Eyeo, the firm behind Adblock Plus, has launched a web browser extension aimed at fighting the rise of fake news, while also keeping the users’ browsing history private.

The ‘Trusted News’ extension, currently in beta, is a free browser add-on which checks domains, websites, and news sources against fact-checking databases. Users are alerted to the trustworthiness of a site by check-marks and flags that appear on the extension while the user explores the internet.

Furthermore, the extension, developed in partnership with MetaCert Protocol, updates its own internal database of information each day, meaning user browsing activity never gets near a central server. And users can also contribute to the news source registry themselves, evaluating websites they come across.

“Fake news is profoundly affecting our society and our ability to make informed decisions as citizens. While we don’t profess to have solved the entire problem yet, we are proud to launch Trusted News as a first, humble step that we will continue to improve as it pushes beyond beta,” said Till Faida, CEO of eyeo. “Trusted News is still new, but there are two secrets in the sauce. First, it is a solution for users, not an ambitious plan to reform platforms or information sources; and second, it separates the fact-checkers determining what is fake and what is not from the actual product applying the determination.”

The Trusted News extension is available for Google Chrome browsers via either the Google Chrome web store or at www.trusted-news.com.