Local-first means your rules stay with you.

FilterTube ("we", "our", or "the product") is a free, independent control layer for calmer YouTube viewing. It helps users, families, students, and profile owners hide noisy or unwanted YouTube surfaces using rules they control.

The privacy model is intentionally simple: rules are stored on your device and evaluated on your device. FilterTube does not require a FilterTube account, online dashboard, uploaded rules list, uploaded watch-history list, or product telemetry system for core filtering.

Saying "local-first" does not mean the whole internet disappears. It means your filtering rules and viewing history are not uploaded into a FilterTube account area for us to view. These are the real internet-facing pieces involved:

The browser extension and native apps do not upload your filtering rules, profile settings, PIN state, watch history, or search history into a FilterTube account, dashboard, or online product system. FilterTube does not receive that information as a product dataset.

4.1 What FilterTube does not collect through the app or extension

• Your YouTube or Google password, login token, private account credential, or payment details
• Your complete YouTube watch history or search history
• Your general browsing history outside supported FilterTube surfaces
• Your FilterTube blocklist, whitelist, keywords, profile settings, PIN state, Kids/Main viewing choice, theme, or route controls as something we can view online
• Contacts, photos, camera stream, microphone recordings, precise location, or phone contacts
• Advertising identifiers, ad-targeting profiles, data broker profiles, or cross-site tracking identifiers
• Children's personal information for a FilterTube account, advertising profile, or recommendation model

4.2 What stays locally on your device

• Blocked channels, allowed channels, keywords, whitelist entries, blocklist entries, Shorts rules, comments controls, route rules, and watch-page controls
• Profiles, profile type, PIN protection state, selected viewing space, Kids/Main preferences, theme preference, and native control preferences
• Local counters or status information used to show what FilterTube filtered or which profile is active
• Optional backup, export, and import files that you create and manage yourself
• Optional Nanah pairing state when you choose a trusted sync flow

You define rules such as keywords, blocked channels, allowed channels, Shorts visibility, comments visibility, watch-page controls, route controls, profile rules, Kids/Main viewing choices, and PIN-protected management surfaces. FilterTube reads supported YouTube page content locally and hides matching elements according to your settings.

Matching content is hidden locally in the browser, Android web view, or iOS/iPad web view. FilterTube does not need to upload your rules or viewing activity to do this work.

Browser permissions exist so the extension can operate on supported YouTube pages and manage optional local backup/export flows.

Native apps provide a FilterTube shell around supported web surfaces, plus native profile, PIN, sync, theme, and filtering controls. TV and Fire TV may ship as a separate package because remote-control UX is different, but TV is still part of the FilterTube privacy model.

Nanah is optional, open-source, peer-to-peer settings sync. It exists so a parent or user can move settings between trusted devices or profiles without creating a FilterTube account.

Think of Nanah signaling as a known meeting place in the vast internet. Your devices go there so they can find each other and begin talking. The meeting place is not where your FilterTube settings are kept.

Current signaling endpoint: nanah-signaling.varshney-devansh614.workers.dev. Nanah source code and protocol work are public at github.com/varshneydevansh/nanah.

FilterTube rules are local by default. Data can still leave your device in ordinary situations where you use a third-party web service, create a file, start sync, or contact support.

The public website, filtertube.in, uses Vercel Web Analytics so we can see aggregate website page views and understand whether people can find the pages they need. Vercel Analytics is not included in the FilterTube browser extension, Android app, iOS/iPad app, or TV app path.

The website does not use Google Analytics, advertising pixels, session replay, or cross-site ad targeting. Like any hosted website, basic hosting/CDN request handling may involve normal infrastructure logs from Vercel or related providers.

YouTube Main, YouTube Music, and YouTube Kids are Google services. FilterTube is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google, YouTube, YouTube Music, or YouTube Kids.

If you sign in, play videos, search, subscribe, comment, or interact with Google/YouTube services, that activity is handled by Google/YouTube under their own policies. FilterTube controls local filtering and native shell behavior; it does not control Google's account, ad, cookie, playback, or recommendation systems.

For Google Play, App Store, and browser store review, the practical disclosure is:

Because the app and extension do not upload your rules, profiles, watch history, or search history into a FilterTube account or dashboard, FilterTube does not have that product data sitting online for advertising or broker sharing.

FilterTube is a parent-managed filtering and control tool. It is not operated as a child-data collection service, and it does not create online FilterTube accounts or online FilterTube profiles for children.

YouTube Kids content and accounts remain Google/YouTube services. Parents should review Google's YouTube Kids and family privacy policies for those surfaces.

The local-first model reduces exposure by not sending rules, profiles, PIN settings, or viewing history to a FilterTube app online FilterTube account. Optional Nanah sync is designed around trusted-device pairing rather than online account storage.

No system can promise perfect security in every environment. Keep your devices updated, protect profile PINs, and avoid sharing backup files, pairing codes, safety phrases, or sync links with untrusted people.

• Inspect, add, edit, or delete rules inside the FilterTube interface.
• Delete or reset profiles and local rules from the app or extension.
• Disable sync by not pairing devices or by resetting local sync state.
• Delete backup/export files from wherever you saved them.
• Clear extension/app storage or uninstall FilterTube to remove locally stored FilterTube data from that installation.
• Ask us to delete support emails or GitHub issue content where technically possible.

The FilterTube browser extension and website live in the public repository at github.com/varshneydevansh/FilterTube. Nanah is public at github.com/varshneydevansh/nanah.

Native app implementation details may be distributed separately during store release preparation. The privacy promise here is based on product behavior: local filtering, no FilterTube app online FilterTube account for rules/history, and optional open-source P2P sync.

We may update this page as FilterTube evolves across browser, Android, iOS/iPad, TV, Kids, and sync surfaces. If a release materially changes data handling, this page should be updated before that behavior is relied on publicly.

FilterTube is built around data minimization, local processing, user-controlled storage, and transparent optional sync. That architecture is intended to align with the privacy expectations commonly reflected in browser-store, Google Play, App Store, GDPR, and CCPA-style privacy frameworks.

This page describes current product behavior and privacy posture. It is not legal advice.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or FilterTube data handling, contact hello@filtertube.in or open an issue in the public GitHub repository.