How I built a Chrome extension that reads Terms of Service using AI — and what I found

A developer built ToS Radar PRO, a Chrome extension that uses local AI inference to scan Terms of Service and Privacy Policy pages for dangerous clauses like AI data scraping, forced arbitration, and auto-renewals. Testing against 50+ websites found that 97% reserve the right to train AI on user data, 83% include forced arbitration, and 76% have hidden auto-renewal terms. The extension runs entirely in the browser with no external API calls to preserve user privacy.

The problem that made me build this Every time I signed up for a new app or service, I clicked "I Agree" without reading a single line. Nobody reads Terms of Service. They're 30+ pages of dense legal language designed to be ignored. But I kept hearing horror stories: - Apps training their AI on your private photos - Subscriptions auto-renewing for €99/year after a free trial - Platforms stripping your right to sue them forced arbitration - Companies sharing your data with hundreds of "partners" So I built ToS Radar PRO — a Chrome extension that reads the fine print so you don't have to. How it works The extension uses AI to scan any Terms of Service or Privacy Policy page and flags six categories of dangerous clauses: - AI/Data Scraping — "We may use your content to train our AI models" - Forced Arbitration — You waive your right to take them to court - Auto-Renewals — Subscription traps buried in paragraph 47 - Data Sharing — Your data sold to advertisers and data brokers - Unilateral Changes — They can change the terms anytime without notice - Account Termination — They can delete your account for any reason The key architectural decision: everything runs locally in your browser . No API calls, no external servers, no data leaving your machine. Pure privacy. Tech stack - Chrome Extension Manifest V3 - Vanilla JavaScript no frameworks — keeping it lean - Local AI inference via the browser - Zero external dependencies What I found while testing After running it against 50+ popular websites, here are the most common traps: - 97% of apps reserve the right to train AI on your data - 83% include forced arbitration clauses - 76% have auto-renewal terms that are hard to find - 100% reserve the right to change terms at any time The worst offenders? Social media platforms and productivity SaaS tools. Try it free ToS Radar PRO is completely free on the Chrome Web Store: Install ToS Radar PRO https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/tos-radar-pro-%E2%80%93-ai-legal/ldmpbnpnflpglocpaocojmlffnbglngi Would love feedback from the DEV community — especially on the tech approach and features you'd want added. What clauses do you care about most?