WasntMe • Chrome Extension

Context and Problem

Web browsers offer two approaches to privacy management on shared computers, yet neither addresses the most common scenario: forgetfulness.

Private browsing is a preventive measure. It requires foresight, and a single forgotten session is enough to leave traces in your browsing history, address bar suggestions, cache, and cookies.

Clearing browsing data is a reactive measure, but it is a blunt instrument. It wipes away everything including weather info, recipes, and shopping data and logs the user out of all their accounts. A suddenly empty history is itself a visible giveaway that draws attention rather than diverting it.

The real need, therefore, is for targeted, retrospective deletion: removing only the traces associated with adult content while leaving the rest of the data intact and consistent.

Discover the WasntMe Chrome extension

User Journey

The process consists of three steps, initiated via the extension icon.

Scan. Upon launching Chrome, WasntMe analyzes your history, searches, cookies, cache, and downloads. If any items are found, a number simply appears on the icon.

Verification. Results are grouped by site, showing the number of occurrences and a category breakdown (pages, searches, sessions, cache, downloads). Everything is selected by default; uncertain detections are marked with a "?" symbol.

Deletion. A single button displays the exact number of traces removed and indicates how many entries remain intact.

For users who prefer a "set-it-and-forget-it" approach, an optional hands-free mode automatically clears detected sites whenever the browser is launched.

Objectives and constraints

I established four requirements before writing the first line of code.

• Surgical precision. Target only the detected items pages, search history, cookies, cache, and download entries without affecting anything else.
• No data leaves the device. No servers, no accounts, no statistics, and no network requests.
• On-screen discretion. The interface itself must not reveal what it has found to someone looking over the user's shoulder.
• User control. Nothing is deleted without confirmation, unless the user explicitly enables automatic mode.

Privacy and Key Takeaways

The architecture is entirely local: zero servers, zero network requests, zero accounts, and zero trackers. Detection relies on a list embedded within the extension, and history is processed in memory without ever leaving the browser (privacy policy).

This choice comes at a cost: without telemetry, detection quality cannot be measured remotely. I have compensated for this with user-side mechanisms, such as the "?" marker for uncertain detections, a whitelist, and the ability to add custom domains.

The project's main takeaway: for a privacy-focused tool, trust is built on what the product refrains from doing. WasntMe’s deliberately narrow scope is its value proposition.