Chrome Extension Guide

Last Updated: 2026-02-24 Extension Version: 2.0.1

Overview#

The cloak.business Chrome Extension protects your privacy by automatically anonymizing PII before sending messages to AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Perplexity, and Abacus.ai. Your sensitive data is replaced with anonymized placeholders before it reaches the AI service.

Key Benefits:

• JIT Protection: Intercepts messages before they're sent
• Reversible Encryption: Decrypt responses to see original values
• 6 AI Services: Works with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Perplexity, and Abacus.ai
• 48 Languages: Multi-language PII detection with country-specific entity types
• Seamless Integration: No copy-paste required

Table of Contents#

1. Installation
2. Initial Setup
3. Enabling Protection
4. Step-by-Step Workflow
5. Multi-Language Support
6. Preset Browser
7. Settings & Options
8. Supported AI Services
9. Anonymization Methods
10. Troubleshooting
11. FAQ

Installation#

From Chrome Web Store#

1. Visit the cloak.business Chrome Extension page
2. Click Add to Chrome
3. Click Add extension in the confirmation dialog
4. The extension icon appears in your toolbar

Verify Installation#

After installation, verify the extension is active by navigating to your browser's extensions page:

Extension Installed

The cloak.business extension should appear in your extensions list with version 2.0.x.

Manual Installation (Development)#

1. Download the extension from your cloak.business dashboard
2. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions
3. Enable Developer mode (toggle in top-right)
4. Click Load unpacked
5. Select the chrome_extension folder

Initial Setup#

First-Time Login#

When you first click the extension icon, you'll see the Sign In Required state. You need to authenticate with your cloak.business account.

Enter Your API Token#

1. Go to cloak.business and sign in to your account
2. Navigate to Dashboard > API Keys
3. Create a new API key and copy it
4. Paste it in the extension popup and click Sign In

Connected State#

Once authenticated, the popup shows your account status:

• Your email address
• Plan type (Free, Professional, Enterprise)
• Token balance
• Protection toggle
• Preset selector

Enabling Protection#

Navigate to an AI Platform#

Open ChatGPT (or another supported AI platform). Initially, protection is disabled:

ChatGPT Unprotected

Notice the ChatGPT interface is ready but the extension hasn't been activated yet for this site.

Enable Protection#

1. Click the extension icon in your toolbar
2. Toggle Enable Protection for this site
3. The extension icon shows a green checkmark when active

Once enabled, you're ready to send protected messages. The extension will intercept all outgoing messages and check for PII.

Step-by-Step Workflow#

This section shows the complete anonymization workflow using ChatGPT as an example.

Step 1: Type Your Message#

Enter your message containing personal information in the chat:

English Text Typed

Example text:

Hi, I'm John Smith from New York. My email is john.smith@example.com
and my phone is +1-555-123-4567. My SSN is 123-45-6789.

Step 2: Preview Detected Entities#

Click Send. The extension intercepts the message and shows the preview modal:

English Preview Modal

The preview modal displays:

• Original text with highlighted entities
• Entity badges showing detected PII types
• Anonymization method selector (Encrypt, Mask, Redact, Replace, Hash)
• Preset selector to switch regions

Step 3: Review Entity Details#

Each detected entity is color-coded by type:

English Entities Detail

You can:

• Click checkboxes to include/exclude specific entities
• Hover to see the detected value
• Choose anonymization method per entity type

Step 4: Send Protected#

Click Send Protected to anonymize and send your message:

English Sending

The extension encrypts all detected entities and sends the protected message.

Step 5: View Anonymized Message#

The anonymized message appears in the chat:

English Anonymized Sent

Your PII has been replaced with encrypted tokens that the AI cannot understand. The original values are securely encrypted using AES-256.

Step 6: AI Response with De-anonymization#

When the AI responds, encrypted values are automatically decrypted and highlighted in green:

English AI Response

You see the original values while the AI only processed encrypted tokens. This is the magic of reversible encryption - you maintain full context while protecting your data.

Step 7: Toggle Encrypted View#

Click the toggle button to see what the AI actually received:

English Toggle Encrypted

This shows the encrypted base64 values that were sent to the AI. Toggle back to see your decrypted values again.

Multi-Language Support#

cloak.business supports 48 languages with country-specific entity recognition. Here are examples for major European languages.

Spanish (España)#

Select the España preset for Spanish PII detection:

Spanish Text Typed

Example text:

Hola, soy María García López de Madrid. Mi correo es maria@ejemplo.es
y mi DNI es 12345678A. Mi teléfono es +34 612 345 678.

The preview modal detects Spanish-specific entities like ES_DNI (Spanish ID number):

Spanish Preview Modal

Spanish Entities Detail

After sending, view the anonymized message:

Spanish Anonymized Sent

And the AI response with decrypted Spanish values:

Spanish AI Response

Toggle to see encrypted view:

Spanish Toggle Encrypted

French (France)#

Select the France preset for French PII detection:

French Text Typed

Example text:

Bonjour, je m'appelle Pierre Dubois de Paris. Mon email est pierre@exemple.fr
et mon numéro de sécurité sociale est 1 85 12 75 108 123 45.

