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What to do when the key is used abnormally?

For example, if your key usually consumes only one or two thousand characters per day, but suddenly consumes tens of thousands of characters one day, this is what is meant by abnormal use.

This may make you feel that using the key is not very secure, but from the time when 划词翻译 supported filling in the key (September 2020) to now (February 2023), less than 10 people have reported abnormal use, and as of now, 划词翻译 has about 500,000 users across all platforms.

As mentioned here, the key you fill in 划词翻译 will and only be saved in your browser, and 划词翻译 will not send your key to anywhere under any circumstances. Unless 划词翻译 has a bug, abnormal use is generally not caused by 划词翻译.

If your key is used abnormally, here are the actions you can take:

  1. Immediately go to the platform corresponding to the key, and delete or reset the key. For example, you can reset the key in the Developer Information of Baidu Translate, and delete the key in the AccessKey Management page of Alibaba Translate.
  2. Contact the platform customer service and ask them to provide the recent usage records of the key (i.e. which texts your key has translated), preferably including IP addresses, User Agent and other information.
  3. After getting the usage records, you can see if it is the text you translated. If it also includes IP addresses, User Agent and other information, you can see if it is your usual IP and User Agent.

There are several possible reasons for abnormal situations:

  • You frequently use the full-page translation function. This is the most common situation, see Explanation of why the full-page translation function may consume a large number of characters.
  • You translated a large amount of text in other software. 划词翻译 is not the only software that can input keys for translation. Think about whether you have also entered the key filled in 划词翻译 into other software.
  • Your key has leaked. The following situations may lead to key leakage:
    • You have entered unknown code in the browser console. The key is saved in the browser, although it is not directly visible, the code entered in the console can read the key and send it out.
    • You did not download 划词翻译 through official channels. The official download channel for 划词翻译 is only available through the method provided in Install 划词翻译, and 划词翻译 downloaded through any other means may contain malicious code.
    • You inadvertently shared the key. I once saw someone share a screenshot of the key in a translation group; although the key information exported from 划词翻译 is obfuscated, if you share it with others, people who understand technology can still parse the key.
    • Malware on your computer has stolen the key. For example, some software will tamper with the extension code to modify the browser's homepage, similarly, malware can tamper with the extension code to steal the key.

If you confirm that it is not caused by the above reasons, you can send me the usage records of your key, and I will analyze whether it is caused by a bug in 划词翻译.