A simple browser extension. No IT skills needed, no servers to set up — about two minutes from start to your first protected message.
Make sure you have:
In Google Chrome, click the blue "Get the extension" button at the bottom of this page — it takes you straight to SOWA Privacy in the Chrome Web Store. (Or search for "SOWA Privacy" there yourself.)
It's the blue button near the top right of the store page. A small popup will ask for permissions — click "Add extension" to confirm. The install takes a few seconds.
Click the puzzle-piece icon next to your address bar, find SOWA Privacy in the list, and click the small pin icon next to it. Now you can see and click the SOWA icon any time.
Go to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or another supported chatbot in your Chrome browser — not the desktop app. SOWA Privacy only protects the browser version. It activates automatically on these sites: no settings, no logins, no extra clicks.
SOWA Privacy detects names, addresses, account numbers, medical details and other sensitive information as you type, and replaces them with neutral placeholders before your message leaves your computer. Look for the green dot on the SOWA icon — that's your visual confirmation that protection is active.
Stuck somewhere? Get in touch and we'll walk you through it personally.
No. SOWA Privacy operates on the zero-trust principle as a pure client-side application (browser extension). There are no SOWA servers, no caching, and no cloud infrastructure. Data processing takes place 100% locally on the user's device.
SOWA Privacy is provider-agnostic. It acts as a proxy between the input window and the browser request, working by default with common web-based chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini without requiring any API integration.
Sensitive data classes (such as names, addresses, IBANs, medical diagnoses) are detected by local machine learning models on the device and translated into neutral tokens (e.g., [PERSON_1]) before transmission.
We provide the basic anonymization as open-source to ensure absolute transparency. The Enterprise plan additionally offers Single Sign-On (SSO), central policy management for the entire organization, and audit reporting.
Yes. Since all data is processed exclusively on the user's device and no personal data is transmitted to third parties, SOWA Privacy meets GDPR requirements. Sensitive information is fully anonymized before being sent to the AI provider, making it impossible to trace back to real individuals.
SOWA Privacy is optimized for minimal resource usage. The local ML models are compact and run efficiently in the browser. Anonymization happens in real time — typically in under 100 milliseconds — so you won't notice any perceptible difference during use.
The Starter plan can be installed as a Chrome extension in minutes — no server setup or IT department required. For the Enterprise plan, we offer a guided implementation with SSO integration, policy configuration, and employee onboarding, typically completed within 1–2 business days.
Yes. In the Enterprise plan, administrators can centrally configure industry-specific data classes, custom detection patterns, and exception rules. This allows you to specifically protect internal project names, customer numbers, or medical terminology, for example.