# Introduction
Source: https://docs.privacytracker.privacykey.org/introduction

privacytracker tracks how iOS apps' App Store privacy labels change over time, summarises developer privacy policies with AI, and back-fills history from the Internet Archive.

## What it does

privacytracker is a self-hostable tool for keeping an honest, longitudinal record of what iOS apps say they collect about you.

It does four things:

**Scrapes App Store labels**

Pulls each app's privacy labels straight from Apple's public App Store HTML — no API key, no auth — and parses both the new `shelfMapping` payload and the older `purposes → categories` shape.

**Detects silent changes**

Snapshots every label after each scrape, diffs against the previous snapshot, and notifies you only when categories actually shift.

**Summarises policies with AI**

Optional. Bring your own model (OpenAI, Anthropic, or any local OpenAI-compatible endpoint). Long policies are chunked automatically for smaller local models.

**Back-fills history from the Wayback Machine**

Walks every calendar quarter from Q1 2021 forward (when Apple started server-rendering privacy nutrition labels into apps.apple.com HTML) and pulls the closest archive.org capture, synthesising a historical timeline retroactively. Two parser eras are supported: the modern `serialized-server-data` blob (Nov 2025+) and the legacy Ember/FastBoot `shoebox-media-api-cache-apps` shape (Jan 2021 – Nov 2025).

![Dashboard overview](https://docs.privacytracker.privacykey.org/images/dashboard-overview.png)

*Dashboard overview with sample apps loaded*

![Privacy Map overview](https://docs.privacytracker.privacykey.org/images/privacy-map.png)

*Privacy Map overview across tracked apps*

![App detail change timeline](https://docs.privacytracker.privacykey.org/images/app-detail-timeline.png)

*Per-app timeline with detected label changes*

## Three distribution surfaces, one bundle

The same Next.js 16 build powers all three install paths:

| Surface | Best for | Auto-update |
|---|---|---|
| **Tauri desktop app** (signed + notarized) | macOS users who want a one-click install | Yes — Tauri updater with ed25519 signature check |
| **Homebrew cask** | macOS users who already manage tools with `brew` | `brew upgrade --cask` |
| **Docker** (or from source) | Self-hosted on Windows, Linux, NAS, or any LAN-trusted server | Manual |

**[Get started in 5 minutes](https://docs.privacytracker.privacykey.org/quickstart)**

Pick an install path and have privacytracker running locally with a few apps imported.

## What it isn't

- Not an iOS app. privacytracker runs on your computer (or a self-hosted server), not your phone.
- Not a privacy *score*. It surfaces facts and changes; how you weigh them is up to you.
- Not affiliated with Apple. The App Store HTML scraper depends on Apple's public markup — when Apple ships a new shape, the parser falls back through three nesting layouts before giving up.

## Where to next

**[Quickstart](https://docs.privacytracker.privacykey.org/quickstart)**

Run privacytracker locally and import your first apps.

**[Installation](https://docs.privacytracker.privacykey.org/installation)**

Detailed setup for desktop, Homebrew, Docker, and source.

**[Build from source](https://docs.privacytracker.privacykey.org/develop/build-from-source)**

Run privacytracker from a checkout — for development or unsupported platforms.

**[API Reference](https://docs.privacytracker.privacykey.org/api-reference/introduction)**

Full route map for `app/api/**`.