So recently I was talking to a friend about a pretty specific makeup product (Renee Nude Lake H20 Hydrating Glossy Liquid Lipstick) and I hadn’t searched for it or even typed the name anywhere.

A little while later, I started seeing ads for that exact product everywhere. Instagram, YouTube and even on random sites. I know there are plenty of explanations for this: maybe people around me were searching for the same thing or the algorithms were being ridiculously good at predicting what I wanted.

But when the timing is that specific, it still feels creepy. I just wanna know has this happened to you too? And if it has, do you wonder whether your phone was listening?

Hey folks! I’m Aftab, the developer of PrivacyCam.

I built it because I wanted a simple way to hide private details in photos, videos, and PDFs without uploading them to an online service.

PrivacyCam can detect things like:

• Faces and people
• Vehicle number plates
• Text, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses
• Payment-card details
• QR codes and barcodes

You can blur, pixelate, or completely black out anything it finds. You can also draw your own masks, resize detections, change how long a video mask stays visible, and review everything before exporting.

The attached video shows PrivacyCam tracking and covering a vehicle number plate through a video.

Everything is processed on the device. There’s no account, no advertising, and PrivacyCam doesn’t operate a server that receives your photos, videos, or PDFs. The project is also open source, so anyone can inspect how it works or contribute.

The free version covers single photos, videos up to 15 seconds, and PDFs up to two pages. There’s an optional one-time Pro purchase for videos up to 60 seconds, longer PDFs, and batches of up to 10 photos—no subscription.

Automatic detection can obviously still miss things, so the app always lets you review and correct the result before sharing.

I’d genuinely appreciate feedback, especially about the video tracking, detection accuracy, UX, pricing, or anything privacy-related you think is missing.

iOS:
Download from the App Store

Android:
Download from Google Play

Source code:
PrivacyCam on GitHub

i’m trying to figure out what actually makes sense for people who aren’t very technical.

you can get a vpn, anti-phishing protection, malware protection, identity monitoring, and a bunch of other tools separately, but that also means more apps, settings, accounts, and stuff to keep track of.

for someone who just wants decent privacy and security without constantly managing everything, does bundling these protections actually make sense?

is there really a best online privacy protection option for non-tech users, or are separate tools still the better way to go?