BaitBuster privacy policy

BaitBuster is a browser extension for YouTube (Chrome, Brave, Edge, and other Chromium browsers) that shows you an AI-written answer to a video's clickbait title. This page says exactly what it sends, where, and why. There is no account, no sign-in, and no tracking.

What the extension can see

The extension runs only on youtube.com — that is its one permission. It reads the page to find video titles, to place its button, and, when you click the button, to fetch the video's public captions (the same ones behind YouTube's CC button). It does not read anything on any other site.

What is sent, and when

When	What is sent	To whom	Why
You click the BaitBuster button on a video	The video's id and title, and its captions	ironmedia.com (our server)	To look up the answer if someone already busted it, or to make it — and then share it with everyone
You bust with your own OpenRouter key	The video's title, thumbnail, and captions, with your key	openrouter.ai, directly from your browser	To run the AI on your own account. The key is stored in your browser and is never sent to us
You bust with a BaitBuster pass	The pass, with the request above	ironmedia.com	To run the AI on the pass's allowance
You vote 👍 or 👎 on an answer	The vote and a random install id	ironmedia.com	To count one vote per install, and to flag answers that need a fresh look
You scroll YouTube	Nothing	—	Whether a video is already busted is checked inside your browser against a small list we publish (a Bloom filter). Your feed, history, and searches never leave your browser

What we keep

Videos and answers. The id, title, captions, thumbnail, and answer of every busted video — that is the shared library everyone reads from, and it is kept indefinitely. It is about the video, not about you.
A random install id. Made by the extension on first use, stored in your browser, used only to count votes and to know which busts were yours. It is not tied to your name, email, Google account, or IP address.
Pass holders. If you buy a pass, our payment provider (Polar) handles your payment and tells us your email and order. We keep the email, the order reference, and the pass itself (so we can send it back if you lose it). We never see your card. We won't sell your email and we won't spam you — at most one note when your year is up.
Server logs. Ordinary web-server logs (IP address, time, request) for a short time, to keep the service running and stop abuse.

What we do not do

No analytics, no advertising, no trackers, no third-party scripts on any of our pages.
We do not sell, rent, or share anything about you with anyone. Answers are shared with everyone; they are about videos.
We never see your OpenRouter key. It goes from your browser to OpenRouter and nowhere else.
The extension has no access to your other tabs, your bookmarks, your Google account, or any site but youtube.com.

Your data, your choice

Remove the extension and everything in your browser goes with it. To remove a saved key or pass without uninstalling, open BaitBuster's settings (the ⚙ on any answer) and press Remove. To have your pass record or your votes deleted, or to ask anything at all, email carl@freeideas.com.

Third parties

OpenRouter — runs the AI when you bust with your own key, or when we bust on a pass. It sees the video's title, thumbnail, and captions.
Polar — sells the pass and handles payment.

Changes

If what BaitBuster sends ever changes, this page changes first, and the change is listed here with its date.

2026-08-23 — first version.

BaitBuster · About the pass