Browser AI Chat Privacy Guide — How Local LLMs Keep Your Data Private
Chat with Llama or Phi-3.5 running in your browser. Your messages never leave your device. Here is how WebGPU-powered local LLMs work.
When you chat with cloud-based AI, your messages go to a company's servers. They're processed by the model there, and the response comes back. Depending on the service, your conversations might be stored, reviewed by employees, used for training, or retained for months. Browser-based AI runs the model on your device. None of that happens.
What "browser AI" means technically
Browser AI uses WebGPU or WebAssembly to run an AI model inside your browser tab, using your device's own CPU and GPU. The model file is downloaded once and cached locally. After that, every conversation runs entirely on your hardware without any network request to an AI server.
Our Browser AI Chatworks this way. You can check your browser's network tab while using it: no outgoing requests to AI servers. The model runs locally.
What gets stored and what doesn't
With cloud AI, your messages are sent over the network and can be retained by the provider according to their terms of service (which most people don't read). With browser AI, the conversation exists only in your browser's memory. When you close the tab, it's gone. Nothing is sent to a server. There is nothing to retain.
Who this matters for
- Lawyers discussing client matters with AI assistance
- Healthcare workers thinking through patient scenarios without sending PHI to a cloud service
- Journalists protecting sources while using AI for research or writing assistance
- Anyone in a jurisdiction where AI services may be monitored or restricted
- People whose company IT policy prohibits sending work content to external AI services
- Anyone who simply doesn't want their personal conversations stored on someone else's server
The trade-off: model size
Browser-based models are smaller than cloud models. GPT-4 has hundreds of billions of parameters and runs on massive server infrastructure. A browser-based model runs on your laptop, so it's in the 1-7 billion parameter range. For most everyday tasks, writing, summarizing, answering questions, explaining concepts, the smaller model does the job fine. For highly technical reasoning or very niche knowledge, cloud models still have an advantage.
Internet connection required?
Only for the initial model download. Once the model file is cached in your browser, you can use it without any internet connection. That's useful on flights, in areas with unreliable connectivity, or whenever you want guaranteed offline operation.