Privacy and control
How ZetaMarker's opt-in activation keeps browsing private on desktop and Firefox Android, what stays on your device, and what happens when you enable cloud sync.
ZetaMarker is built so you choose where it runs. It does not watch every website you visit — it only works on sites or pages where you turn it on.
That means banking, email, healthcare portals, and work apps stay untouched until you explicitly enable ZetaMarker there.
How activation works
Desktop (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Firefox)
- Open a page you want to read and annotate.
- Click the ZetaMarker icon in your toolbar (or press Ctrl+Shift+K / Cmd+Shift+K) to activate it on that tab.
- Select text and highlight as usual.
On any other tab or site, ZetaMarker stays off until you activate it there too.
First click on a page activates ZetaMarker. Later clicks on the same page toggle the sidebar open and closed. See How to highlight text on web pages.
Firefox for Android
- Open a page you want to annotate.
- On a new site, ZetaMarker stays off until you enable it. Tap the ZetaMarker icon at the bottom of the page (Enable ZetaMarker on this site).
- Long-press (or select) text, then tap a color to save a highlight.
After a site is enabled, use the logo menu for Settings, Local pages, Open in app, a page note, or Don't run on this site (turns ZetaMarker off for that domain).
See the Android welcome guide for the full phone and tablet walkthrough.
Why this matters
Many highlighters start on every site automatically. ZetaMarker takes the opposite approach:
| ZetaMarker | Many other highlighters | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on sites you have not enabled | No | Often yes |
| You choose each site or page | Yes | Often no |
| Sensitive sites stay private by default | Yes | Depends |
This is intentional. ZetaMarker is designed for readers who also use email, banking, and healthcare sites in the same browser.
What ZetaMarker does not do
Unless you enable it on a site or page, ZetaMarker does not:
- Read or annotate page content
- Track every tab you open
- Run highlight tools in the background across all sites
The extension waits for you to turn it on — site by site (Android) or page by page (desktop).
Sensitive sites (banking, email, health)
Is it safe to use ZetaMarker on banking or medical sites?
Yes — as long as you leave ZetaMarker off on those sites. Nothing runs until you enable it. If you never activate ZetaMarker on a banking or health portal, it never starts there.
If you do turn it on, it behaves like on any other page: you can highlight, add notes, and manage highlights. Only enable where you genuinely want to annotate.
On Android, use Don't run on this site from the logo menu if you previously enabled a site and want it off again.
Where your highlights live
Local-first by default
When you highlight, data saves locally in your browser right away — no account required. See Local highlighting vs cloud sync.
Optional cloud sync (Pro trial or subscription)
If you sign in and enable cloud sync:
- Your highlights and annotations are stored securely to sync across devices
- You can browse and export from the web dashboard
- You can sign out anytime and keep local highlights on the device
Cloud sync is optional. Local highlighting works without an account.
One account per browser profile
For privacy and data integrity, each browser profile can cloud-sync to one ZetaMarker account. See One account per browser profile.
What about updates?
After a browser extension update, you may need to reactivate ZetaMarker on open tabs (desktop) or reopen a page (Android). See Extension updated — refresh the page.
Privacy policy and data use
For legal details on personal data, email, and cloud storage, see our Privacy Policy.
Questions? See the landing page FAQ or contact support.