The preview detects FR_SSN (French Social Security Number):

French Preview Modal

French Entities Detail

After sending:

French Anonymized Sent

AI response with decrypted French data:

French AI Response

Toggle encrypted view:

French Toggle Encrypted

German (Deutschland)#

Select the Deutschland preset for German PII detection:

German Text Typed

Example text:

Guten Tag, ich heiße Hans Müller aus Berlin. Meine E-Mail ist hans@beispiel.de
und meine Steuernummer ist 12/345/67890.

The preview detects DE_TAX_ID (German Tax ID):

German Preview Modal

German Entities Detail

After sending:

German Anonymized Sent

AI response with decrypted German data:

German AI Response

Toggle encrypted view:

German Toggle Encrypted

Preset Browser#

Search Presets#

Use the search box in the preview modal to find presets by name:

Preset Search

Type any country name (in English or native language) to filter results.

Browse 85+ Countries#

Scroll through the preset list to see all available countries with native names:

Preset Countries Scroll

Available presets include:

• Europe: España, France, Italia, Deutschland, Nederland, Polska, Sverige, Norge, Danmark, Ellada (Greece), Portugal, România
• Americas: United States, Canada, Brasil, México, Argentina
• Asia-Pacific: Nihon (Japan), Zhōngguó (China), Bhārat (India), 한국 (Korea), Australia
• Middle East: العربية السعودية (Saudi Arabia), ישראל (Israel), Türkiye
• Industry: Healthcare (HIPAA), Developer Secrets, Financial Services

Preset Details#

Click View Details on any preset to see the full entity list:

• Entity type name
• Pattern description
• Detection confidence
• Example values

Settings & Options#

Access the full options page by clicking the gear icon in the extension popup.

Account Tab#

View your account information and token balance:

Options Account

The token display shows:

• Available balance prominently displayed
• Used this cycle as secondary information

General Settings#

Configure theme, preview behavior, and fail mode:

Options General

Privacy Settings#

Control data storage and retention:

Options Privacy

Encryption Keys#

Manage your encryption keys:

Options Encryption

You can:

• View available keys synced from your account
• Set default key for new sessions
• Create new keys (on cloak.business website)

History#

View past anonymization sessions:

Options History

Each history item shows:

• Timestamp
• Platform (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.)
• Number of entities detected
• Anonymization method used

Click any item to see full details including original and anonymized text.

Supported AI Services#

Character Limit: 3,998 characters per message

Why the limit? Claude.ai converts longer text into "content blocks" which cannot be anonymized. This limit ensures consistent protection across all platforms.

Anonymization Methods#

Recommendation: Use Encrypt for most use cases. It's the only method that allows you to see original values in AI responses.

Troubleshooting#

Common Issues#

Debug Mode#

Enable debug logging for troubleshooting:

1. Go to Options > General Settings
2. Set Debug logging to Debug
3. Open browser console (F12 > Console)
4. Reproduce the issue
5. Look for [cloak.business] log entries

Console Commands#

// Enable debug output
window.__ANON_DEBUG__ = true;

// View buffered logs
window.__ANON_LOGS__

// Get connector stats
window.__ANON_STATS__()

// Inspect decryption cache
window.__ANON_CACHE__()

Resetting the Extension#

If issues persist:

1. Go to chrome://extensions
2. Find cloak.business
3. Click Remove
4. Reinstall from Chrome Web Store
5. Re-enter your API key

FAQ#

Is my data sent to cloak.business servers?#

Text only - your text is sent to cloak.business for PII detection and anonymization. The anonymized text is then sent to the AI service. Encryption keys stay on your device.

Can I use this with other AI services?#

Currently supported: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Perplexity, and Abacus.ai. Contact support@cloak.business for additional service requests.

Why is there a 3,998 character limit?#

Claude.ai converts longer text into "content blocks" which cannot be intercepted and anonymized. This limit ensures consistent protection.

Does it work with Claude's file uploads?#

No, the extension only protects text messages. For document anonymization, use the cloak.business web app or desktop app.

Can my employer see my original messages?#

If you use an encryption key, only you (with that key) can decrypt the original values. Without the key, no one can reverse the encryption.

How do I use different presets for different contexts?#

You can switch presets in the preview modal before sending each message, or configure per-site defaults in settings.

Why are some entities not detected?#

Check that:

• Your preset includes that entity type
• The text matches expected patterns (e.g., SSN format: 123-45-6789)
• Language setting matches content language
• Confidence threshold isn't too high

Why does the AI say it can't understand my message?#

This means the encryption is working! The AI receives encrypted tokens like LzqYf_zJ... instead of your real data. When it responds using those tokens, the extension automatically decrypts them for you.

Privacy & Security#

Zero-Knowledge Architecture#

• Client-side encryption - Your encryption keys never leave your device
• No PII stored on servers - Only encrypted tokens are processed
• End-to-end encryption - Only you can decrypt your data
• GDPR compliant - Full data control and deletion rights

Security Model#

[Your Browser]  →  [Extension]  →  [cloak.business API]  →  [Anonymized Text]  →  [AI Service]
     │                  │
     │           Only text sent
     │           Keys stay local
     │
   Encryption
   keys local

Data Handling#

• API Key: Stored in Chrome's secure storage
• Encryption Keys: Generated locally, synced encrypted
• Decryption Cache: Cleared on tab close
• No Logging: Original values never logged
• HTTPS Only: All API calls encrypted

Permissions Explained#

Support#

• Documentation: cloak.business/docs
• Email: support@cloak.business
• Issues: Report bugs via the extension's feedback option

Document maintained by cloak.business