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Protego Specification

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Protego

Privacy Made Effortless

Protego is an open-source, AI-powered browser privacy and security platform designed to protect users from tracking, unsafe browser extensions, intrusive advertising, deceptive consent systems, and unnecessary data collection across major browsers.

Specification

Protego shall provide a browser-independent privacy and security layer that places user-controlled policies between websites, browser extensions, network requests, consent systems, and the user’s data.

The system shall use modular architecture so that privacy protection, AI analysis, extension security, consent handling, content filtering, and browser integration can evolve independently while sharing a common security and policy framework.

Protego shall prioritize local processing, user control, transparency, minimal data exposure, and secure defaults. Cloud services shall not be required for core privacy functionality.

Design Principles

  • User data belongs to the user.
  • Privacy protections shall be enabled by default.
  • Sensitive analysis should occur locally whenever technically practical.
  • Protego shall not introduce tracking or telemetry without explicit user consent.
  • Security decisions shall be explainable to the user.
  • Automated actions shall be governed by explicit privacy policies.
  • Protego shall favor blocking unnecessary data collection over permitting ambiguous collection.
  • The system shall preserve website functionality whenever doing so does not compromise user privacy or security.
  • Browser-specific functionality shall remain isolated from the core protection engine.
  • The architecture shall support independent modules and optional plugins.
  • Users shall retain the ability to inspect, modify, disable, or override protection policies.

Core Modules

Browser Compatibility Module

The Browser Compatibility Module shall provide a common abstraction layer for browser-specific APIs.

It shall:

  • Support standards-based WebExtensions APIs where available.
  • Detect browser capabilities.
  • Provide browser-specific adapters where APIs differ.
  • Normalize permissions, tabs, storage, scripting, networking, and content injection interfaces.
  • Support Chromium-based browsers.
  • Support Firefox.
  • Support Safari through supported web extension mechanisms.
  • Allow future browsers to be added without rewriting the core protection engine.

Protego shall maintain browser-specific implementation details outside the central privacy logic whenever practical.

Privacy Policy Engine

The Privacy Policy Engine shall serve as the central decision-making layer for Protego.

It shall:

  • Define privacy and security rules.
  • Evaluate requests and events against user policies.
  • Determine whether an action should be allowed, blocked, modified, isolated, or presented to the user.
  • Support default protection policies.
  • Support user-defined policies.
  • Support temporary exceptions.
  • Maintain consistent policies across supported browsers.
  • Provide explanations for automated decisions.

The policy engine shall operate independently from any particular AI provider or browser implementation.

AI Analysis Module

The AI Analysis Module shall provide intelligent analysis of websites, scripts, browser extensions, consent interfaces, privacy policies, and other content relevant to user privacy.

It shall:

  • Identify potential privacy risks.
  • Analyze unfamiliar behavior.
  • Classify tracking mechanisms.
  • Interpret privacy disclosures.
  • Analyze consent requests.
  • Identify suspicious extension behavior.
  • Explain technical and legal language in plain language.
  • Recommend protective actions.
  • Generate structured findings for the Privacy Policy Engine.

AI analysis shall not automatically override deterministic security rules. High-confidence security policies and explicit user rules shall take precedence over AI recommendations.

The module shall support local inference where practical and shall minimize the transmission of user data when external inference is used.

Extension Security Module

The Extension Security Module shall analyze installed and active browser extensions within the capabilities permitted by the browser.

It shall:

  • Inspect available extension metadata and permissions.
  • Identify excessive permissions.
  • Monitor observable extension behavior.
  • Identify suspicious network activity where browser APIs permit observation.
  • Detect known tracking mechanisms.
  • Identify potentially unnecessary data access.
  • Compare extension behavior against declared functionality.
  • Alert users to significant changes following extension updates.

Protego shall not claim to directly rewrite or replace an installed extension when browser security boundaries prevent such modification.

Where direct modification is not permitted, Protego shall use available browser controls, network filtering, content isolation, policy enforcement, and other protective mechanisms to reduce exposure.

Runtime Protection Module

The Runtime Protection Module shall provide real-time protection while websites and extensions operate.

It shall:

  • Monitor observable page activity.
  • Evaluate network requests where browser APIs permit interception.
  • Identify known trackers.
  • Detect suspicious scripts.
  • Apply privacy policies.
  • Block or modify requests according to policy.
  • Mitigate known fingerprinting techniques where technically possible.
  • Detect suspicious redirects and tracking parameters.
  • Protect sensitive browser activity from unnecessary third-party access.

The module shall minimize performance overhead and avoid unnecessary inspection of trusted content.

Cookie and Consent Module

The Cookie and Consent Module shall automate privacy-conscious responses to cookie and consent interfaces.

