Tab Guardian Privacy Policy

Last updated: 26 September 2026

Tab Guardian is a local-first browser extension. It does not sell user data, run analytics, display advertising, or send browsing data to a Tab Guardian server.

Data the extension handles

To provide duplicate detection and workspaces, the extension reads the URLs, titles, window placement, pinned state, audio state, and tab-group metadata of open Chrome tabs. Workspace membership and reversible action history are stored locally through `chrome.storage.local`. The interface language preference may be stored through `chrome.storage.sync` when Chrome sync is enabled.

Saved-for-later pages and user-assigned page tags are stored locally. With the `sessions` permission, the extension reads Chrome's recently closed tab/window list and asks Chrome to restore a selected session; it does not copy that list into extension storage. Organization suggestions compare open tab titles and URLs locally and only create a workspace after the user selects the suggestion.

Existing-workspace suggestions also use a tab's opener relationship where Chrome provides it. The extension stores up to 200 user-confirmed task or project preferences and 500 dismissed page/workspace pairs locally, so future suggestions reflect those choices. Automatic assignment is off by default and, if enabled, only adds newly opened pages with a confirmed task association or the same resource identity to a workspace. Removing a page from a workspace suppresses that page/workspace suggestion. Assignment does not close or suspend tabs.

If the user explicitly enables older-history search, Tab Guardian requests Chrome's optional `history` permission. Search is limited to matching HTTP(S) visits from the previous 180 days, deduplicated to page identities, and performed on demand on the user's device. Search queries and results are not saved by Tab Guardian or transmitted to any server. The permission can be revoked in Chrome settings.

When a user explicitly enables automatic reuse for a website, Tab Guardian requests optional access only to that site's origin. It injects a local detector that reports one of two states—edited or not edited—to the extension. It does not read or store form field values, passwords, file contents, or page text.

Optional AI recommendations are disabled by default and require an explicit manual request. The preview shows the exact metadata to be sent: page title, site hostname, project identifier, and workspace names. Full URLs, query strings, page contents, and form data are excluded. Requests go only to the user-configured HTTPS endpoint (HTTP is accepted for localhost development), with credentials omitted. API keys are held in session storage by default; the explicit remember-locally option uses extension-origin IndexedDB and is not synchronized or encrypted by Tab Guardian.

Data sharing and retention

Tab Guardian does not transmit browsing data to the developer or third parties. Local workspace and action-history data remains in the user's Chrome profile until the user deletes it or uninstalls the extension. Action history is limited to 100 records and records older than 30 days are removed when new history is written.

Permissions

The extension uses Chrome permissions for tab discovery and switching, Chrome's local favicon service, local storage, the side panel, context-menu actions, duplicate notifications, tab-group restoration, and recently closed session recovery. Optional `history` access is requested only when the user enables older-history search. Optional website access is requested in response to a user action for dirty-state detection. Permissions can be revoked in Chrome at any time.

Contact and changes

Before publishing, replace this paragraph with a monitored support email or website. Material policy changes should update the date above and be included with the extension release notes.