Ghost Mode Auditor v2

Ghost Mode Auditor v2 is a Chrome extension that performs a page-specific privacy audit. It replaces the earlier synthetic scoring model with a scan that actually looks at the active page.

What it measures

The extension inspects:

• third-party origins loaded by the page,
• tracker-like domains,
• fingerprinting-related scripts and signals,
• WebRTC and geolocation exposure,
• cookie visibility,
• localStorage and sessionStorage usage,
• secure-context status,
• browser fingerprint surface such as timezone, languages, screen-related hints, device memory, and hardware concurrency.

Scoring

The score is derived from:

• how many external origins the page loads,
• whether those origins match known tracker patterns,
• whether fingerprinting-related scripts are present,
• how much storage the page is using,
• whether the page runs in a secure context,
• how much browser fingerprint surface is visible.

That means a clean informational page should score lower than a heavy ad/tracking page.

Architecture

manifest.json

Manifest V3 configuration, permissions, popup, and service worker.

background.js

Initializes Chrome storage and saves the latest scans.

popup.html

The dashboard shell.

popup.css

UI styling for the popup.

popup.js

Main application logic:

• injects the page audit function,
• collects page signals,
• computes the privacy score,
• renders findings,
• copies the report to clipboard,
• saves scan history.

Data flow

User clicks extension icon
→ popup opens
→ user clicks Scan active tab
→ popup.js injects audit function into the current page
→ audit function reads page resources and browser signals
→ score and findings are computed
→ report is rendered and saved

Scoring model

The privacy risk score is a heuristic from 0 to 100.

High-level contributors:

• third-party resource count
• tracker domain matches
• fingerprinting scripts
• cookie visibility
• storage usage
• non-secure context
• exposed browser fingerprint hints

This is a risk indicator, not a security certification.

Limitations

The tool does not:

• prove that a site is malicious,
• identify every tracker with 100% accuracy,
• detect server-side logging,
• stop device fingerprinting,
• stop network-layer tracking.

It is still useful because it gives a visible, defensible summary of page exposure.

Installation

1. Open chrome://extensions
2. Turn on Developer mode
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select this folder

Usage

1. Open a normal website.
2. Click the extension icon.
3. Click Scan active tab.
4. Review the report.
5. Click Copy report to save the JSON.