A private browser stack for multi-platform annotation work

When annotation work spans platforms, the risk is often mundane: the wrong account is open, the wrong project gets an hour of time, or a personal log mixes estimates with reported pay. A practical stack can reduce those errors without copying prompts, answers, or ratings into another system. It cannot override a platform’s rules or replace any monitoring tool that platform requires.

Start with a clear distinction: an isolated browser profile is useful separation, not a security boundary. And a tracker that avoids recording task content is not necessarily “zero telemetry.” RaterSidekick records work-session and task activity, along with account information. Those records can be useful, but they are still data.

1. Check the rules before separating accounts

Read the relevant platform and project instructions first. Use separate browser profiles for separate permitted work contexts, not to evade identity checks, account limits, or required monitoring. If a project requires a particular timekeeping or monitoring tool, keep using it. RaterSidekick describes itself as a private work-record layer, not a replacement for platform tools.

In Chrome, create a profile for each distinct work context you are allowed to maintain. Give profiles plain labels that do not expose client or task details on a shared screen. Sign in only to the account meant for that profile. The separation helps keep cookies and browsing sessions apart, but it does not prevent mistakes such as opening the wrong profile or copying sensitive material between windows.

2. Keep the task log narrow

Use RaterSidekick only where you want a personal record and where the project permits it. The Chrome extension runs on websites the user explicitly designates, after site permission is granted. It tracks sessions, tasks, and estimated earnings across supported AI contractor platforms, including Outlier, Mercor, Handshake, DataAnnotation, micro1, and TELUS.

Its task-completion detection depends on a keyboard shortcut selected by the user. That makes a consistent habit important: use the chosen shortcut for the relevant completion action, and check that your session boundaries match the work period you intend to report. RaterSidekick says it does not capture screenshots, keystrokes, screen recordings, or task content. It records activity such as session start and end, task completion, and duration. That is a narrower record than a screen log, not an absence of collection.

For a private RLHF workflow, keep prompts, answers, ratings, and comments out of any personal notes or spreadsheets unless the project explicitly allows their storage. A short project label and reporting period are usually enough to identify a record. Do not paste task text into a tracker to make the log feel more complete.

3. Add a small local accounting layer

A separate local spreadsheet or plain-text ledger can hold the context a timer cannot settle: project label, applicable rate as shown to you, reporting period, and whether a figure is estimated, reported, or paid. Keep it limited to administrative facts. Avoid credentials, task content, and copied platform pages. If you use a shared or managed device, follow its storage and retention rules rather than assuming a local file is private.

This extra ledger creates some duplication. That is the trade-off: a compact manual record can clarify what a number means, while another file also creates another place to maintain and protect. If you already have a reliable accounting system, do not add a spreadsheet just because a stack guide says to.

4. Reconcile like with like

At the end of a reporting period, compare the same project and date range across your personal record and the platform report. RaterSidekick’s Pay Checker is designed to compare user records against platform reports. Treat a mismatch as a prompt to investigate boundaries, task counts, or reporting delays, not as proof that either record is automatically correct. Estimated earnings are not the same as confirmed pay.

RaterSidekick can also import history from spreadsheets, Clockify, or platform exports. Imported rows stay separate from tracked sessions, so keep that distinction in mind when reviewing totals. For more on why matching time boundaries matters, see how platform timers and personal logs can measure different work periods.

Where this setup falls short

Profiles add switching friction, and they do not stop someone from entering the wrong account or project. A task-and-time record also cannot reconstruct a disputed answer or prove what appeared on screen; deliberately, it omits that content. Finally, RaterSidekick is not a zero-telemetry logger: it stores work activity and account information. Decide whether that record is appropriate for your work, grant site access selectively, and keep the platform’s required tools in place.

The useful stack is therefore modest: profiles to reduce session confusion, a content-free work record to track time and task counts, and a small accounting layer only if you need extra context. Its value comes from keeping those jobs separate—not from collecting more about the work itself.