1. Scope
This policy describes how the NewTab browser extension handles information. It applies to every browser version distributed through an official browser extension store or another official channel provided by the developer. If features or permissions differ between browser versions, the disclosures for the features and permissions available in the applicable version will apply.
2. Information handled by the extension
NewTab handles only the information needed to provide its new-tab features:
- Browser bookmarks: website titles, URLs, folder names, bookmark-root information, and ordering data from your browser bookmark tree.
- Selected text: when you explicitly choose the NewTab search command from a page’s right-click menu, the browser provides the selected text so the extension can open a search with your chosen engine.
- Preferences: language, selected and custom search engines, hidden search engines, wallpaper URL, icon size, wallpaper overlay, and similar display settings.
The extension does not request your name, email address, payment information, passwords, precise location, personal communications, or health information.
3. Local storage and retention
Your bookmarks remain in the browser’s bookmark store. NewTab does not make a separate copy of the bookmark tree in its extension storage. When you create, edit, move, or delete a bookmark in NewTab, the change is made directly to that store.
Preferences are saved in local extension storage. They are not uploaded to a server operated by the NewTab developer or synchronized through a NewTab account. Your browser may synchronize bookmarks through its own account and sync settings; that is controlled by the browser provider, not NewTab. Uninstalling NewTab normally removes its extension preferences but does not remove your browser bookmarks.
4. Browser permissions
- bookmarks: reads and displays your browser bookmark tree whenever the new-tab page is used, listens for bookmark changes, and lets you create, edit, move, reorder, and delete bookmarks and folders directly.
- contextMenus: adds a right-click command for searching text you have selected with a configured search engine.
- storage: saves search-engine settings, language, wallpaper settings, icon size, and other preferences locally.
5. Requests to external services
NewTab does not send data to a developer-operated backend. The following user-facing features may contact third parties:
- Search: when you submit a search from the new-tab page or selected-text context menu, your query is sent directly to the search engine you selected (for example, Google, Bing, or a custom provider). That provider’s privacy policy applies.
- Opening bookmarks: when you open a bookmark, your browser connects to the destination website as it normally would.
- Wallpapers: the default wallpaper is loaded from Unsplash. If you set a custom wallpaper URL, your browser requests the image from that provider. The provider may receive standard request information such as your IP address and browser details.
- Website icons: in builds configured to show remote website logos, the extension may send the domain portion of a bookmark URL to logo.dev to request an icon. The full page path, bookmark title, and your other bookmarks are not included in that icon request.
NewTab does not control these third-party services. Their own privacy policies govern the information they receive.
7. Supplemental disclosure for the Chrome Web Store version
This section applies only to the version distributed through the Chrome Web Store. NewTab’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Information accessed through extension permissions is used only to provide or improve the extension’s single purpose and user-facing features. It is not transferred except as necessary to provide those features, comply with applicable law, protect security, or as part of a permitted business transfer. It is never used for personalized advertising, and humans are not permitted to read it except in the limited circumstances allowed by that policy.
8. Supplemental disclosure for the Microsoft Edge Add-ons version
This section applies only to the version distributed through Microsoft Edge Add-ons. Its data-handling practices are the same as those described in this policy. The extension accesses browser bookmarks, selected text used with its context-menu search command, and locally stored settings only to provide its disclosed, user-facing features. This information is not uploaded to a developer-operated server and is not used for advertising, analytics, sale, or purposes unrelated to the extension’s functionality.
9. Security
NewTab minimizes data handling by using the browser’s bookmark store and browser-managed local extension storage. External resources configured by the developer use HTTPS. A custom URL you provide is subject to the security of that URL and its provider. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, but we limit access and transmission to what the disclosed features require.
10. Children’s privacy
NewTab is a general-purpose browser tool and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when the extension’s features or legal requirements change. The effective date at the top of this page will be updated when material changes are made.
12. Contact
Questions or privacy requests can be submitted through GitHub Issues. Because NewTab does not operate user accounts or a data server, we generally cannot access or recover data stored in your browser.