Privacy policy

Last updated: October 28, 2026 · Applies to the Why Block browser extension for Firefox, Brave and other Chromium browsers.

Why Block works entirely inside your browser. Nothing is ever sent to the developer, and information goes to other services only when you ask.

Nothing is sent to us

Why Block has no servers, no accounts, no analytics, no crash reporting and no advertising. The developer never receives, sees or stores any information about you or the sites you visit.

What stays in your browser

• What the tab you’re diagnosing loaded: which requests were blocked or failed, and signs of breakage on the page. This is kept in memory for that tab and cleared when you close it.
• Your settings, lists and API keys: stored in your browser’s extension storage. Keys can be encrypted with a passkey or passphrase.
• Backups: if you export one, the file is saved only where you choose, encrypted with a password you set.

When something is sent to a third party

Only when you’ve chosen to use a feature that needs it, and only to the services you’ve set up or switched on:

• Your DNS filter (such as Control D, NextDNS, AdGuard or Pi-hole), if you add it in Settings: the domain name being checked, to see whether and why it’s blocked, and an allow rule when you click Allow. Automatic checks when the popup or report opens can be switched off in Settings, so checks happen only when you click.
• A public DNS resolver, if you haven’t set up a DNS filter: the name of a domain that failed to load, to tell whether your network is blocking it or the domain doesn’t exist. By default this is Control D’s unfiltered resolver; you can change it in Settings, and switch automatic checks off.
• Domain safety sources (such as Google Safe Browsing or VirusTotal), when you open the safety dashboard for a domain: that domain name only. You choose which sources are switched on.
• Blocklists: whole lists are downloaded and searched inside your browser. No domain name is sent.

Only domain names are sent, never full web addresses or page content. Your own API key or password goes only to the service it belongs to. As with any connection, a service you contact can see your IP address, and it handles your request under its own privacy policy.

In Firefox, none of this happens until you agree in Firefox’s built-in data-collection consent prompt, and you can withdraw consent at any time.

This website and the feedback form

whyblock.me has no analytics or trackers. If you use the feedback form:

• What you send (your message, and your email address, Why Block version and browser only if you add them) is emailed to the developer and used only to improve Why Block and to reply to you. It isn’t shared or sold, and you can ask for it to be deleted.
• Spam protection: the form page uses Cloudflare Turnstile, which checks your browser for signs of a bot. Cloudflare processes your IP address and browser signals for this under its own privacy policy. The website is hosted on Cloudflare, which also sees your IP address when you visit.

What we never do

• Collect, sell or share information from the extension. We never have it.
• Use information for advertising, profiling or credit decisions.
• Load or run code from the internet. Everything the extension runs ships inside it.

Removing your data

Uninstalling Why Block deletes everything it stored. You can also remove keys, lists and cached results in its Settings at any time.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date.