Who we are
This policy describes the data practices of SHEIN Search by Image (also listed as SHEIN البحث بالصورة), its Chrome extension, and the supporting search service operated by toolai. Contact us at adilmahfoudi@gmail.com.
The extension helps you find similar SHEIN products using an image you upload, a public image URL, or an area of a webpage you select. It is an independent product, not affiliated with or endorsed by SHEIN.
Information we handle
Images and image URLs you select
For a real search, we send your selected image or public image URL, together with your selected results language, over HTTPS to our Cloudflare-hosted service and the search providers described below. Selecting an image or completing a screen selection can start the search automatically once you have enabled real searching and confirmed the image-sharing notice.
Screen selection temporarily uses a screenshot of the visible tab in memory to create your crop. Only the selected crop is retained as search input and uploaded. The page URL and tab details are temporarily held in browser session storage to validate the capture, with a three-minute validity window. They are not sent as a browsing-history record to our search API.
We do not continuously record your screen or collect a general history of websites you visit. A selected image or image URL can itself contain personal information. Avoid selecting passwords, payment details, private messages, or other sensitive content.
Installation and service information
The extension creates a random installation identifier and obtains a service access token automatically. The service receives the identifier and the extension origin, stores a hash of the identifier and credential hashes, and maintains creation, expiry, and last-use information. These records allow us to provide access, enforce quotas, and revoke abused installations; they are pseudonymous, not anonymous.
Our infrastructure processes network information such as IP addresses and request headers to deliver and secure requests. The application uses hashed IP values for rate limiting. Operational search records include a request identifier, installation/client reference, provider, response status, duration, number of products, limited error information, and timestamp. Product-opening records include the selected product reference, provider, and time. Application request logs do not store the search image bytes or image URLs.
Information stored on your device
The extension stores display and language preferences, service credentials, saved products, and recent search inputs and results in Chrome local storage or IndexedDB. Optional diagnostics are disabled by default and contain only limited local events, such as a stage, duration, result count, and general error code; they exclude image content, image URLs, and credentials and are not automatically uploaded.
If you email support, we receive the email address and information you choose to send. The extension does not ask for your SHEIN password or collect checkout or payment information from shopping pages.
How we use information
- Deliver the image search you initiate and display matching product results.
- Keep your local favorites, recent searches, and preferences available to you.
- Authenticate installations, apply usage limits, prevent abuse, and investigate service failures.
- Open the product you deliberately select through the configured affiliate redirect and measure those clicks.
- Respond to support, privacy, and deletion requests.
We do not sell your images or other user data, use them for personalized advertising, or use them to determine creditworthiness or lending eligibility. We do not use your selected images to train our own AI models. Third-party processing is described in the next section.
Our use of information received through Chrome APIs complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We use and share that information only as necessary for the disclosed image-search features and their related operational purposes. Human access is limited to your explicit consent, necessary security investigations, legal obligations, or aggregated and anonymized internal operations.
Where data is stored and for how long
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Uploaded images | Stored temporarily in Cloudflare D1. Random public links stop serving images after 15 minutes. Expired image bytes are deleted by hourly cleanup or subsequent uploads. Anyone with a valid link can access the image before it expires. |
| Recent local searches | Up to 8 searches, including selected image data and results. Choose 1, 3, or 7 days in Settings; the default is 7. Expired records are removed when accessed or during local cleanup, rather than by a continuously running deletion process. |
| Favorites and preferences | Up to 200 saved products. Kept locally until you remove them, clear the extension's data, or uninstall the extension. |
| Local diagnostics | The last 30 events when enabled. Clear them in Settings; disabling diagnostics stops new events but does not itself erase existing ones. |
| Application request and click logs | Scheduled for deletion after 90 days through hourly cleanup. Expired rate-limit counters and administrator sessions are also cleaned up. |
| Installation records and product-link mappings | Installation sessions normally expire after 30 days and can be renewed. Expiry is not deletion: installation/client records and destination product URL mappings currently have no automatic deletion deadline. Contact us to request deletion. |
| Support correspondence | Retained as needed to handle your request and related follow-up. Contact us to request deletion, subject to applicable obligations. |
These schedules describe active application storage. Infrastructure backup and security-log lifecycles, and copies held by third parties, may differ under their policies.
Affiliate links and external websites
Product buttons use affiliate redirects after a deliberate click. toolai may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. The application records a product-click event; it does not receive your payment details or order contents through its current search API.
The extension does not silently replace links on unrelated shopping pages, apply coupons, or overwrite affiliate cookies in the background. Affiliate tracking can occur after you open a product. External merchants and redirect services operate under their own policies. A commission does not imply a discount or cashback.
Why the extension requests access
- contextMenus: adds an action to search using an image you right-click.
- storage: saves your preferences, favorites, local diagnostics, and installation session.
- activeTab: permits access to the active tab following your capture action, so a selected region can be created.
- scripting: temporarily displays the selection tool on the page where you choose to capture a region.
- Host access to this service: connects to fashion-search-hub.adilmahfoudi3.workers.dev for installation registration, image uploads, searches, and product-link availability.
The public policy page does not require a dashboard account or login. It contains no analytics scripts or advertising trackers. The private administrator dashboard uses a necessary secure session cookie, valid for up to 12 hours, when its administrator signs in.
Control your data
- Choose what to upload or capture. Do not start a real search if you do not want the selected image shared with the search providers.
- Use Settings to clear recent searches, change their retention period, or clear optional diagnostics.
- Use a product's heart button to remove it from your local favorites.
- Clear extension storage or uninstall the extension to remove its local data. Uninstalling does not automatically delete service-side records or provider copies.
- For access, correction, or deletion requests, email adilmahfoudi@gmail.com with the subject “SHEIN Search by Image Privacy Request”.
Where applicable law provides additional rights, including objection, restriction, portability, or a complaint to a data-protection authority, you may contact us to exercise them. Include an approximate date and request ID if available so we can locate the relevant records. Do not send passwords, access tokens, or unnecessary sensitive images. We may need proportionate verification before acting on a request.
The service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has submitted personal information, contact us to request its removal.
Security and international processing
Search requests and uploads use HTTPS. Provider API keys are encrypted in application storage, and service-side authentication credentials are stored as hashes. Uploaded image URLs contain random identifiers but are public to anyone who possesses the link while it remains valid; they are not private authenticated storage. No system can guarantee absolute security.
Cloudflare and the search and affiliate providers may process information in countries other than yours, including the United States. Their international-transfer practices and safeguards are described in their respective policies. Do not assume that image processing remains in your country.
Changes to this policy
We update this page when our practices change and revise the date above. Material changes to image collection, use, or sharing will also be disclosed in the extension, with additional consent requested where required.
Contact toolai
adilmahfoudi@gmail.comPlease identify the product as “SHEIN Search by Image” in your message.