Privacy Policy

What Sift does

Sift is a Chrome extension that helps protect users — particularly older adults — from two things:

• Online scams: tech support fraud, fake prizes, government impersonation, phishing URLs, and gift card payment requests.
• Misinformation context: surfaces the bias rating and factual accuracy of known news sources, and links to alternative coverage from AP, Reuters, and PBS.

Data we do NOT collect

Sift does not collect, store, transmit, or share:

• Your browsing history or the URLs you visit
• The content of pages you read
• Any personal information
• Any analytics or usage data

No backend ever receives data from the extension. Sift periodically downloads a public data file to stay current (see "Automatic updates" below), but that is a one-way download — the extension sends no information about you, your device, or your browsing in the process.

How page analysis works

When you visit a page, Sift reads the page's domain and visible text content entirely within your browser. This analysis is performed locally using a list of known scam patterns and news source ratings held on your device. The page's address and contents never leave your browser.

Automatic updates

So that Sift keeps up with new scams and news sources without you having to reinstall it, the extension periodically downloads an updated copy of its scam-pattern and source-rating list (a public file hosted at get-sift.com). This is the same kind of request your browser makes when loading any public web page: it is a one-way download of a file that is identical for every user. It contains no information about you, and the request sends no data about your browsing, your device, or the pages you visit. If the download is unavailable, Sift simply continues using the list it already has.

Settings storage

Sift stores two user preferences (whether banners are enabled, whether social platform context is enabled) using Chrome's built-in chrome.storage.sync API. This data syncs across your Chrome devices via your Google account — Sift never has access to it.

Permissions explained

• Access to all websites (<all_urls>): Required to detect scams and misinformation on any page the user visits. Scams don't confine themselves to specific domains.
• Storage: Used only to save your on/off toggle preferences locally.
• Active tab: Used by the popup to display context for the page you're currently viewing.

Payments

Subscriptions are processed by Stripe. Sift never sees or stores your payment information. Please review Stripe's privacy policy for details on how they handle payment data.

Children's privacy

Sift is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect any information from them.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. Continued use of the extension after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email us at [email protected].

Sift is operated by Woodpigeon, Inc. We built this for our own families, and we take privacy seriously.