DEX browser extension permissions and data collection

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated August 10, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of DEX browser extension permissions and data collection

    The DEX browser extension for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge is designed to measure the performance, availability, and usage of monitored web applications. It collects specific usage data by requesting minimal and targeted browser permissions. This data is routed securely through the Agent Client Collector (ACC) to ServiceNow shared services and then to your instance, ensuring that monitoring is precise and respects user privacy.

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    Browser Extension Permissions and Their Purpose

    The extension requests the following key permissions, each scoped to the minimum required access for accurate performance measurement:

    • Storage: Temporarily stores collected performance metrics locally before transmission.
    • Active Tab: Identifies the active browser tab to focus data collection on the currently viewed application.
    • Tabs: Detects when monitored application tabs are opened, active, or closed to track session and usage data.
    • Alarms: Schedules periodic data collection to reduce continuous browser impact.
    • Web Request: Monitors network requests of monitored applications to count successes and failures, informing availability scores.
    • Declarative Net Request (and Host Access): Adjusts security headers specifically for calls to the extension’s own reporting service, ensuring compliance without affecting other sites.
    • Host Permission (access to site URLs): Reads URLs of open tabs to identify monitored applications and measure usage duration.

    Data Collection Scope and Privacy

    The extension collects only standard browser performance timing data, such as page load times, network timings, session duration, and request success/failure counts, all tied explicitly to monitored application URLs. It does not access or read page content, form inputs, cookies, or user credentials. The adjustment of headers is strictly limited to communications with the extension’s reporting service and does not impact other site traffic.

    Because the extension cannot pre-identify monitored sites, it requires broad URL and tab visibility at runtime but records data only for recognized monitored applications. All collected metrics are reported solely to your ServiceNow instance, ensuring data security and relevance.

    The DEX browser extension requests specific browser permissions to measure the performance, availability, and usage of monitored web applications. Each permission is limited to the minimum access required for that measurement purpose.

    How web application usage data is collected

    Application usage data is collected differently depending on whether the application is installed on the endpoint or accessed through a browser:

    • Installed application usage data is collected by the Agent Client Collector (ACC) installed on the endpoint.
    • Web application usage data is collected by the DEX browser extension for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. The extension reports the collected data through the same channel used by ACC: data is routed from the browser extension to ACC, and then sent to the ServiceNow shared services and on to your instance.

    To collect this data, the browser extension requests the browser permissions described in the following table. Each permission is limited to the minimum access required to measure page performance and availability for monitored applications. The extension does not read page content, form data, cookies, or credentials.

    Permissions requested by the browser extension

    Table 1. Browser permissions and their purpose
    Permission Purpose
    Storage Temporarily saves collected performance metrics, such as page load times and session data, on the local device between collection intervals, before the data is sent to your instance.
    Active Tab Identifies the currently active tab so the extension can determine which tab to collect and update data for while a user is viewing it.
    Tabs Detects when a monitored application's tab is opened, kept open, or closed, to determine what session and usage data to record. This permission applies only to tabs recognized as monitored applications.
    Alarms Triggers metric collection and reporting on a recurring schedule instead of continuously, to minimize the impact on browser performance.
    Web Request Observes network requests made by monitored applications, specifically counting successful and failed requests, to calculate an application availability score.
    Declarative Net Request Adjusts the Origin and Content-Type request headers on requests sent to the extension's own reporting service, so that they meet the security requirements of that service.
    Declarative Net Request with Host Access Works with the Declarative Net Request permission, but restricts the header adjustment to a single, specific destination. This ensures the adjustment can't affect requests to any other site.
    Host Permission (access to site URLs) Reads the URL of open browser tabs, so the extension can determine when a monitored application was opened and how long it remained open. This is the basis for the usage and performance metrics shown in your instance.

    Scope of data collected

    • The extension extracts only standard browser performance timing data, such as page load, network, and response timings. It does not access page content, form inputs, cookies, or credentials.
    • The Web Request and Declarative Net Request permissions are used narrowly: to count request successes and failures, and to adjust two specific headers on calls to the extension's own reporting service. They aren't used to read or modify the content of requests or responses to any other site.
    • The Host Permission and Tabs permissions require broad tab and URL visibility because the extension can't determine in advance which sites are your monitored applications. That determination happens at runtime, and only recognized monitored applications have their data recorded.
    • Collected metrics are limited to performance and availability statistics, such as load times, session duration, and request success or failure counts, tied to monitored application URLs. The extension reports metrics only to your own instance.