Privacy Policy
The short version
AdShield collects the ad copy you paste, URLs you submit, and images you upload so we can scan them. We log metadata about scans (timings, rule hits, category) to improve the product. We do notsell your data, rent your email, or use your scans to train anyone’s AI model. We keep things for 90 days unless you ask us to delete sooner.
What we collect
When you scan an ad
- The text, URL, or image you submit.Sent to our servers so we can scan it. The text portion is sent to Anthropic’s Claude API for analysis (see Anthropic’s privacy policy). Anthropic does not retain prompts for training.
- Scan metadata. Timestamp, input type (text/URL/image), detected product category, rules triggered, processing time. No PII, no full text of the ad.
- A salted hash of your IP address. Used for rate limiting and abuse prevention. Not reversible to a specific IP.
- Nothing else. No cookies for tracking, no third-party analytics pixels, no session recording, no fingerprinting.
When you subscribe to the weekly briefing
- Your email address. Used to send the weekly FTC enforcement briefing and, if you opted in, to notify you about specific product areas (API, browser extension, bulk upload).
- The interests you checked on signup. Used to decide which product to build next and to email you when those ship.
- Timestamp and IP hash. Same as above.
What we never collect
- Your name, address, phone number, or payment info (we don’t take payments yet).
- Data about other websites you visit.
- Advertising IDs or device fingerprints.
How we use it
- To run the scan you asked for. Your text goes through our rule pipeline and our upstream model provider. Results come back to you.
- To improve the product. Aggregate scan metadata helps us measure accuracy and catch regressions.
- To prevent abuse.IP hashes let us rate- limit scrapers without storing anyone’s real IP.
- To send you the briefing. Only if you subscribed. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe.
Who we share it with
Three categories of third parties see your data:
- Anthropic (Claude API provider) — receives the ad text for analysis. Anthropic does not retain or train on API inputs.
- Our infrastructure (the platform hosting AdShield) — receives requests as part of serving the site.
- Cloudflare Turnstile— runs the invisible bot-detection on the scanner. Processes your IP to decide if you’re human.
We do not sell, rent, or license your data to anyone else.
How long we keep it
- Scan metadata: 90 days, then auto-expired.
- IP hashes: 90 days for rate-limit buckets; individual request hashes are not retained beyond the active rate-limit window (10 minutes to 24 hours depending on endpoint).
- Email subscribers: until you unsubscribe, or you email us asking to delete your data.
- The ad text / URL / image you submitted: not retained after the scan completes, beyond a short (24-hour) processing cache.
Your rights
Wherever you live, you can email us at privacy@adshield.dev to:
- Request a copy of the data we have on you
- Request deletion of your email from our subscriber list
- Opt out of the weekly briefing (there’s also an unsubscribe link in every email)
- Ask any question about how we handle your data
If you’re in the EU, UK, California, or another region with specific privacy laws (GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA/CPRA), those give you additional rights — all covered by the email above.
Changes to this policy
If we change anything substantive, we’ll update the “Last updated” date at the top and email subscribers. Minor wording cleanups won’t trigger a notification.
Contact
AdShield is operated from the United States. For any privacy question, write to privacy@adshield.dev.