Privacy Policy

What Stepler collects when you screenshot a question, why we need it, and how to get rid of it.

Last updated
19 September 2026
Applies to
Chrome extension and stepler.dev
Cookies
Questions
Report a problem

Overview

Stepler is a study tool for IGCSE and A-Level STEM questions. It reads a question you screenshot and returns step-by-step working aligned to mark-scheme phrasing. This policy covers the Chrome extension and the website at stepler.dev.

If anything here is unclear, or you want to know exactly what we hold on your account, ask through the report a problem form.

What happens when you use Stepler

Nothing is captured until you confirm a screenshot. Once you do:

  • The screenshot of the question is captured.
  • It is sent to our backend and to the AI providers that generate the explanation.
  • A step-by-step, syllabus-aligned solution comes back to you.

In plain terms. The extension does not watch your screen. It only sees the specific screenshots you choose to send.

Information we collect

Account and authentication

  • Your email address.
  • A hashed password, stored by our authentication provider. We never see the plain password.
  • Your Google account email, name and avatar, if you sign in with Google.

This exists to create your account, keep it secure, and keep you signed in across devices.

Screenshots and question data

  • The screenshot image of the question.
  • Text extracted from that screenshot by OCR.
  • Basic metadata such as the time and the file name.

We use this to generate solutions, show you your recent questions, and work out which topics you keep getting wrong. We do not use your questions to build advertising profiles.

Usage and diagnostics

  • Extension version, browser and operating system.
  • Error reports and performance logs.
  • Aggregated counts, such as screenshots sent or requests that failed.

This is how we find bugs, monitor load, and plan capacity.

What we do not collect

  • Your browsing history.
  • Keystrokes.
  • Audio or video recordings.
  • Health, financial, or government ID numbers.

The extension sees the screenshots you send and the minimum context needed to draw its own interface. That is the whole list.

How we use information

To run the service

Signing you in, processing screenshots, and keeping your plan and question limits in sync across devices.

To keep Stepler working

Debugging, monitoring server load, and improving OCR and explanation accuracy.

To contact you

Account emails you cannot opt out of, such as email verification and billing receipts, plus optional product updates you can unsubscribe from at any time.

In plain terms. We do not sell your data, and nothing you type, upload or solve is shared with an advertising company. There is one exception to the wider claim, and we would rather point at it than bury it: if you agree to it, the Meta Pixel tells Meta that you visited a page here. It is described in full under Cookies and similar technologies, and you can say no.

Where your data is stored and processed

  • Account data sits with a managed authentication and database provider (Supabase).
  • Screenshots and extracted text are processed by our backend and by AI model providers acting as data processors on our instructions.
  • Payment details, if you subscribe, are handled entirely by our payment processor. Card numbers never reach our servers.
  • If you accept advertising cookies, Meta Platforms receives the fact that your browser opened a page on stepler.dev. Your questions and screenshots are never part of that.

These providers may process data outside your country. Where that happens, we rely on their standard contractual protections.

Cookies and similar technologies

Two different things happen in your browser, and they are worth keeping apart, because only one of them is optional.

Storage we need to run Stepler

Your signed-in session is kept in your browser’s local storage, and the cookie choice you make is stored next to it. Neither can be switched off: without the first you would be signed out on every page, and without the second we would have to ask you about cookies on every visit. Neither one follows you to another website.

The Meta Pixel

If you accept advertising cookies, we load the Meta Pixel on stepler.dev. It sets two cookies, _fbp and _fbc, and it reports to Meta Platforms that a browser opened a page on our site, together with the page address, your IP address and your browser’s user agent. Meta can match that to a Facebook or Instagram account.

We use it for one purpose: working out whether the ads we pay for actually bring students to Stepler, and finding more people like the ones it helps. It has no part in reading your screenshots or generating solutions, and declining it changes nothing about how Stepler works.

In plain terms. This is cross-site advertising tracking, which is exactly the kind of thing the rest of this policy says we avoid. It is the one place we do it, it is the only reason this site has a cookie banner, and it is off until you say otherwise.

Changing your mind

Open from the footer of any page and the same panel comes back, with your current answer in it. A change takes effect immediately. We also ask again once a year, and whenever this list of companies changes.

Switching the pixel off stops it reporting and deletes _fbp and _fbc from your browser. Anything Meta already received is held under Meta’s own terms; their off-Facebook activity settings are where you deal with that.

What we do not do

  • We do not put advertising or analytics cookies on your browser before you accept them.
  • We do not treat carrying on browsing, or closing the banner, as agreement.
  • We do not send Meta your screenshots, your extracted question text, your solutions, or your email address.
  • We do not use any of this inside the Chrome extension, which carries no advertising tags at all.

How long we keep it

We keep your data while your account is active, and for a limited period afterwards where we need it for legal, security, or dispute-resolution reasons. Ask us to delete your account and we will remove or anonymise the associated data wherever we are able to.

Your choices and rights

  • Sign out of the extension or website at any time.
  • Accept or refuse advertising cookies, and change that decision whenever you like, from the cookie settings link in the footer.
  • Revoke the extension’s Chrome permissions from your browser settings.
  • Ask us to delete your account and its data through the support form.
  • Unsubscribe from non-essential product emails using the link in any of them.

Depending on where you live, you may also have rights to access, correct, or export your data. Send the request through the report a problem form and we will handle it.

Younger students

Stepler is not intended for children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, tell us through the report a problem form and we will remove it.

Most people studying for IGCSEs and A-Levels are under 18, which is why advertising cookies are presented as a plain yes-or-no with both answers on the banner, and why refusing costs nothing. If you are under 18 and unsure, refusing is the safe answer and nothing about Stepler will work less well.

Changes to this policy

We update this policy when the product changes. When a change is significant we will move the last-updated date and tell you through the website, the extension, or email.

Contact

Stepler is operated by [Legal entity name]. For anything relating to your data, use the report a problem form and we will reply.

The rules for using Stepler itself are set out separately.

Terms of Service