Does the Emoji Add-on collect or store my data?

Updated

No. According to the add-on's own feature description, the Emoji Add-on (emojiaddon.com) does not collect any data, and everything it saves is stored only locally on your device. The one exception is optional sync: if you choose to enable it, your settings and most-used emojis are synced through a Mozilla Account or a Google Account rather than through the add-on itself.

What "no data collected" means here

The site states plainly: "No data collected by the Emoji add-on. Everything is saved only locally on your device." In practice, that covers the things the add-on needs to remember to work the way you configured it:

  • Your customisations — emoji size, emoji style, theme, and similar preferences
  • Your most-used emojis section, which is built from your own usage
  • Your keyboard shortcut customisation

These stay on the machine where you installed the add-on. Nothing in the description suggests they are sent to the developer or to a third-party analytics service.

The sync exception

Sync is the only feature that moves your data off your device, and it is opt-in. The site describes it as a way to "sync settings and most used emojis using a Mozilla Account or a Google Account." Two things follow from that wording:

Question Answer based on the site
Is sync on by default? Not stated as default; it is presented as something you can use
Who handles the synced data? Mozilla or Google, depending on which account you connect
What gets synced? Settings and most-used emojis
Does the add-on itself collect it? The site says no data is collected by the add-on

So if you never connect an account, your settings and usage stay local. If you do connect one, the storage and handling of that synced copy fall under the account provider's terms, not the add-on's — which is the practical trade-off to weigh before turning sync on.

Other details worth knowing before you install

  • Open-source: the project is described as totally free and open-source, with source code on GitHub. If you want to verify the privacy claim rather than take it on trust, the code is the place to look.
  • Free: the site calls it "the free addon." The page mentions a newsletter subscription, but that is a separate mailing list, not a condition of using the add-on as described.
  • Browser differences: keyboard shortcuts for opening the emoji picker are listed as available only in the Firefox version. Defaults are Ctrl+Alt+A on Windows and Linux, and ⌘+⌥+A on Mac, and they can be customised.
  • Currency: the add-on is described as constantly updated, currently supporting Emoji 15.1.

Bottom line

For the question of whether this add-on collects or stores your data: the developer says it does not, and that local storage is the default. The only path by which your settings and usage leave your device is the optional Mozilla or Google sync — so the decision comes down to whether you want cross-device convenience enough to involve an account provider. If you would rather keep everything on one machine, simply skip sync.