The Sastrify Browser Extension is a lightweight browser add-on designed to enhance visibility into SaaS usage across your organization. It seamlessly supports the discovery of shadow IT and provides actionable insights—such as SaaS utilization trends and usage patterns—directly within your Sastrify platform. 


All collected data is securely transmitted to your Sastrify platform, where Sastrify admins can:

  • View detailed usage data under the Usage tab of each tool.

  • Discover and manage new tools through the Shadow IT Radar feature.


The browser extension can be installed using one of the following methods:

  • Admin Installation (Recommended): This centralized method allows an administrator to remotely deploy the extension across the entire organization in a single action. It ensures a seamless, company-wide rollout without requiring any action from individual users.

  • Manual Installation: This decentralized approach requires your Sastrify admin to send installation notifications to selected users. Each notified employee must then manually install the browser extension on their own work browser.

IN THIS ARTICLE

Data Collection and Privacy Safeguards


The Sastrify Browser Extension operates at the level of the managed browser profile. Any SaaS application accessed within this profile may be detected at the domain level. It collects the following data:

  • Website hostnames of monitored SaaS tools
  • User interaction metrics (e.g., click counts, keystroke counts, and file upload events), where only the frequency or occurrence is tracked—not the actual keys pressed or the contents of uploaded files.
  • Session duration and timestamps (access and exit times)
  • Configuration data, such as monitored product URLs
  • Work email address associated with the managed Edge work profile, which serves solely as an Employee/User ID to attribute collected usage data.


The extension tracks SaaS activity occurring within the entire managed work browser profile, regardless of which account (work or personal) is used to access a SaaS application. Every 15 minutes, it collects data and sends it to the server.


In doing so, we maintain the following approaches to data handling:

  • User identifiers are cryptographically hashed to ensure anonymization.
  • Only whitelisted business SaaS applications are monitored. We apply automatic exclusion of certain domains, including career sites, job boards, and non-business application URLs.
  • Data is transmitted securely via HTTPS, using OAuth for authentication.
  • Only essential usage metrics are gathered to support organizational analytics.




Important: 
Even if the SaaS applications are whitelisted, SaaS domain usage may still appear in Sastrify if employees access them using personal accounts within their managed work browser profile (e.g., personal Gmail).
After the installation of the browser extension, to keep personal activity separate, employees are advised to use a non-managed browser profile for private use.


Sastrify Admin Guide: How to Notify Users

As mentioned above, this method involves two steps: First, your Sastrify admin initiates the rollout by sending installation notifications to selected users based on the user list in your Sastrify account. Then, each notified user follows the instructions and uses the provided link to manually install the extension on their work browser.


Step 1: Locate the Edge Extension in Sastrify



  1. Log into your Sastrify platform.
  2. Navigate to Integrations > Discovery & Usage.
  3. Under Browser Extension, locate the Microsoft Edge connection card.
  4. Click "Enable".


Step 2: Set Up the User List (via HRIS Integration or Manual Input)


Why is this step required? The browser extension requires a verified user list—a list of employees within your organization that the extension will target. Only users on this list can be notified via email, receive the installation link, be authorized to install the extension, and have their usage tracked. This ensures that data is collected exclusively from verified users, making this step essential for accurate tracking and compliance.



  1. If your HRIS integration is not connected, you’ll be prompted to either connect HRIS or manually add employees.
  2. Click "Connect HRIS Integration" to proceed to the HRIS setup page. Follow this guide for detailed instructions.
  3. Alternatively, choose to "Add employees manually".


Once the user list is created, it can be found under the "Employee" tab on the browser extension connection page. Only the users listed here will have their usage interactions—such as click counts, keystroke counts, and file upload events—tracked and collected after a successful admin installation of the browser extension.



Step 3: Send the instructions to the targeted users



  1. In the setup screen, click Manual Install to open the notification page.
  2. Click View Instructions to preview the step-by-step guide your users will receive.
  3. Select the users or employees you want to notify by checking the corresponding boxes.
  4. Click Notify to send them the installation instructions via email.


End User Guide: Install the Sastrify Extension for Microsoft Edge


  1. Open the email from Sastrify containing the installation instructions for Microsoft Edge.
  2. Log in to your company-managed Edge profile. The extension will not function on personal or non-managed profiles.
  3. Click the link in the email to open the Sastrify Edge Extension page in the Edge Add-ons Store.
  4. Click Get, then confirm by selecting Add Extension when prompted.


  5. Confirm the installation by clicking "Add extension" in the popup.
  6. Once installed, the extension icon will appear in your Edge toolbar.


IMPORTANT: Simply sharing public extension store links outside this process will prevent proper installation. The manual installation must be initiated through your Sastrify platform by a Sastrify admin, who sends an installation notification email. The extension must be installed using the link provided in that email to ensure correct setup and tracking.

Frequently Asked Questions


Please refer to the Browser Extension FAQ page for a complete list of frequently asked questions.