PrivacyScrubber 1.5.2 adds offline OCR and Chrome quick-scrub tools

PrivacyScrubber has released version 1.5.2 of its browser extension for Chrome and Edge, adding offline OCR for scanned documents, an address-bar quick-scrub shortcut, and updated compliance profiles. The update targets teams using AI tools that need to keep sensitive data off external servers.

Why it matters: - PrivacyScrubber 1.5.2 is aimed at reducing the risk that employees paste client data, proprietary code, or personal information into AI tools. - The update is designed for organizations operating under privacy and compliance regimes including GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2. - The release focuses on keeping sensitive text local before it reaches AI services.

What happened: - PrivacyScrubber released version 1.5.2 of its browser extension for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. - The update adds offline Optical Character Recognition for scanned documents and PDFs. - The release also adds a Chrome address-bar quick-scrub workflow. - The company says the product operates as a zero-trust data sanitization tool entirely in the browser.

The details: - PrivacyScrubber replaces sensitive names, email addresses, physical addresses, and financial figures with secure tokens such as [NAME_1] and [FINANCIAL_2]. - The extension intercepts prompts before they leave the user’s computer. - The original data is restored in place after the AI response returns. - In version 1.5.2, users can type ps in the Chrome address bar, press Space, paste text, and have the extension tokenize the content and copy the sanitized version to the clipboard. - Offline OCR and PDF redaction use Chrome Manifest V3 with an asynchronous service worker relay to process heavy image and scanned-document tasks locally. - A built-in watchdog script is designed to keep processing responsive during OCR workloads. - Active compliance profiles such as Legal, Financial, and HR now load immediately at startup. - The interface has been compacted to fit Chrome window-height limits and reduce lag during batch file operations. - PrivacyScrubber says the extension requires no user account and logs zero data. - The product is designed to keep working even when the computer is fully offline. - PrivacyScrubber says the extension passes an “Airplane Mode Test” that verifies functionality without an internet connection. - The free tier covers standard text sanitization. - The TEAMS plan costs $99 per month and includes unlimited seats, batch processing, and custom offline regex profiles. - Organizations can request a 14-day free trial of advanced features through a web form. - The company also offers custom enterprise options for air-gapped on-premise deployments. - PrivacyScrubber is available through the company’s website. - PrivacyScrubber also links to its LinkedIn page, YouTube channel, and X account.

Between the lines: - The product pitch is built around a local-first privacy model, which is meant to appeal to teams that want AI assistance without sending raw data to outside servers. - Offline OCR is the most notable update because scanned documents and PDFs are common sources of accidental data exposure. - Instant profile loading suggests the company is trying to remove friction for regulated workflows where redaction settings need to be active immediately.

What’s next: - PrivacyScrubber is pushing adoption through a free tier, a paid team plan, and enterprise deployments for air-gapped environments. - The company is positioning the extension as a workflow tool for organizations that want AI use to stay inside internal privacy boundaries.

The bottom line: - Version 1.5.2 turns PrivacyScrubber into a more complete offline sanitization layer for teams using AI assistants, with OCR and faster redaction built in.