Which AI tools can see or control your computer or phone?
Right, pull up a chair, pop the kettle on, because I want to tell you about something that's been quietly bugging me for ages, and I reckon it might bug you too once you start thinking about it.
So here's the thing. Over the last couple of years, loads of the apps on our laptops and phones have sprouted AI features. Some of them are brilliant, genuinely, and loads of people use them every day. But a lot of them, in order to do the clever stuff, ask for permission to see your screen, or read your files, or listen through your microphone, or even move your mouse and type on your keyboard for you. And you clicked "Allow" at some point, probably at 11pm, probably while trying to do something else entirely, and then you completely forgot about it. Which is fine! Everyone does that. I do that. Half the country does it roughly twice a week.
The trouble is that nobody ever comes back and tells you, in normal human words, what all those little "Allow" clicks add up to. So that's what this is. It's a free check that goes through your device with you and says, plainly, "these are the known AI tools you've got, this is what each one can see or control, and here's exactly how to switch it off if you'd rather it didn't". No jargon, no lecture, no being made to feel daft.
Two ways to do it, depending on your mood
I always think it's nice to have a choice, so there are two routes. Neither is better, really. It just depends on whether you fancy doing a bit of poking around yourself, or whether you'd rather let a little program do the rummaging for you.
The self-check, with nothing to install
You tell us which device you're on (Windows, Mac, iPhone or Android, we do all four) and then we walk you, step by step, to the right settings pages. It's a bit like having a friend look over your shoulder going "no, the other menu, the one with the little cog". You tick what you see, and at the end we explain each thing, give it a risk level, and show you how to turn it off.
The free scanner, for Windows PCs
This is a tiny program that only ever reads, it never changes a thing. It has a good look at your installed apps, browser extensions (the little add-ons in Chrome or Edge), privacy permissions and AI tool settings, then opens your results in your browser. The file is read on your own computer and never uploaded anywhere, which, I'll be honest, is the bit I'm proudest of.
A few promises, because you deserve them
I know, I know, every website says it cares about your privacy, usually right before it drops seventeen cookies on you. So let me just be really specific about how this one works, and you can hold me to it.
- Your answers and reports never leave your device. Not "we anonymise them", not "we only keep them for a bit". We literally don't have a server that could store them, so there's nowhere for them to go.
- No accounts, no cookies, and no tracking of what you find. We count page visits, and that's your lot.
- The scanner is open source (anyone can read its code), read-only, and makes no internet connections at all. You could unplug your router and it'd work exactly the same.
- We'll tell you about known tools. We will never tell you "you are safe", because no check anywhere can find software that's been built on purpose to hide, and I'd rather be honest with you than reassuring.
Oh, and one last thing, and this one matters more than all the rest. If you're here because you're worried that someone is watching what you do, please read our safety advice before you change anything. It's short, I promise.