It shall:

  • Detect cookie banners.
  • Detect consent management platforms.
  • Identify essential and non-essential categories where reliably determinable.
  • Prefer rejection of unnecessary tracking.
  • Allow required functionality when necessary for normal site operation.
  • Detect common dark-pattern techniques.
  • Record user decisions locally.
  • Apply previously established preferences automatically.
  • Prevent repeated consent prompts where technically possible.

Protego shall not fabricate consent. Automated responses shall represent the user’s configured privacy preferences.

Fine-Print Analysis Module

The Fine-Print Analysis Module shall analyze privacy policies, terms, disclosures, cookie policies, and related documentation.

It shall:

  • Locate relevant policy documents.
  • Extract privacy-related statements.
  • Identify data collection practices.
  • Identify data sharing practices.
  • Identify retention policies.
  • Identify advertising and profiling practices.
  • Identify third-party processors.
  • Identify potentially significant privacy risks.
  • Produce plain-language summaries.
  • Provide confidence indicators for extracted findings.

The module shall distinguish between information explicitly stated by a website and conclusions inferred by AI.

Tracker and Advertising Protection Module

The Tracker and Advertising Protection Module shall reduce unwanted tracking and intrusive advertising while attempting to preserve legitimate website functionality.

It shall:

  • Block known tracking domains.
  • Block known tracking scripts.
  • Remove unnecessary tracking parameters where safe.
  • Reduce third-party tracking.
  • Mitigate known fingerprinting techniques.
  • Hide intrusive advertising elements.
  • Suppress unnecessary popups and overlays.
  • Reduce advertising-related page clutter.
  • Support community-maintained filter rules.
  • Allow users to configure site-specific exceptions.

Protego shall focus on privacy and security protection rather than bypassing authentication, paywalls, access controls, or other legitimate security mechanisms.

Content Simplification Module

The Content Simplification Module shall help users reach relevant information without unnecessary interface clutter.

It shall:

  • Identify primary page content.
  • Reduce intrusive overlays.
  • Remove unnecessary interface elements.
  • Suppress repetitive consent prompts.
  • Reduce advertising clutter.
  • Provide simplified reading views where technically possible.
  • Preserve links and essential navigation.
  • Allow users to return to the original page presentation.

Data Protection Module

The Data Protection Module shall manage information generated by Protego.

It shall:

  • Minimize collected data.
  • Store sensitive settings locally whenever possible.
  • Encrypt sensitive local information.
  • Provide controlled data deletion.
  • Prevent unnecessary external transmission.
  • Separate user configuration from analytical content.
  • Provide clear information about data storage and processing.

Protego shall not sell user data or use user activity for advertising purposes.

Security and Isolation Module

The Security and Isolation Module shall provide safeguards around Protego itself.

It shall:

  • Apply least-privilege principles.
  • Isolate privileged browser functionality.
  • Validate module inputs.
  • Sanitize content before processing.
  • Restrict untrusted scripts.
  • Prevent unauthorized module communication.
  • Protect stored configuration.
  • Detect unexpected module behavior.
  • Maintain security boundaries between website content and privileged Protego functionality.

AI-generated actions shall pass through policy validation before being applied to protected browser activity.

Transparency and Audit Module

The Transparency and Audit Module shall provide users with understandable records of Protego decisions.

It shall record, subject to user-configured retention policies:

  • Blocked requests.
  • Detected trackers.
  • Consent decisions.
  • Extension warnings.
  • Privacy policy findings.
  • Security events.
  • AI recommendations.
  • Policy actions.

Each significant automated action should provide a reason that users can understand.

Users shall be able to inspect, clear, and export available audit information.

User Control Module

The User Control Module shall provide direct control over Protego’s behavior.

It shall support:

  • Protection levels.
  • Site-specific policies.
  • Extension-specific policies.
  • Cookie preferences.
  • Tracker controls.
  • Advertising controls.
  • AI analysis settings.
  • Local processing preferences.
  • Temporary exceptions.
  • Permanent exceptions.
  • Data retention settings.

Users shall be able to disable individual protections without disabling unrelated security controls.

Rule and Policy Module

The Rule and Policy Module shall manage deterministic protection rules independently from AI models.

It shall support:

  • Built-in rules.
  • User rules.
  • Community rules.
  • Domain-specific rules.
  • Extension-specific rules.
  • Temporary rules.
  • Rule priorities.
  • Rule expiration.
  • Rule validation.

Rules shall be versioned where practical so changes can be reviewed and audited.

Update and Integrity Module

The Update and Integrity Module shall manage Protego updates and security-related rule updates.

It shall:

  • Verify update integrity.
  • Validate rule packages.
  • Detect malformed updates.
  • Support rollback where technically practical.
  • Provide update information to users.
  • Prevent unauthorized modification of Protego components.

