PhishLens terms of use

Last updated: October 16, 2026.

These terms cover the PhishLens Chrome extension, the website phishlens.dev and PhishLens Cloud, the hosted analysis server. By using them you accept these terms. The code itself is published under the GNU AGPL-3.0 license, which governs copying, modifying and redistributing it: modified versions, including ones run as a service, must be published under the same license.

The service

PhishLens checks emails for signs of phishing and explains its verdict. It started as a final-year student project at Nile University of Nigeria and is offered free of charge, without accounts and without advertising.

What PhishLens is not

• Not a guarantee. The verdict is an estimate from statistical models and public threat-intelligence lists. PhishLens can miss a phishing email and can flag a legitimate one. Keep your usual judgement, and check with the sender through another channel before acting on a request for money, passwords or personal data.
• Not a replacement for your email provider's spam and malware filtering, your antivirus or your organisation's security team.

Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• send emails or files to PhishLens Cloud that you are not allowed to share, such as other people's confidential messages;
• overload the server: automated bulk requests, load tests or attempts to get around the rate limits;
• use PhishLens to test, train or improve phishing campaigns;
• attack, probe or disrupt the server, except through the responsible disclosure process in SECURITY.md.

Requests that break these rules can be blocked.

Availability

PhishLens Cloud runs on a single server and can be slow, interrupted or changed at any time, without notice. For guaranteed availability or for sensitive mail, run your own backend (see the README); nothing then leaves your machine except the threat-intelligence lookups described in the privacy policy.

Your data

What the extension and the server handle, and what is kept, is described in the privacy policy. In short: emails are analysed and not stored, and your scan history stays in your browser.

Liability

PhishLens is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, as stated in the GNU AGPL-3.0 license. To the extent the law allows, the authors are not liable for any loss or damage arising from its use, including a missed phishing email or a legitimate email flagged by mistake.

Changes and contact

These terms may change; the date at the top shows the last update, and changes are listed in the changelog. Questions: open an issue at https://github.com/AnzouK/PhishLens/issues.