Cortex — Privacy policy

Last updated: April 2026

Summary: Cortex is a local-first Chrome extension. It builds a searchable index of readable page text from sites you visit. Indexing and search run on your device using IndexedDB and optional on-device ML. Optional cloud chat (Google Gemini) sends only what you choose when you enable it in settings—typically your question plus retrieved snippets—not your entire browsing history. Cortex does not operate a backend that receives your indexed content.

Data collected by Cortex

Data	Where it stays	Purpose
Extracted page text (chunked)	Your device (IndexedDB)	Search, Ask, Digest
Visit timestamps / URLs / titles	Your device	Recency ranking, digests
Settings (blocklist, pause, chat mode, optional API key)	`chrome.storage.local` on your device	Extension behavior

There is no Cortex account and no Cortex-hosted sync. Cortex does not sell your data.

Optional cloud chat (Gemini)

If you turn on cloud chat and add a Google Gemini API key, prompts are sent from your browser directly to Google’s API under Google’s terms—not through Cortex infrastructure. You can disable cloud chat at any time and remove your key from settings.

Permissions (Chrome)

tabs / broad host access: Read active-tab context for indexing and show the in-page overlay when you use Cortex.
storage: Saves settings and local extension state.
history: Used only for optional bulk import features you trigger (e.g. first-install backfill), not continuous surveillance.
scripting / offscreen / alarms: Required for MV3 lifecycle, embeddings, and periodic maintenance (e.g. storage headroom).

Contact

Questions or privacy requests: GitHub Issues for this project.

Source repository: github.com/skumar54uncc/Cortex

Solely built by Shailesh Kumar.