How to verify that the Process Feedback for Google Docs extension runs locally
This guide explains how IT administrators can independently verify that the Process Feedback for Google Docs extension processes all data locally in the browser, and that no document data or Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is sent to processfeedback.org or to any third party. Every step below can be carried out by your own staff, using only a browser, without any help from Process Feedback.
About the product
Process Feedback for Google Docs is a browser extension that helps teachers and students analyze the writing process behind a Google Docs document.
a) Product name (type): Process Feedback for Google Docs (browser extension)
b) Product description: Available online at the product description page
c) Developer: Process Feedback LLC, St. Louis, MO, USA
d) Target platform: Google Workspace and the Google Chrome browser
e) Deployment method: Individual installation, or central deployment through the Google Admin Console (Force install)
f) Availability: Chrome Web Store, also available for Firefox and Edge
g) Accounts required: None. Neither teachers nor students need to create an account or log in.
Before you start
Run the audit while signed in with an institutional Google account (for example, @school.edu). Some behaviors, such as disabling the Share this Report option, are applied to your institution’s email domain and will not appear on a personal Google account.
Verification steps
- Sign in to Chrome with an institutional account, install the extension from the Chrome Web Store, and open any Google Doc. The extension shows a ribbon above the document with a Writing Process Report button, which confirms that it is active.
- With the document open, open Chrome Developer Tools and select the Network tab.
- Click the Writing Process Report button. You will see requests to Google APIs as the extension downloads the document’s edit history, but no data payload is sent to
processfeedback.orgor to any third-party domain. - When the download completes, the extension opens the report page at
app.processfeedback.org/gdocsin a new tab. The edit history is passed to this page through browser storage: thedocs.google.compage writes the data to browser storage, and the report page reads it from there to render the writing process report. The data is held in browser storage only temporarily. - Keep the Network tab open while the report loads, and confirm that no document data or PII leaves the browser at any point.
- Note that the report page does not use analytics of any kind (such as Google Analytics) to collect user behavior, as stated in our Privacy Policy.
- Finally, click the Share this Report option in the report sidebar and confirm that it is disabled and does not let you share the report. This check is only meaningful from an institutional account whose domain has sharing disabled.
To learn more about the data flow you just observed, read how the Process Feedback for Google Docs extension works.
Support
Email us at contact@processfeedback.org.