# Philosophy

Most CAPTCHA systems today are built around surveillance — tracking users, fingerprinting browsers, and collecting data in exchange for access. Cap rejects that model.

Cap is designed around a few core ideas:

- **Privacy by default** — no trackers, no third-party requests, no hidden profiling.
- **Simplicity over complexity** — no image labeling, no click-the-fire-hydrant puzzles.
- **Speed matters** — fast to render, fast to solve, fast to validate.
- **User-first** — designed to be unintrusive and accessible, with invisible and floating modes.
- **Self-hostable, not centralized** — you control the infra, tokens, and behavior.

By using proof-of-work instead of user behavior analysis, Cap shifts the burden from identity to computation. That means anyone can prove they’re human — no cookies, no accounts, no friction.

Cap is what a CAPTCHA should’ve been all along: **simple, honest, and yours.**