NetShield ("we", "our", "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains our approach to data handling in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and other applicable global privacy standards.
1. Information Collection
1.1 Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
We do not collect any personally identifiable information. This means we do not collect:Names, email addresses, or phone numbers.
IP addresses or unique device identifiers.
Physical addresses or geographic location data.
1.2 Usage Data and Telemetry
NetShield does not implement any telemetry, analytics, or tracking beacons. We have no way of knowing who is using the extension, how often it is used, or which features are most popular. Your usage patterns remain entirely private to you.
2. Local Storage and Cookies
NetShield does not use HTTP cookies. However, to function as an effective ad-blocker, the extension utilizes the browser's chrome.storage.local (or equivalent) API. This data is stored locally on your device and is never transmitted to any external server.
The information stored locally includes:User Preferences: Your customized settings and toggle states.
Custom Filter Rules: Any "whitelist" or "blacklist" rules you have manually added.
Local Statistics: A count of blocked elements, which is stored only for your viewing.
- Third-Party Filter Lists
To block content, NetShield downloads open-source filter lists from various providers (e.g., EasyList, AdGuard).
Important: These downloads are performed directly by your browser from the provider's servers. NetShield does not act as a proxy, does not intercept these requests, and does not know which lists you are downloading. The privacy practices of these third-party list providers are beyond our control; we encourage you to review their respective policies if you have concerns.
4. Legal Basis for Processing
Under the UK GDPR, processing of personal data requires a legal basis. Because NetShield does not collect, store, or process personal data, we do not rely on bases such as "Consent" or "Legitimate Interest" for the operation of the Service. The use of local storage is strictly necessary for the technical performance of the service as requested by the User.
5. Data Retention and Security
Since we do not collect any data, we have no data retention policy—there is no data to retain. All configuration data exists solely on your hardware and is subject to the security measures of your operating system and browser.
6. Your Rights
Under the UK GDPR and similar regulations, users typically have rights to access, rectify, erase, or restrict the processing of their personal data. Because NetShield does not hold any personal data, these rights are effectively fulfilled by default: we cannot provide, change, or delete data that we never collected.
7. Third-Party Services
Our project is hosted on GitHub. When you visit our repository or report an issue, your interactions are governed by GitHub's Privacy Statement. We recommend reviewing their policy to understand how they handle your data.
8. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the Service or legal requirements. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. Continued use of NetShield after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
9. Contact and Complaints
If you have any questions, concerns, or believe we have violated this policy, please contact us by opening an issue on our GitHub repository.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent authority set up to uphold information rights (www.ico.org.uk).