How Vigil works

Three tools.
One mission.

Vigil gives you three distinct capabilities to understand, detect, and respond to privacy risks. Each tool works on its own. Together they cover the full picture.

Tool 01

Privacy Policy Analyser

Find out what you actually agreed to.

Privacy policies are long on purpose. The average one runs to 4,000 words and takes around 30 minutes to read. Companies know most people never will. The result is that you routinely hand over rights to your data without knowing it.

Vigil's Policy Analyser reads the full policy text and pulls out the parts that matter. Paste any URL and get back a plain-English breakdown of what data is collected, who it is shared with, how long it is kept, and whether you have any real ability to opt out.

What it covers

  • Risk score from 0 to 100 with a letter grade
  • Plain-English summary of every data collection practice
  • Flags clauses that allow third-party data sharing or data sales
  • Identifies vague consent language designed to maximise what companies can claim
  • Powered by a combination of ToS;DR community ratings and our own NLP analysis
Tool 02

Dark Pattern Detector

See the design tricks before they work on you.

Dark patterns are deliberate design choices that guide users toward outcomes they would not choose if the interface were neutral. Pre-ticked consent boxes, guilt-trip opt-out buttons, subscription cancellation buried six screens deep. These are not accidents.

Vigil's Dark Pattern Detector scans a website and flags the specific techniques in use. Each finding is categorised by type, explained in plain terms, and given a severity rating. Knowing what you are looking at makes it much harder to be led astray.

What it covers

  • Detects 8 dark pattern categories including roach motels, confirm-shaming, and forced continuity
  • Identifies pre-checked consent boxes and buried opt-out paths
  • Rates severity so you know which findings actually matter
  • Returns structured findings broken down by page section
Tool 03

Data Broker Scanner

Find who holds your data and how to get it removed.

Data brokers are not consumer-facing companies. They operate in the background, buying and selling personal data files that include your name, address, income estimate, purchasing behaviour, and more. Most people have no idea they are in these databases.

Vigil's Data Broker Scanner shows you which brokers are likely to hold records about you, explains what kind of data each one trades in, and gives you the specific opt-out steps for each. Opt-out processes are often made deliberately inconvenient. We walk you through them.

What it covers

  • Covers 200+ known data brokers with profile coverage descriptions
  • Direct opt-out links for each broker
  • Step-by-step removal guides with difficulty ratings
  • Tracks which removal requests you have already submitted

Ready to see what is out there?

Create a free account and run your first scan in under two minutes.

Get started free