Is Video Downloader for reddit - Redditsave safe?
Video Downloader for reddit - Redditsave routes download actions through rapidsave.com with an affiliate referral tag appended to each URL.
When a user clicks the extension's action button or uses the context menu to download a Reddit video, the extension constructs a rapidsave.com URL from the Reddit post path and appends the query parameter ?ref=ch before opening it in a new tab. This parameter identifies the extension as the traffic source for affiliate-tracking purposes. The Reddit post path, including subreddit name and post ID, is included in the redirected URL.
AI-generated. Findings may contain errors. Those marked Verified have been manually reviewed.
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Findings
Reddit Post URLs Forwarded to rapidsave.com With an Affiliate Referral Tag
Clicking RedditSave's toolbar icon on a Reddit post, or its right-click 'Download Reddit Video' option, opens a tab to rapidsave.com built from the subreddit and post ID plus a '?ref=ch' tag, confirmed live by an echoing ad beacon.
What actually happens
You click the RedditSave toolbar icon while viewing a Reddit post, or right-click a post link and choose "Download Reddit Video - RedditSave."
The extension opens a new tab to rapidsave.com with the Reddit post's URL appended and a "?ref=ch" referral tag added to the end.
The same tag is added by both the toolbar-icon handler and the right-click context-menu handler.
Captured request
The tab loaded successfully; resource requests on the resulting page carried this exact URL as their initiator_url, and an independent aniview.com ad beacon on the page echoed the same URL, including the ?ref=ch tag, in its own beacon parameters, corroborating from an unrelated third party that the tab's real address included the referral tag.
The code that does this
background.js, both trigger paths append the same referral tag
Right-click context-menu handler (not obfuscated — shown for reference)
background.js:9-23chrome.contextMenus.onClicked.addListener((info, tab) => { const link = info.linkUrl; const redditPostUrlRegex = /https?:\/\/((www\.)|(pay\.)|(i\.)|(old\.)|(np\.)|(new\.))?reddit\.com\/((r)|(user)|(u))\/(\w+)\/comments\/([a-z0-9]{2,10})(\/?$|\/\w*)/im; if (redditPostUrlRegex.test(link)) { chrome.tabs.create({ url: "https://rapidsave.com/r/" + link.split("/r/")[1] + "?ref=ch" }); } else { chrome.scripting.executeScript({ target: { tabId: tab.id }, func: () => alert("This is not a valid reddit post") }); }});Toolbar action-click handler (not obfuscated — shown for reference)
background.js:25-42chrome.action.onClicked.addListener((tab) => { const host = "https://rapidsave.com"; chrome.tabs.query({ active: true, lastFocusedWindow: true }, (tabs) => { const url = tabs[0].url; const redditPostUrlRegex = /https?:\/\/((www\.)|(pay\.)|(i\.)|(old\.)|(np\.)|(new\.))?reddit\.com\/((r)|(user)|(u))\/(\w+)\/comments\/([a-z0-9]{2,10})(\/?$|\/\w*)/im; if (redditPostUrlRegex.test(url)) { const newPage = host + "/r/" + url.split("/r/")[1] + "?ref=ch"; chrome.tabs.create({ url: newPage }); } else { chrome.scripting.executeScript({ target: { tabId: tabs[0].id }, func: () => alert("This is not a valid reddit post") }); } });});What the outbound URL to rapidsave.com carries
- Reddit post URLhttps://rapidsave.com/r/croptopgirls/comments/1cqz9wr/do_i_look_cute_in_orange_3/
The subreddit and specific post you're downloading from, carried as the path of the URL sent to rapidsave.com.
- Referral tag?ref=ch
A "?ref=ch" parameter appended to every outbound link, identifying this extension as the referral source for attribution.
Hosts that see the tagged URL
- rapidsave.com
Receives the Reddit post's subreddit and post ID via the tab URL, along with the ?ref=ch referral parameter that attributes the visit to this extension.
- aniview.com
Ad-network beacon loaded on the rapidsave.com results page; independently echoed the full tagged URL, including ?ref=ch, in its own beacon parameters.
Listing disclosure vs. observed tag
The Chrome Web Store listing describes the extension as "powered by rapidsave.com," which discloses the destination site itself. It does not mention the "?ref=ch" referral parameter that is added to every outbound link to that site.
What it can do
Permissions this extension asks for, as declared in version 3.0. Asking for a permission is not a finding on its own - it is what the extension can do if it chooses to.
Read and change your data on reddit.com
*://*.reddit.com/
Add items to the right-click menu
contextMenus
See the address and title of every tab you have open
tabs
Where it sends data
Destinations our analysis observed Video Downloader for reddit - Redditsave contacting. Sending data somewhere is not a finding on its own - an extension that syncs your settings has to talk to its own server - but it is where your data can go, and who else it goes to.
- rapidsave.com
Video Downloader for reddit - Redditsave sends data to rapidsave.com. No other extension we have analyzed sends data here.