<i>Last updated: October 4, 2026</i>
Rhetorix is a browser extension that flags fallacies, biases and factual claims in an article or a YouTube video, using a large language model (LLM) of your choice. Rhetorix has no server: the developer does not receive, collect or keep any of your data.
<b>Data sent, and to whom</b>
An analysis only runs when you start it. Rhetorix then sends, directly from your browser, to the LLM provider you configured:
<ul><li>the title and text of the analysed article, or the transcript of the YouTube video;</li><li>your API key, to authenticate with that provider;</li><li>the analysis instructions (response language, guidelines).</li></ul>
The page address (URL) is not sent to the provider.
The provider depends on your settings:
<ul><li><strong>Anthropic</strong> (<code>api.anthropic.com</code>);</li><li><strong>Google Gemini</strong> (Google AI Studio);</li><li><strong>an OpenAI-compatible service</strong> at an address you specify, which may be a third-party server or a model running on your own computer;</li><li><strong>Chrome's built-in model</strong> (Gemini Nano): the analysis then runs entirely on your device and nothing is sent.</li></ul>
This provider is a third party you choose and hold your own account with. Its terms of service and privacy policy govern how it processes this data; please review them. If you enable web search, the provider performs it with its own tools.
On YouTube, Rhetorix fetches the video's captions from YouTube itself (<code>www.youtube.com</code>), just as the YouTube page you are viewing would. The captions are then handled like an article's text.
<b>Data kept on your device</b>
The following data stays in the extension's local storage, on your device only. It is not synced across your devices:
<ul><li>your settings, including your API key;</li><li>analysis results, keyed by page address, so that an analysis is not repeated;</li><li>a count of tokens used.</li></ul>
You can clear the analysis cache and reset the token count from the options page. Uninstalling the extension deletes all of this data.
<b>What Rhetorix does not do</b>
<ul><li>No telemetry, no usage statistics, no advertising trackers.</li><li>No sale or sharing of data.</li><li>Nothing is sent without your action: no data reaches the provider until you start an analysis.</li></ul>
<b>Permissions</b>
<ul><li><strong>Active tab and script injection</strong>: extract the page text and highlight flagged passages.</li><li><strong>Website access</strong>: reach the LLM provider's API and YouTube captions.</li><li><strong>Storage</strong>: keep your settings and the cache described above.</li></ul>
<b>Contact</b>
For any question or request, open an issue: https://github.com/oliiivier/rhetorix/issues