natural voice.
Standard voice (default): When you select text and choose to have it read aloud, Voq passes that text directly to your browser's built-in Web Speech API, which converts it to speech on your device. The text never leaves your browser.
Natural voice (limited daily use, unlimited with a paid subscription): To offer a more natural-sounding voice, Voq can optionally send selected text to Voq's own relay service, which forwards it to Google Cloud Text-to-Speech to generate audio. The audio is returned to your browser and played immediately. The text is not stored by Voq or by Google after the audio is generated. This option is limited to a small amount of use per day, after which Voq automatically reverts to the standard on-device voice — unless you've subscribed to remove that daily limit.
Data collection
Voq does not collect, store, or transmit any of the following:
- Your browsing history
- Personal information, such as your name, email, or IP address
- Usage analytics or telemetry
- Any text read using the standard on-device voice
When natural voice is used, the selected text is transmitted solely to generate audio and is not logged or stored by Voq. Voq keeps a small daily usage counter (how many characters of natural voice have been used today) stored only on your own device, tied to a random identifier that is not linked to your identity in any way.
If you subscribe to remove the daily limit, Voq stores a randomly generated device identifier and, if applicable, an activation code in Chrome's storage.sync, which Google syncs across your devices under your Google account. This identifier is not linked to your name, email, or any other personal information, and is used solely to verify your subscription.
Third-party services
When natural voice is used, text is processed by Google Cloud Text-to-Speech solely to generate audio. Google's handling of this data is governed by Google Cloud's privacy terms. Voq does not send any personally identifying information alongside this text. If you choose to subscribe to the paid tier, payment is processed entirely by Stripe; Voq never sees or stores your card details.
Permissions
Voq requests only the browser permissions it needs to read the current page's text aloud, display its reading controls, and optionally generate natural-sounding audio. These permissions are used solely to provide that functionality and are never used to collect data for any other purpose.
Accounts
Voq does not require you to create an account or sign in — this is true for both the free and paid tiers. If you subscribe, Chrome's built-in sync (tied to your Google sign-in) is what keeps your subscription active across reinstalls; Voq itself has no login system of its own.
Children's privacy
Voq does not knowingly collect any personal data from anyone, including children.
Changes to this policy
If this privacy policy ever changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date.
Contact
If you have questions about this privacy policy, you can reach out via the contact information listed on Voq's Chrome Web Store listing.