Press Kit — Charles

At a glance

Charles, in a fact sheet.

A one-look summary for journalists, reviewers and analysts.

Product: Charles
Category: Browser extension · Digital sovereignty
What it does: Detects non-European services and suggests qualified European alternatives, in real time, locally.
Availability: Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Arc, Vivaldi, Firefox · Safari coming
Languages: 24 — all official EU languages
Pricing: Free · no account · no credit card
Data collected: None. 100% local processing.
Distribution: Official browser stores (Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons)
Origin: Made in Europe 🇪🇺
Status: Live in 2026
Website: charles-extension.com
Press contact: yanis.kerdjana@protonmail.com

24Official EU languages supported out of the box

0Bytes of personal data sent to Charles servers

4Protection levels — from passive observer to strict blocking

Boilerplate

Ready-to-use descriptions.

Copy and adapt. We just ask that you keep the meaning intact.

One-liner · 18 words

Short

Charles is a free browser extension that surfaces European, GDPR-compliant alternatives to non-European services, in real time.

Mid · 55 words

Medium

Charles is a browser extension that helps Europeans reclaim their digital sovereignty. As you browse, it identifies services hosted outside EU jurisdiction and suggests qualified European alternatives — from email to messaging to AI. It runs entirely on your device, sends no personal data, and is available free of charge in all 24 EU languages.

Long · 130 words

Long

Charles is a free, locally-run browser extension designed to help Europeans regain control of their digital tools. When you visit a service whose data could fall under non-European jurisdiction, Charles surfaces a curated set of European, GDPR-compliant alternatives — each manually verified for country of origin, hosting, business model and license.

Users choose their own pace through four protection levels, from passive observation to strict blocking. Charles supports all 24 official languages of the European Union, contacts no third-party server during detection, and stores all statistics locally on the user's device. It is distributed through the official Chrome and Firefox add-on stores, with Safari support in development. Charles is independent and made in Europe.

In one sentence

The mission.

Europeans send billions of clicks each day to platforms governed by other people's laws. Charles is the smallest possible nudge to change that — visible only when it matters, silent the rest of the time, and never watching you back.

— The Charles team

Brand assets

Logos, icons & social cards.

All files are free to use in editorial coverage. Please don't alter colors or proportions.

Primary logo · Light

Vector and raster, EU-blue background with the Charles "C" in gold.

SVG PNG 128 PNG 48 PNG 32 PNG 16

Logo on dark

Same mark, designed to hold up on dark editorial layouts.

SVG PNG 128

Social card (1200 × 630)

Open Graph / Twitter card. Suitable as the hero image for an article.

PNG SVG

Brand palette

#003399 · EU blue

#1E54FF · Charles blue

#7B5CFF · Accent

#FFCC00 · EU gold

#0B1020 · Ink

Typography · Fraunces (display) · Inter (UI & body) — both available on Google Fonts.

Why now

The context.

More than 80% of Europe's cloud spending flows to a handful of non-European providers, while regulators in Brussels keep ratcheting up data-protection expectations. The gap between what European policy demands and what European users actually click on keeps widening.

Charles starts from a simple observation: people don't change their digital habits because they're told to. They change when an alternative shows up at the exact moment they need it, with no friction. That's the gap Charles fills — quietly, in the browser, without scolding or guilt-tripping.

The catalog is manually curated. The code runs locally. The mission is single-purpose: make the sovereign choice the obvious one, one tab at a time.

Press FAQ

Questions we get most often.

Is Charles really free?

Yes. No account, no credit card, no tier locked behind a paywall. The entire feature set ships in the public extension on day one.

How does Charles make money, then?

It doesn't, yet. The product is independent and self-funded today. Any future business model will be disclosed publicly and will never involve selling user data — that would defeat the entire purpose.

What data does Charles collect?

None on the user's side. Detection runs locally; statistics stay on the user's device. The extension contacts no third-party server during detection. The only network call is to fetch the alternatives catalog, which carries no personal identifier.

How do you decide what counts as a "European alternative"?

Each entry in the catalog is manually verified against four criteria: country of legal incorporation, hosting jurisdiction, ownership structure, and software license. Borderline cases are documented and revisited as facts change.

Does Charles block services on its own?

Only if the user explicitly chooses the "Sovereign" level. The default behavior is gentle suggestion, never enforced blocking. Users stay in control at every step.

Is Charles affiliated with the EU or any government?

No. Charles is independent. The product borrows the European visual identity to signal its mission, but it is not endorsed by, funded by, or speaking on behalf of any institution.

Is the code open source?

The extension is distributed exclusively through official browser stores (Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons), which audit the source. A public repository policy is on the roadmap; details will be announced in the changelog.

Contact

Get in touch.

For interviews, embargoed previews, or anything that doesn't fit the form — write directly.

Press inquiries

yanis.kerdjana@protonmail.com

We typically reply within one business day. Please include your publication and deadline.

General contact