Updates shall not silently reduce established user privacy protections.

Optional Plugin Modules

Protego shall support optional plugins that extend functionality without requiring the corresponding feature to be part of the core protection system.

Local AI Model Plugin

Provides optional local AI models for privacy policy analysis, extension analysis, content classification, and threat interpretation.

Community Rules Plugin

Provides optional community-maintained privacy, tracker, advertising, and security rules.

Advanced Fingerprinting Plugin

Provides additional detection and mitigation for browser fingerprinting techniques.

Privacy Policy Database Plugin

Provides optional access to a locally synchronized database of analyzed privacy policies and known data practices.

Extension Reputation Plugin

Provides optional reputation information for browser extensions based on publicly available security and privacy signals.

Accessibility Plugin

Provides enhanced privacy controls and simplified interfaces for users with accessibility requirements.

Developer Analysis Plugin

Provides advanced inspection tools for developers and security researchers.

It may include:

  • Request inspection.
  • Script analysis.
  • Policy simulation.
  • Extension behavior reports.
  • Rule testing.
  • Privacy risk analysis.

Secure Sync Plugin

Provides optional encrypted synchronization of user policies and preferences across devices.

Secure synchronization shall remain optional and shall not be required for local privacy protection.

External AI Provider Plugin

Provides optional integration with external AI services when users explicitly choose to use them.

External AI plugins shall:

  • Clearly identify the provider.
  • Clearly explain what information may be transmitted.
  • Require explicit user authorization.
  • Respect Protego privacy policies.
  • Never silently transmit browsing content.

AI Governance

Protego shall treat AI as an analysis and assistance component rather than an unrestricted authority.

AI-generated decisions shall be subject to:

  • Deterministic security rules.
  • User-defined policies.
  • Permission boundaries.
  • Input validation.
  • Output validation.
  • Confidence evaluation.
  • Audit logging where enabled.

Protego shall clearly distinguish between:

  • Verified facts.
  • Browser-observed behavior.
  • Website-provided claims.
  • AI-generated interpretations.
  • User-configured decisions.

The system shall avoid presenting uncertain AI conclusions as verified facts.

Privacy Requirements

Protego shall follow privacy-by-design principles.

The system shall:

  • Avoid collecting unnecessary browsing data.
  • Avoid mandatory centralized accounts.
  • Avoid advertising telemetry.
  • Avoid selling user information.
  • Avoid behavioral profiling of users.
  • Prefer local processing.
  • Minimize external network communication.
  • Provide meaningful data deletion controls.
  • Clearly disclose optional external services.

Any optional telemetry must be separately disclosed and explicitly enabled by the user.

Security Requirements

Protego shall use a defense-in-depth security model.

Security controls shall include, where supported by the browser:

  • Least-privilege permissions.
  • Secure storage.
  • Content isolation.
  • Network filtering.
  • Input validation.
  • Output validation.
  • Permission analysis.
  • Integrity verification.
  • Secure update mechanisms.
  • Auditability.

Protego shall never intentionally weaken browser security boundaries to provide functionality.

Specification Branding License (SBL)

Standard

Optional

License & Notice Requirements

Protego is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions will also be released under this license.

Please note the following:

  • All contributions must comply with the AGPL-3.0+ terms.
  • Under Section 7 of the license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works must preserve attribution to:
    Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.
  • Protego specifications are free to use with attribution. A Specification Branding License can be negotiated upon request.
  • The project’s notice.md file tracks attribution requirements and contributor acknowledgments. Any update that adds new contributors or modifies attribution should also update notice.md.
  • When submitting a pull request, ensure that any new files maintain the attribution headers where applicable.
  • Network-deployed versions of this software must also remain fully AGPL-3.0+ compliant, including exposure of source code modifications when applicable under the license.

For full legal details, please refer to the AGPL-3.0+ license and the project’s notice.md file.

Notice – Protego

Attribution Requirement: Under Section 7 of the AGPL 3.0+ license, all redistributions, forks, and derivative works, including network-deployed versions of this project, must provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com.

Contributors

This file tracks contributors and their specific contributions to the project.

  • Roxanne Ardary, roxanneardary.com – March 16, 2026
    Created the repository for Protego. Developed the AI-powered, cross-browser privacy and security framework that protects users from tracking, unsafe extensions, and intrusive scripts.
  • [Add other contributors here] – [Date]
    [Describe contribution in one sentence]

License – Protego

This repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (AGPL-3.0+).

Key Points

  • You are free to use, modify, and distribute the code.
  • All redistributions, forks, and derivative works or network-deployed versions must also be licensed under AGPL-3.0+ and provide attribution to Roxanne Ardary and roxanneardary.com as required under Section 7 of the license.
  • The software is provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind.

For the full license text, see GNU AGPL-3.0 License.

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