What is factually.co
Executive summary
Factually.co brands itself as a "personal fact‑checking companion" and offers a website, a browser extension and related products aimed at helping users verify information and combat misinformation online [1] [2]. Independent scans and company profiles show two overlapping narratives: a consumer‑facing fact‑check utility and a business focused on AI tools for health information, while third‑party trust reviews flag caution and technical risks [3] [4] [2].
1. What Factually.co says it is
The site positions Factually as a tool to help users verify the accuracy of information on the web—"Your Personal Fact‑Checking Companion"—and it promotes searchable fact‑checks, a blog, support pages and extension tooling to surface context while browsing [1] [2]. The extension listing emphasizes a mission to help "combat misinformation" and to present sourcing from both established outlets like AP/Reuters/BBC and smaller niche outlets to create a "more complete and balanced view" [2].
2. The consumer product: a browser extension and website
Factually appears to offer a one‑click fact‑checking Chrome extension that integrates with web pages and can surface related fact‑checks and commentary while users browse; this is advertised as nonjudgmental and not intended to tell people "what to think" [2]. The public site navigation (About, Blog, FAQ, Terms, Privacy) reinforces a consumer experience centered on lookups and explanatory content consistent with a personal research aid [1].
3. Third‑party reviews and technical concerns
At least one web safety reviewer gave Factually a medium‑low trust ranking and recommends caution, noting the company's association with the News & Blogs industry and flagging "red flags" in its connections and trust signals—Scam Detector published a detailed review and scoring based on its algorithmic factors [3]. Independent extension scans also note that while the extension claims minimal permissions, it can inject scripts into web pages and may alter or extract page contents—behavior that increases technical risk and warrants scrutiny of permissions and privacy implications [2].
4. Corporate footprint: health tools and AI claims
Crunchbase listings describe Factually Health (or Factually Inc.) as developing proprietary technology and AI tools to help the health and wellness sector navigate and combat health misinformation, offering integrations for websites and conversational agents for "factual" health information [4]. That company framing suggests a B2B product line aimed at organizations, which complements but is not identical to the consumer‑facing fact‑check extension and site [4].
5. Where reporting is incomplete and what remains uncertain
Available sources outline the product claims, extension behavior and a third‑party trust assessment, but they do not provide independent audits of the accuracy of Factually's fact‑checks, clear ownership or funding transparency beyond Crunchbase summaries, nor user‑data retention and privacy practices beyond the presence of terms/privacy pages [1] [3] [4]. Because the reviewed sources lack exhaustive technical audits and peer evaluations of editorial standards, assertions about the tool's real‑world accuracy or bias cannot be confirmed from these reports alone.
6. Bottom line: a promising idea with cautionary signals
Factually.co presents itself as a fact‑checking aid and appears to operate in both consumer extension and enterprise health AI spaces, but third‑party trust tools urge caution and the extension's capability to inject scripts raises privacy and security questions that prospective users should evaluate before installing or integrating [1] [2] [3] [4]. Readers seeking to rely on the service should review its privacy policy and permissions, look for independent audits or editorial standards, and cross‑check Factually’s findings against established fact‑checkers because available reporting documents intentions and risks but not comprehensive proof of reliability [1] [2] [3].