Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: 19 May 2026  ·  Last updated: 19 May 2026  ·  guardianai.co.za
🔒 The short version
GuardianAI is designed so that no one — including us — can see your prompts. Everything runs locally in your browser. We collect no personal data, store no prompts, and make no network requests. The only data that exists is a local audit log on your own machine that you control entirely.

1. Who we are

GuardianAI is a Chrome extension developed and maintained by Jon Boyle, operating under the domain guardianai.co.za. References to "we", "us", or "GuardianAI" in this policy refer to this product and its developer.

Contact: hello@guardianai.co.za

2. What data we collect

We collect nothing. GuardianAI does not collect, transmit, or store any personal data on any server, cloud service, or external system. There is no backend. There is no database. There is no analytics service.

The extension operates entirely within your browser. No data leaves your machine at any point during normal operation.

You can verify this yourself: open Chrome DevTools → Network tab → filter by Fetch/XHR while using GuardianAI. You will see zero outbound requests from the extension.

3. What data stays on your device

GuardianAI stores the following data locally in your browser using chrome.storage.local. This data never leaves your device.

DataWhat it containsWhy it's stored
SettingsExtension preferences (threshold, compliance mode, theme, auto-sanitize mode)To remember your configuration between sessions
Custom keywordsWords or phrases you add in the Keywords tabTo detect organisation-specific sensitive terms
Audit logTimestamp, site, risk level, detection types, action taken, browser user agent. Maximum 50 events. Ring buffer — oldest events are overwritten.To give you a local record of detection events
Onboarding flagA boolean indicating you have completed onboardingTo avoid showing the onboarding screen on every install

Your prompt text is never stored. The audit log records metadata only — what type of sensitive data was detected and what action you took — never the content of your prompt.

4. How we use your data

We don't use your data. We can't — we never receive it. All processing happens on your device, by your browser, for your benefit.

5. Third-party services

The GuardianAI Chrome extension makes no calls to any third-party service. It does not use Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Sentry, or any other analytics, error tracking, or monitoring service.

The GuardianAI website (guardianai.co.za) uses Google Fonts for typography. This means Google's servers receive a request for font files when you visit the website. This is standard practice and subject to Google's Privacy Policy. The extension itself does not load Google Fonts.

The website includes a waitlist form. Email addresses submitted via this form are stored locally in your browser until a real email service is integrated. No email addresses are transmitted to any server at this time.

6. POPIA compliance

GuardianAI is built for South African users and is designed to be consistent with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), Act 4 of 2013.

7. Data retention

Since we collect no data, we have nothing to retain. Your local data (settings, keywords, audit log) is retained on your device until you:

8. Your rights

Because we hold no personal data about you, most data subject rights (access, correction, deletion, portability) are self-administered through the extension itself. You can:

9. Children

GuardianAI is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or under 18 in jurisdictions where a higher age threshold applies). We do not knowingly collect any data from children. If you are under the applicable age threshold, please do not use GuardianAI without parental supervision.

10. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this privacy policy — particularly if we ever introduce server-side data collection — we will update the effective date at the top of this page and notify users via the Chrome extension update mechanism.

Given our local-only architecture, we do not anticipate making changes that would reduce your privacy protections. Any change that involves collecting data we do not currently collect would require explicit opt-in consent.

11. Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, or if you believe GuardianAI has handled data in a way that is inconsistent with this policy, please contact us:

Email: hello@guardianai.co.za
Website: guardianai.co.za
South Africa