How Deep Scan Works

How Your Data Flows

21orNot uses a Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) architecture. Here's exactly what happens when you scan:

1. Your phone's camera captures the ID image
2. Your browser sends the image directly to Groq's API (api.groq.com) using your personal API key
3. Groq's AI reads the ID and returns the parsed data
4. Your browser displays the results

That's it. There is no 21orNot server. The website is static code hosted on Cloudflare's CDN — no backend, no API, no database. No image, no name, no data ever passes through us. You can verify this yourself — open your browser's Network tab and watch. Every request goes to api.groq.com.

Your API Key

Your Groq API key is stored only in your browser's local storage — the same way websites remember your preferences. It never leaves your device except to authenticate directly with Groq. We can't see it, retrieve it, or use it. If you clear your browser data, it's gone.

What Gets Searched

Deep Scan searches publicly available records across the web, including:

• Sex offender registries (all 50 states)
• Public arrest records and mugshot databases
• Court records and case filings
• News articles about criminal cases
• Active warrant databases

The scan checks both the ID's home state and your current GPS location (if enabled) to catch people with records in multiple jurisdictions.

The address from the ID is also used as context to help verify identity matches (but isn't required to match exactly since people move).

Physical descriptors (height, weight, sex, eye color, DOB) are used to dismiss false matches. If a record shows someone 5'9" male but the ID says 6'2" female, that mismatch is noted and confidence is lowered.

The Technology

Your scans are powered by GROQ Compound — an AI model with built-in web search capabilities. It runs on Llama and searches the live web in real-time, all through your own API key.

Model: compound-beta
Provider: Groq (not to be confused with Grok/X)

The Exact Prompt

Here's the actual prompt your browser sends to Groq (with name and location filled in):

Why Results Are Condensed

Results are intentionally limited in detail for privacy reasons. The goal is to provide just enough information to raise appropriate awareness — not to expose every detail about someone's past. Think of it as a "spidey sense" alert, not a dossier.

What This Is Good For

• Quick safety check — Get your "spidey senses" up before interacting
• Time saver — 30 minutes of Googling → 20 seconds
• Multi-state coverage — Searches multiple jurisdictions at once
• Visual matching — May find mugshots to help verify identity

Privacy & Security

• We never see your data — ID images and scan results go directly from your browser to Groq. There is no 21orNot server to contact.
• We never see your API key — it's stored in your browser's local storage and sent only to Groq.
• Nothing is saved anywhere — results exist only in your browser tab. Close it and it's gone. No database, no logs, no history.
• We can't sell what we don't have — there is no server, no database, and no user data to sell, share, or breach.
• Verify it yourself — open your browser's Developer Tools → Network tab. You'll see requests only to api.groq.com.

Learn More

• GROQ Compound Documentation
• About Groq