Anchorite — Privacy Policy
Last updated: 17 August 2026
Anchorite is a browser extension that blocks websites which do not match the task you said you were working on. To decide whether a page matches, it has to look at the page. This document says exactly what it looks at, what leaves your computer, and what is kept.
- Anchorite examines pages only while a focus session is running. With no session active it reads nothing and sends nothing.
- This version has no account — no email address, no name, no sign-up. A paid plan is planned and may require one; if that happens this policy will be updated before it ships, and the commitments below will still hold.
- Nothing is sold, rented, shared, or used for advertising, ever.
- No analytics, no tracking pixels, no third-party trackers.
- The only thing kept on our server is a count of how many requests your install has made, so that one user cannot exhaust the service for everyone.
What Anchorite reads
While a focus session is running, and only then, Anchorite reads the following from each page you open:
| Data | Why |
|---|---|
| The page URL and domain | Many decisions are made from the address alone |
| The page title and its headings | The clearest short statement of what a page is |
| The first ~500 characters of the main text | Enough to tell a maths tutorial from a celebrity story |
| The search query that led to the page, when detectable | A search for your topic should not be blocked |
| For YouTube: video title, channel, description, duration | A video is judged by its content, not by the fact it is on YouTube |
Anchorite does not read form fields, passwords, payment details, messages, cookies, or anything you type. It does not build a browsing history, and it does not retain the pages it has looked at.
What leaves your computer
Anchorite decides in three stages, and most pages never reach the internet:
- Local rules. Fixed lists — gambling and adult sites are always blocked; your chosen tools and music are always allowed. Resolved entirely on your computer.
- On-device matching. A small language model runs inside your browser and compares the page against your stated task. No network request. Nothing leaves your computer.
- Adjudication. Only when the first two stages cannot decide is the page description sent for a judgement.
At stage 3 — and only at stage 3 — the data in the table above is sent, over HTTPS, to Anchorite's server, which forwards it to Anthropic's Claude API to obtain a decision. Your task description is sent once at the start of each session for the same purpose.
Anthropic processes this data as a service provider in order to return the decision. Anthropic's own handling of API data is governed by their privacy policy at anthropic.com/legal/privacy. Anchorite does not permit this data to be used to train models.
What is stored, and where
On your computer
Held in browser local storage and never transmitted:
- your current session — the task, the length, when it ends
- your saved music links
- your always-allowed tools list
- a randomly generated install identifier
The install identifier is a random string created on your device. It is not derived from your name, your email, your hardware, or your IP address, and it cannot be traced back to you. It exists so the server can count requests.
On Anchorite's server
A count of requests made by each install identifier, today and in total.
That is the complete list. Page content, URLs, titles, and task descriptions are passed through to obtain a decision and are not written to any log, database, or file on our server.
Your choices
- Stop all data collection: end the session, or remove the extension. With no session running Anchorite reads nothing.
- Delete everything held locally: remove the extension. Browsers delete an extension's local storage when it is uninstalled.
- Discard your server-side counter: uninstall the extension. The install identifier lives only on your computer, so removing the extension destroys the only link to that counter; a fresh install generates a new identifier and starts from zero. If you would prefer it deleted outright, email the address below.
Children
Anchorite is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect data from them.
Changes
If this policy changes in a way that affects what is collected or where it is sent, the version published with the extension update will say so, and the date at the top will change.
Legal basis (UK/EU users)
Processing is carried out on the basis of legitimate interest in delivering the filtering the user has explicitly requested by starting a session. No data is processed for any purpose beyond returning that decision. Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, rectify, and erase your data; contact the address below.
Anchorite is made by Brandon Jagger.
Questions or requests: support@getanchorite.com