Local App vs. Chrome Extension: The Ultimate Guide
Compare PrivacyScrubber's local web app vs the Chrome Extension. Choose between zero-server copy-paste or native UI-injection DLP.
PrivacyScrubber Team
Last updated:
Key Takeaways for Chrome Extension
- Local Processing: All security redaction happens entirely within your browser; zero data is sent to a server.
- Structured Tokenization: Replaces PII with semantic safe tokens (e.g., [NAME_1], [EMAIL_1]) before pasting into AI.
- Compliance Ready: Aligns with Security Audit data minimization requirements for secure AI usage.
Choosing the right PII scrubber depends on your specific workflow. Whether you need the massive scale of our local web app or the native frictionlessness of our extension, PrivacyScrubber has you covered.
Native vs Direct Processing
Our Chrome Extension provides in-situ redaction and reverse-scrubbing directly inside the ChatGPT UI. For high-volume file processing, our local web app offers batch capabilities for DOCX and PDF files. Both adhere to the zero-trust principles detailed in our AI Privacy Guides hub.
Enterprise Compliance Loop
Integrating PII redaction basics into your security stack ensures that no PII ever leaves the employee's browser. This matches the compliance benchmarks we set in our guide for Zero-Trust AI frameworks and aligns with the GDPR/CCPA standards standards used by the world's leading security teams.
3-Step Workflow
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Paste & Scrub
Paste your security document or text into PrivacyScrubber. Click Scrub PII. In under two seconds, all names, emails, phone numbers, and IDs are replaced with tokens like [NAME_1] and [EMAIL_1].
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Send to AI
Copy the sanitized output into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any other AI tool. The AI processes only anonymized text. Your actual data never touches an external server.
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Restore Instantly
Paste the AI's response back into PrivacyScrubber and click Un-mask. All original security data is restored in the correct positions, ready to use.
Try It: Scrub Chrome Extension Data
Paste any text below to see local PII redaction in action (runs entirely in your browser).
Scrub PII from your toolbar
The free PrivacyScrubber Chrome Extension lets you highlight and scrub text on any tab before sending it to AI.
Try It Free — Right Now
No account. No install. Works offline. Your security data stays on your device.