Peek at Primo — Privacy Policy

What it accesses

Peek at Primo only pays attention to text you deliberately select and choose to look up. It does not run automatically, does not scan pages in the background, and cannot see anything on a page until you right-click a selection and choose "Lookup Call Number." At that point it reads the selected text and briefly inserts a small result box into that page — nothing else on the page is read, changed, or recorded.

What it sends

The text you selected is sent as a search query directly to your own library's Primo catalog — the same system you'd be searching if you typed that text into Primo's own search box on your library's website. That request goes straight from your browser to your library's Primo VE service (operated by Ex Libris) over HTTPS. It does not pass through any server operated by this extension, because there isn't one — Peek at Primo has no backend of its own.

Nothing you select is sent anywhere except your library's own Primo system, and only at the moment you ask for a lookup.

What it stores, and where

Your chosen library — saved locally in your browser (Chrome's storage.local) so it's remembered between lookups. This never leaves your device except to load normally when you open the browser.
A short-lived technical cache — the search-scope identifier and guest token your library's Primo system reports, cached in memory only (Chrome's storage.session) purely to make repeat lookups faster. It's cleared automatically when you close your browser, and expires on its own after 24 hours regardless.

Nothing else is stored. There's no account, no history log, and no record kept of what you've searched for.

What it never does

No accounts, sign-in, or user profiles of any kind.
No analytics, tracking pixels, or third-party scripts of any kind.
No advertising, and nothing is ever sold or shared for marketing purposes.
Doesn't read your browsing history or activity on other tabs.
Doesn't run or request data from any page until you invoke it yourself.
No AI model is involved — this is a direct, deterministic client for Primo's own public search API, not an AI feature.

Permissions, explained

Chrome requires an extension to declare every capability it uses up front. Here's what each one on Peek at Primo's manifest is actually for:

contextMenus Adds the "Lookup Call Number" option to the right-click menu when you have text selected.

activeTab / scripting Lets the result box be drawn directly on the page you're reading — but only in the instant after you click the menu item, never before and never on a schedule.

storage Holds your chosen library and the short-lived technical cache described above.

notifications A fallback only: if a page won't allow the result box to appear (some PDF viewers, browser settings pages), the result shows as a system notification instead.

host access *.primo.exlibrisgroup.com — every PASCAL member library's Primo catalog lives on this domain pattern; this is what lets the lookup actually reach it.

optional host access Not granted by default. Requested, one domain at a time, only if you manually add a Primo VE library outside the standard PASCAL pattern via "Other Primo VE Library" in settings.

Third-party services

Every lookup is answered by Primo VE, a discovery service operated by Ex Libris (a Clarivate company) on behalf of your library or library consortium (in South Carolina, typically PASCAL). Once your search reaches that system, it's subject to your own institution's and Ex Libris's privacy practices, not this document — check your library's website for theirs.

Peek at Primo is an independent tool built by James A. Rogers Library at Francis Marion University for use across PASCAL member libraries. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced by Ex Libris, Clarivate, or PASCAL. "Primo" is a trademark of its respective owner, referenced here only to describe what this tool searches.

Changes to this policy

If what this extension accesses, sends, or stores ever changes in a way that matters, this page will be updated and the "Effective" date above will change. Since Peek at Primo has no account system, there's no other way to notify you directly — checking back here after an update is the way to know.

Contact

Questions, or something look wrong with a result? Use the "Report a problem" link inside any result popup — it pre-fills the technical details so nothing has to be re-explained — or write directly to mark.stack@gmail.com.