Privacy Policy
YouTube Comments Off: Chrome Extension · Version 1.3.0 · Last updated: 21 October 2026
Short version: This extension collects no data and sends nothing to any server of mine. It injects a CSS rule that hides the YouTube comments section, live chat and the like/dislike buttons. Version 1.2.0 adds two things this policy describes in full: settings saved in your browser's own sync storage, and an optional Ko-fi support button that ships entirely inside the extension: opening the popup loads nothing from the internet. Version 1.3.0 adds one more switch in that popup, for the like counter, and no new kind of data.
Who makes this
YouTube Comments Off is built and maintained by Dario Cositore, an independent developer based in Castelleone, Italy. Contact: support@dariocositore.com
This page is the official privacy policy for the extension and the URL submitted to the Chrome Web Store.
What the extension does
YouTube Comments Off has a single purpose: it hides the comments section on YouTube videos and Shorts, along with the like and dislike count buttons and live chat.
It is designed for people who want to watch YouTube without exposure to rage-bait, triggering content, toxic comment sections, or the social proof pressure of visible engagement counts. It is particularly relevant to users managing anxiety, sensitivity to online negativity, or any situation where the comment section creates a net negative experience.
The extension achieves this by injecting a CSS stylesheet that sets the relevant page elements to display: none, gated behind classes on the page. A content script keeps those classes in sync with your settings, and a MutationObserver re-applies the rule when YouTube's single-page navigation loads new content.
Version 1.2.0 adds an optional toolbar popup. It contains one master switch, two exception switches ("Except this channel" and "Except this video"), a badge showing whether blocking is active on the current tab, and a support button. The popup only reads the channel name and video title of the page you are currently looking at, in order to label those switches. Nothing else in the page is read.
Version 1.3.0 adds a second switch to that popup, "Block likes", which decides whether the like and dislike counts are hidden or visible. It reads nothing new: it is a single yes or no setting, it is stored in the same place as the other switches, and the two never depend on each other.
Data collection
The extension does not collect any data for the developer. Specifically:
- It does not read your watch history, search history, or account information
- It does not record which videos you watch, or which channels you allow
- It does not send anything it reads to any server. There is no server.
- It does not log keystrokes, clicks, or any other user interaction
- It does not collect device identifiers, IP addresses, or location data
- It does not use cookies, and it does not touch your Google or YouTube account credentials
One clarification for version 1.2.0: to label the exception switches in its popup, the content script reads the channel name and video title of the page you are currently viewing and passes them to the popup inside your browser. That is the full extent of what is read from the page. It is never transmitted anywhere, and it disappears when the popup closes.
Data storage
The extension has no database, no cookies, and no server-side storage of any kind. Since version 1.2.0 it does use the browser's own storage area, chrome.storage.sync, to remember four settings: the master on/off switch, the switch that blocks the like counter, the list of channels you have allowed, and the list of videos you have allowed.
That storage belongs to your browser profile, not to the developer. If you are signed into Chrome and sync is enabled, Chrome itself may replicate those settings between your own devices, exactly as it does for your bookmarks. What is stored is a channel handle or channel ID, a video ID, a name for the label, a timestamp, and two yes or no switches, nothing about what you watched and nothing about you. Flipping a switch back off removes the entry immediately.
Data transmission
The extension makes no network requests of its own. It does not call any external server, API, or analytics endpoint. It does not phone home to verify a licence, check for updates, or report usage. Nothing about your settings, your allowed channels, or your browsing is ever transmitted by the extension.
The optional Ko-fi support button is the only piece that could ever have reached the internet, and in this version it no longer does: its icon and styling are bundled files inside the extension, so opening the popup triggers no request to any host at all: no image, no font, no script. The single connection to ko-fi.com that exists is the one you start yourself: clicking the button opens ko-fi.com in a new tab, an ordinary navigation like any other link you follow.
Why the extension needs permissions
Chrome requires that a content script declare the pages it is allowed to run on. YouTube Comments Off declares https://www.youtube.com/* as its match pattern so the browser permits the CSS injection on YouTube pages. The pattern is deliberately narrow: HTTPS only (YouTube has no plain-HTTP site) and the main YouTube site only, exactly the one place the extension works. This is the minimum permission required for a content script to function.
The extension also declares the storage permission, which is what lets it remember your master switch, your like counter switch, and your allowed channels and videos in chrome.storage.sync. That permission reaches the extension's own storage area and nothing else: not your browsing data, not your accounts, not anything on the page.
Third parties
No user data is shared with, sold to, or transferred to any third party. There are no third-party SDKs, analytics libraries, advertising networks, or tracking pixels embedded in the extension.
As described under data transmission, the popup loads no third-party assets at all: its icon, text and styling come from files bundled with the extension. The only third party involved is Ko-fi itself, and only if you choose to click its button, which opens ko-fi.com in a new tab. Nothing about you or your settings accompanies that click.
Children
The extension does not collect data from anyone, including children under 13. The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and equivalent regulations are not implicated because no data is collected.
Changes to this policy
If the extension's data practices change in a future version, this page will be updated before that version is published. The last-updated date at the top of this page reflects the current version. Users are encouraged to review this page when a new version of the extension is released.
Contact
Questions about this privacy policy or the extension's data practices: support@dariocositore.com
This policy can also be reached from the extension's homepage at dariocositore.com/tools/youtube-comments-off/.
Chrome Web Store required disclosures
The following disclosures are required by the Chrome Web Store Developer Program Policies and are certified as true:
I do not sell or transfer user data to third parties, apart from the approved use cases.
I do not use or transfer user data for purposes that are unrelated to the extension's single purpose of hiding YouTube comments and like/dislike counts.
I do not use or transfer user data to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes.
These disclosures are accurate because the extension collects no user data. There is nothing to sell, transfer, or use for any purpose.
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