Honest Privacy Policies
We Read the Fine Print So You Don't Have To
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What is Honest Privacy Policies?
Honest Privacy Policies is a free online tool that reads and analyzes company privacy policies so regular people can understand what they're agreeing to. The tool takes a privacy policy URL and company name, then distills complex legal text into structured, plain-English insights that anyone can understand.
Key features include assigning letter grades from A to F based on privacy practices, providing exactly 8 plain-English answers to common questions about data handling, and identifying whether companies are honest about their data practices or hiding problematic clauses. The service operates with no cookies and no tracking, maintaining its own privacy-first principles.
This tool is designed for privacy-conscious individuals, regular consumers who sign up for online services, students and professionals in privacy engineering, and anyone who wants to make informed decisions about which companies to trust with their personal data without needing to read dozens of pages of legalese.
Honest Privacy Policies pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Completely free - no paid plans, subscriptions, or tiers. The tool has no cost to use and operates as an open project with no monetization.
Honest Privacy Policies pros
- Free to use with no paid tiers or subscription required
- No cookies and no tracking on the tool itself
- Converts complex legal language into plain English
- Provides letter grade rating from A to F for quick assessment
- Exactly 8 targeted plain-English answers to common privacy questions
- Works with any company's privacy policy URL
- Structured, actionable insights instead of vague summaries
- Built by someone with Master's in Privacy Engineering from CMU
- Helps identify shady or dishonest privacy practices
- No technical privacy expertise required to use
- Quick form submission option for easy reporting
- Email submission option for detailed reports
- Focuses on big tech companies' privacy policies
- Makes privacy policies accessible to normal people
- Created by privacy-conscious developer who self-hosts services
Honest Privacy Policies cons
- Relies on users submitting privacy policy URLs manually
- May not cover every company or newer services
- Letter grade system may oversimplify complex privacy practices
- No browser extension for automatic detection while browsing
- Limited to 8 answers per policy analysis
- No batch analysis capability for multiple policies
- Cannot analyze policies that don't have accessible URLs
- New project launched in 2026 with limited historical data
Frequently asked questions about Honest Privacy Policies
What does Honest Privacy Policies do?
The tool reads company privacy policies and turns complex legal text into structured, actionable insights in plain English that normal people can understand without legal or technical expertise.
How do I submit a privacy policy to analyze?
You can submit via email at [email protected] with the company name and policy URL, or use the quick form option on the website for faster submission.
What letter grade system is used?
The tool assigns letter grades from A to F based on the privacy policy's practices, with A being the best (most honest and protective) and F being the worst (most problematic or deceptive).
What are the 8 plain-English answers provided?
The tool provides 8 targeted answers to common questions people have when giving their data to an organization, covering what you're really agreeing to when you sign up for services.
Is the tool itself private and secure?
Yes, Honest Privacy Policies operates with no cookies and no tracking, maintaining privacy-first principles even while analyzing other companies' privacy practices.
Who built this tool and what's their background?
The tool was built by Aseem Shrey, who recently completed a Master's in Privacy Engineering at CMU and is personally privacy-conscious, self-hosting NAS, running Immich for photos, and trying to self-host where possible.
Which companies does the tool cover?
The tool focuses on distilling big tech companies' privacy policies, though users can submit any company's privacy policy URL for analysis through the submission form or email.
Why was this tool created?
It started as a graduation joke among friends at CMU about the absurd volume of unreadable privacy policies they'd spent semesters dissecting, then transformed into an actual project over a few weeks to help normal people understand privacy policies.
Can I trust the analysis results?
The analysis comes from someone with formal privacy engineering education and personal privacy consciousness, who understands that even with technical background, figuring out what SaaS tools do with data telemetry means wading through buried boilerplate.
What makes this different from reading the policy myself?
Privacy policies are buried boilerplate that no one has time to read, often requiring semesters of study to properly dissect. This tool turns that text into structured insights so you don't have to spend hours wading through legal jargon.