The extension needs user's VirusTotal API key to function. The key is stored in the local storage of the user's browser and isn't shared with anyone. It is used to authorize requests towards VirusTotal API.

ScamAlert also scans the URLs the user visits and sends the visited URLs to VirusTotal API for domain analysis. Only the domain part of the URL is sent to VirusTotal, so no user specific information like URL query parameters or any other sensitive information is shared with anyone.

ScamAlert extension does not have a dedicated backend server, but rather contains all of its logic on the user's side and it only communicates with VirusTotal API to analyze the domains the user visits.

By installing and setting up the extension, the user accepts to have the domain part of every URL he/she visits sent to VirusTotal API.