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 click the button on a video nobody has busted yet, and have no key or pass	The video's id, title and captions, and your random install id	ironmedia.com	So the video joins the needs busting list, someone else can bust it, and you are told when they do
Any request, once you have saved a key or pass	A one-way fingerprint (SHA-256) of the key or pass, made in your browser	ironmedia.com	So your busts count under one name on the leaderboard, whichever browser you use. The key itself cannot be recovered from the fingerprint and is still never sent to us
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, length, and answer of every busted video — that is the shared library everyone reads from, and it is kept indefinitely. Videos that were asked for but not yet busted are kept the same way, minus the answer. It is about the video, not about you.
A random install id. Made by the extension on first use, stored in your browser, used to count votes, to know which busts were yours, to keep your requests, and to tell you when one is busted. It is not tied to your name, email, Google account, or IP address.
Your busting name. Everyone with a key or pass gets a made-up name (something like FuzzyNaval328) that appears on the public leaderboard with the minutes their busts have saved. You can change it on the me page; whatever you type there is public. The name is tied to the fingerprint of your key, never to you.
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.
2026-09-14 — a fingerprint of a saved key or pass is sent so busts count under one leaderboard name; captions are sent for unbusted videos even without a key, so others can bust them; busting names.

BaitBuster · About the pass