---
title: "Chrome extension permissions explained: security audits for AI browser tools."
description: "Understand what Chrome Manifest V3 permissions actually allow—from activeTab and scripting to <all_urls>, webRequest, and Google Sheets report overlays—before installing an AI extension."
canonical_url: "https://vezz.me/permissions/"
type: "pseo-hub"
category: "permissions"
intent: "Best for security-conscious users, IT admins, researchers, and teams evaluating the privacy and permission footprint of AI Chrome extensions."
---

# Chrome extension permissions explained: security audits for AI browser tools.

Understand what Chrome Manifest V3 permissions actually allow—from activeTab and scripting to <all_urls>, webRequest, and Google Sheets report overlays—before installing an AI extension.

> **Best for:** Best for security-conscious users, IT admins, researchers, and teams evaluating the privacy and permission footprint of AI Chrome extensions.

## All Extension Security & Permissions (27)

- [Chrome Permission Audit — What is the activeTab permission in Chrome extensions? Security & privacy guide.](https://vezz.me/permissions/activetab/): Learn how Chrome's activeTab permission works in Manifest V3, why it displays no install warning, and how user-triggered AI extensions use it to protect your browsing privacy.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome extension scripting permission explained: UI overlays vs security risks.](https://vezz.me/permissions/scripting/): What does the Manifest V3 'scripting' permission allow? Learn how AI Chrome extensions use chrome.scripting.executeScript to render answer panels and what to check before installing.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — 'Read and change all your data on all websites' (<all_urls>) permission explained.](https://vezz.me/permissions/host-permissions-all-urls/): Why do AI Chrome extensions trigger the scary 'Read and change all your data on all websites' warning? Learn how to tell a safe on-screen reading tool from a data-harvesting extension.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome webRequest & declarativeNetRequest permissions: why AI reading tools shouldn't need them.](https://vezz.me/permissions/webrequest/): What do webRequest and declarativeNetRequest do in Chrome extensions? Learn why ad blockers need network interception—and why an AI reading assistant usually shouldn't.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome 'tabs' permission vs activeTab: can AI extensions read your browsing history?](https://vezz.me/permissions/tabs/): Understand why Chrome warns 'Read your browsing history' when an extension requests the 'tabs' permission—and how it differs from the history and activeTab permissions.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — clipboardRead vs clipboardWrite permissions in AI Chrome extensions.](https://vezz.me/permissions/clipboardread/): Why do some AI extensions ask to 'Read data you copy and paste'? Learn the difference between one-click copy buttons (clipboardWrite) and background clipboard monitoring (clipboardRead).
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome extension 'storage' permission: local settings vs server-side data.](https://vezz.me/permissions/storage/): What does the 'storage' permission do in Chrome extensions? Understand the difference between chrome.storage.local, chrome.storage.sync, and what AI extensions store on remote servers.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome 'sidePanel' permission vs on-screen overlays: UX & privacy differences.](https://vezz.me/permissions/sidepanel/): Compare Chrome's native sidePanel API (used by Sider, Monica, and Copilot) with on-screen selection overlays like Vezz me—covering viewport space, context scope, and permissions.
- [Specific Use-Case Security Audit — If an AI extension overlaps reports on the same sheet, what permission does it ask for?](https://vezz.me/permissions/google-sheets-and-reports/): When an AI Chrome extension overlays or summarizes reports on a spreadsheet or BI dashboard (Google Sheets, Airtable, Looker), which Chrome permissions does it require and how do you audit it safely?
- [Specific Use-Case Security Audit — Auditing AI Chrome extension permissions for Google Docs, Notion, and enterprise wikis.](https://vezz.me/permissions/google-docs-and-workspace/): Learn how AI Chrome extensions interact with Google Docs, Notion, Confluence, and internal knowledge bases—and how to configure Chrome host access and context controls safely.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome 'contextMenus' permission explained: right-click AI actions vs keyboard shortcuts.](https://vezz.me/permissions/contextmenus/): What does the 'contextMenus' permission allow in Chrome extensions? Learn why it displays no install warning and how right-click menus compare with keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+Shift+X.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome 'cookies' permission: why AI reading extensions shouldn't need your session cookies.](https://vezz.me/permissions/cookies/): What does the Chrome 'cookies' permission allow? Learn why requesting cookie access across websites is a major red flag for AI browser extensions—and how safe tools authenticate instead.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome 'history' permission vs 'tabs': can an AI extension read your past browsing log?](https://vezz.me/permissions/history/): Learn the exact technical difference between Chrome's 'history' permission (which reads your past chrome://history database) and the 'tabs' permission—and how to audit AI extensions.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome 'identity' permission & OAuth tokens in AI browser extensions.](https://vezz.me/permissions/identity-and-oauth/): How does `chrome.identity` work in Chrome extensions? Learn the difference between basic email sign-in and broad Google Workspace OAuth scopes (Gmail, Drive, Sheets).
