The News Evaluation Extension is a free Chrome add-on designed to collect browsing data for academic research. Developed by New York University’s Center for Social Media and Politics (CSMaP), this tool aims to enhance the understanding of how online interactions influence political landscapes and democracy. Upon activation, it gathers URLs and HTML data from the websites visited by participants, ensuring that the data collected is anonymized and utilized solely for research purposes.

Participants have full control over their involvement; they can uninstall the extension at any time through its interface, and it will also automatically uninstall two hours post-activation. All data is securely stored on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is accessible exclusively to CSMaP researchers. The extension underscores its commitment to user privacy while contributing valuable insights into the social impact of online behavior.