Privacy policy.

The HexBlock server

HexBlock is self-hosted software that you run on your own hardware (a Raspberry Pi or any Linux server). We don't operate any HexBlock servers ourselves and have no access to your DNS query logs, blocklists, device list, or any other data your instance stores. All of that lives entirely on your own machine.

HexBlock does not phone home, report usage statistics, or contact any HexBlock-operated infrastructure at any point.

HexBlock Shield (browser extension)

All settings and preferences — which filter lists are active, YouTube ad-blocking and SponsorBlock options, Twitch ad-removal settings — are stored locally in your browser using Chrome's storage API. Nothing leaves your device unless you explicitly enable the optional gateway connection described below.

Optional: connecting Shield to your own HexBlock gateway

If you choose to connect HexBlock Shield to your own self-hosted HexBlock instance (by entering its URL in the extension's settings), the extension will:

• Fetch blocklist updates from that server, via a request to /api/v1/blocklists
• Optionally report ad-block and SponsorBlock skip events back to that server, via a request to /api/v1/events — only if you separately enable this option

Both of these only ever communicate with a server you configure and control. Nothing is sent to any third party, and this feature is off by default.

Third-party services

SponsorBlock integration queries the public SponsorBlock API (sponsor.ajay.app) to identify sponsored segments in YouTube videos. Only a video ID is sent for this lookup — see SponsorBlock's own privacy practices for details on how they handle this data.

What we don't do

• We don't collect names, emails, or any personally identifiable information
• We don't log or transmit your browsing history
• We don't sell or share data with advertisers or third parties
• We don't use any data for purposes beyond ad/tracker blocking
• We don't operate any servers that your self-hosted HexBlock instance talks to

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the update will be reflected here with a new "last updated" date. Since HexBlock is open source, you can also verify these practices directly by reading the source code.

Contact

Questions about this policy: open an issue on github.com/happygream/hexblock or github.com/happygream/hexblock-shield.