PRIVACY POLICY — PATER - Focus Guardian Browser Extension

Effective date: 2026-08-07

Freedom Academy ("we", "us", "our"), a project based in Argentina, operates the PATER - Focus Guardian browser extension (the "Extension"). This Privacy Policy explains what the Extension processes, where that data goes, and what rights you have over it.

1. WHAT THE EXTENSION IS

The Extension is the browser arm of the PATER desktop application, which you install separately on your own Windows computer. The desktop application is where your blocklists, schedules and statistics live. The Extension enforces those rules inside the browser and reports back to that application over Native Messaging, a local channel between the browser and a program on the same machine.

The Extension has no network endpoint of its own: it does not contact Freedom Academy servers, any cloud service, or any third party.

2. INFORMATION THE EXTENSION PROCESSES

2.1 Navigation URLs and domains

The URL and domain of a navigation, its page title, and the browser tab identifier (an internal, non-personal browser ID).

Purpose: to compare the navigation against the blocklist you configured in the desktop application, and to produce the usage statistics you asked that application to keep.

2.2 Blocked access attempts

When a navigation is blocked: the URL and domain that was blocked, the timestamp, and which of your rules blocked it.

Purpose: to show you blocking statistics in the desktop application.

2.3 Temporary access grants

When the desktop application authorises temporary access to a blocked site, the Extension records that the grant was applied and when it expires.

Purpose: to apply and expire the authorisation you requested.

2.4 Connection status (heartbeat)

A periodic status message containing an extension identifier, the browser type (Chrome, Edge, Brave, other Chromium-based browsers, or Firefox) and the number of open tabs.

Purpose: to verify that the Extension and the desktop application are still connected. See section 7 — this signal has consequences.

2.5 Saved sessions (optional feature)

If you use the save/restore session feature: the URLs, titles, favicon URLs, pinned state and order of the tabs you chose to save.

Purpose: to let you restore that set of tabs later.

2.6 Local preferences

Blocklist rules cached from the desktop application, your badge display preference, the daily block counter and the Extension's own state.

Purpose: to keep your settings and rules available across browser sessions.

3. WHAT THE EXTENSION DOES NOT DO

  • It declares no content scripts: it injects no code into any web page and never reads the content of a page — only the URL of a navigation.
  • It does not read, intercept or modify the contents of network requests. Blocking is done declaratively (declarativeNetRequest): a blocked navigation is redirected to the Extension's own block page.
  • It does not modify the visual appearance of any website. (Earlier development builds hid social-media feeds through content scripts; that surface was removed in version 0.6.2 and no longer ships.)
  • It contains no third-party analytics, tracking or advertising code, and no remotely hosted or dynamically evaluated code — everything it runs ships inside the package.
  • It does not collect personally identifiable information, health, financial, payment, authentication or location data, nor personal communications.

4. PERMISSIONS AND WHY THEY ARE NEEDED

Permission Why
tabs Read the URL of the active tab, fill the "block this site" actions, return you to a safe page after a block
webNavigation Detect a navigation before the page loads, so a blocked site can be replaced with the block page
storage Keep your cached rules, preferences, block counter and saved sessions on your own machine
alarms Schedule the periodic heartbeat with the desktop application
nativeMessaging Talk to the PATER desktop application on the same machine — the source of your rules and the destination of your statistics
declarativeNetRequest Perform the blocking itself, declaratively, without reading request contents
contextMenus The right-click actions: block this site, block this link, allow this site, save session
<all_urls> (host permission) Your blocklist is authored by you and cannot be enumerated in the manifest, so any site you decide to block has to be matchable, and the block page has to be reachable from any origin. With no content scripts, this permission is used only to match navigation URLs against your own rules

5. HOW YOUR DATA FLOWS

Extension  →  Native Messaging (local)  →  PATER desktop application

Everything in section 2 is delivered exclusively to the PATER desktop application installed on the same computer. The desktop application stores it in a local SQLite database encrypted with AES-256 (SQLCipher).

Backend synchronisation, where present, is performed by the desktop application, not by the Extension. Freedom Academy intends the desktop application to synchronise aggregated statistics (total time per domain, visit counts) with Freedom Academy servers, for users who have a Freedom Academy account. This capability is not active in the current version — no such data is transmitted today. When it is enabled, the synchronisation will never include your full browsing history or individual URLs, and the Extension will take no part in it. This policy will be updated to identify the destination before any such transmission begins.

6. DATA STORAGE, RETENTION AND SECURITY

  • In the browser: the Extension uses the browser's local storage API. That data stays on your device and inside your browser profile, and is retained until you uninstall the Extension or clear browser data.
  • On your computer: data received by the desktop application is retained until you clear tracking data from within PATER or uninstall the application.
  • On our servers: only aggregated statistics, if you enabled synchronisation, retained under our general Terms of Service. You may request deletion at any time.
  • The Extension itself stores nothing on remote servers.

7. BROWSER TERMINATION DISCLOSURE

The Extension sends a heartbeat to the PATER desktop application. If a browser you selected for protection runs for more than 80 seconds without that heartbeat arriving, the desktop application may close that browser process. You are warned before this happens. This may result in the loss of unsaved work in browser tabs. It is a deliberate anti-bypass feature of the product you installed, and you acknowledge it by installing the Extension.

8. DATA SHARING

We do not sell your data, share your individual browsing data with third parties, use it for advertising, transfer it to data brokers, or use it to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes.

We may process aggregated, non-personally-identifiable statistics within the Freedom Academy platform — through the desktop application, never through the Extension.

9. DISTRIBUTION AND REQUIRED SOFTWARE

The Extension is distributed through the Chrome Web Store, Microsoft Edge Add-ons and addons.mozilla.org (AMO), and — for Firefox — may also be installed by the PATER installer from the copy that ships with the desktop application.

The Extension requires the PATER desktop application on a Windows computer. Without it, the Extension has limited functionality: it cannot obtain your rules and has nothing to report to.

10. YOUR RIGHTS

We comply with Argentina's Personal Data Protection Law (Ley 25.326) and, for users located in the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, objection, and to withdraw consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, write to mail@freedomacademy.app (alternative: freedom.academy.s.l@gmail.com). We respond within 30 days.

11. LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING

  • Consent — by installing and using the Extension you consent to the processing described here (Ley 25.326 Art. 5; GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)).
  • Legitimate interest — evaluating navigation URLs is necessary to deliver the blocking function you installed the Extension for (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)).
  • Contract performance — processing is necessary to provide the service you requested (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)).

12. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

The Extension is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us at mail@freedomacademy.app.

13. INTERNATIONAL DATA TRANSFERS

Your data is processed locally on your device. If aggregated statistics are synchronised by the desktop application, they may be processed in Argentina, which the European Commission has recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection (Decision 2003/490/EC).

14. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY

We may update this Privacy Policy. Material changes are signalled by updating the effective date above. Continued use of the Extension after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. SUPERVISORY AUTHORITIES

Argentina: you may file a complaint with the Agencia de Acceso a la Informacion Publica (AAIP), www.argentina.gob.ar/aaip.

European Union: you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.

16. CONTACT

Freedom Academy Email: mail@freedomacademy.app (alternative: freedom.academy.s.l@gmail.com) Website: https://freedomacademy.app Country: Argentina