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome 'notifications' permission: why calm AI tools avoid desktop alert spam.](https://vezz.me/permissions/notifications/): What does the 'notifications' permission allow in Chrome extensions? Learn why background desktop notifications are unnecessary for in-page reading assistants.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Manifest V3 'offscreen' permission explained: DOM parsing vs hidden activity.](https://vezz.me/permissions/offscreen-documents/): Why did Chrome introduce the 'offscreen' permission in Manifest V3? Learn how extensions use offscreen documents for Readability parsing, audio, or clipboard tasks.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome 'alarms' permission & background service workers in Manifest V3.](https://vezz.me/permissions/alarms-and-background/): What does the 'alarms' permission do in Chrome extensions? Understand the difference between event-driven user-triggered extensions and scheduled background polling.
- [Chrome Permission Audit — Chrome 'declarativeContent' permission: conditional page actions explained.](https://vezz.me/permissions/declarativecontent/): Learn how Chrome's declarativeContent permission lets extensions enable their toolbar icon on matching pages without reading page content in the background.
- [High-Security Surface Audit — Auditing AI Chrome extensions on banking, brokerage, and accounting portals.](https://vezz.me/permissions/banking-and-financial-sites/): Should you allow AI browser extensions on banking, brokerage, Stripe, or accounting dashboards? Learn how to use Chrome site-access controls, separate profiles, and Minimal context safely.
- [High-Security Surface Audit — Browser extension security for clinical portals, EHRs, and healthcare research.](https://vezz.me/permissions/healthcare-and-hipaa-portals/): How clinicians, medical students, and researchers can safely use AI Chrome extensions on public biomedical literature (PubMed, NCBI) while protecting PHI on clinical portals.
- [Engineering Security Audit — Auditing AI Chrome extensions on private GitHub, GitLab, and internal codebases.](https://vezz.me/permissions/github-and-source-code-privacy/): How software engineers and AppSec teams audit AI browser extensions for reading documentation, public open-source repos, and internal pull requests without leaking secrets.
- [Firefox Add-on Security Audit — Firefox Add-on permissions vs Chrome Manifest V3: security guide for AI tools.](https://vezz.me/permissions/firefox-webextension-permissions/): How Mozilla Firefox's WebExtension permission model, Data Collection disclosures, and `about:addons` controls work for AI reading extensions like Vezz me.
- [Manifest V3 Network Rules — Chrome Extension declarativeNetRequest: How it works & why ad-blockers use it.](https://vezz.me/permissions/declarativenetrequest/): Understand Chrome Manifest V3 declarativeNetRequest vs webRequest. Learn how browser-evaluated declarative rules protect privacy and why Vezz me needs neither.
- [Clipboard Security Audit — Chrome Extension clipboardWrite: Copying answers without clipboard hijacking.](https://vezz.me/permissions/clipboardwrite/): Understand Chrome extension clipboardWrite permission vs clipboardRead. Learn how clipboard poisoning works and why Vezz me only writes what you explicitly click to copy.
- [UI Architecture & Permissions — Chrome Extension sidePanel vs activeTab overlay: Viewport, focus & privacy.](https://vezz.me/permissions/sidepanel-vs-active-tab-overlay/): Comparing Chrome Manifest V3 sidePanel permission with in-page floating activeTab overlays. Learn why floating cards preserve reading flow better than 400px sidebars.
- [Manifest V3 Script Execution — Manifest V3 chrome.scripting.executeScript: Code injection vs pre-injected scripts.](https://vezz.me/permissions/scripting-execute-script-security/): Deep dive into Chrome Manifest V3 chrome.scripting vs persistent content_scripts. Learn why on-demand execution on user gesture is safer than running code on every page load.
- [Enterprise Wiki Security Audit — Auditing AI browser extensions on Confluence, Notion, Jira & internal intranets.](https://vezz.me/permissions/internal-company-wikis-and-intranets/): Why IT and InfoSec teams restrict AI Chrome extensions on internal wikis (Confluence, Notion, Jira, SharePoint) and how activeTab-only extensions comply.

## Frequently asked questions

### Why does Chrome warn that an AI extension can 'Read and change all your data on all websites'?

Chrome displays that standard warning whenever an extension requests broad host permissions or content scripts so its UI overlay can render on whichever webpage you are reading. Because Chrome's install warning cannot distinguish between a user-triggered reading tool and a silent background scraper, you must check whether the extension only transmits data when you press a shortcut.

### What is the safest way to test a new AI Chrome extension?

Create a separate Chrome profile for testing, inspect the permissions requested at install time, set site access to 'On click' if supported, and verify in the privacy policy that selected text is only sent when triggered by the user.

### How does Vezz me handle webpage permissions and privacy?

Vezz me runs on webpages so you can highlight text and see the answer panel directly on screen, but it only sends your selected text, question, and user-chosen page context level (Minimal, Basic, or Detailed) after you explicitly trigger the extension. It never logs your browsing history.