Your data stays with you

What happens locally?

The entire detection, all of it: recognizing ads and trackers, scoring comments, spotting dark patterns, calculating the Noise Guard score. This runs directly in your browser, on your device. There's no Noise Guard server that page content would be sent to for analysis.

What data is stored?

Your settings, your whitelist/blacklist, custom filter rules, statistics on blocked elements. All in your browser's own storage (chrome.storage), viewable by you at any time in plain text, not encrypted or obfuscated.

Is data transmitted? Two honest exceptions

By default: no, never. There are exactly two cases where any network connection happens at all, both are off until you actively turn them on:

• Community lists: Only if you enter a list URL yourself and actively click "Check now" does Noise Guard fetch exactly that one address. No automatic background reloading.
• Device sync: Optional, runs via your own browser account (Chrome or Firefox sync), not via a Noise-Guard-owned server. Limited to simple core settings, no lists or profiles.

What permissions does Noise Guard need, and why?

Exactly four, no more:

• storage: to save your settings on your own device
• contextMenus: for the right-click options (e.g. "Hide element")
• activeTab: to interact with the currently active page, only while it's open
• declarativeNetRequest: for network-based blocking of known ad domains

Plus the permission for all websites, so detection can run on any page at all. This is a reach permission, not one that enables sending data anywhere.

What Noise Guard explicitly doesn't do

• No tracking your behavior across sites
• No external analytics or ad networks in the product itself
• No user account, no email address, no login required
• No hidden network connections outside the two actively-enabled exceptions above