Privacy Policy
Vault New Tab is 100% local-first. Developed by Bilal Ahfid, we have no user accounts, no tracking analytics, no telemetry, no advertising SDKs, and no developer-operated cloud databases. Your notes, clips, tasks, and settings stay on your device or in the local folder you choose.
1. Single Purpose and Scope
Vault New Tab replaces Google Chrome's default new tab page with a local-first Markdown workspace for capturing, organizing, and revisiting notes, web clippings, and daily focus tasks.
2. Information the Extension Handles
- Notes and Content: All Markdown text, tasks, titles, tags, and formatting you create are stored in your browser’s local storage (via IndexedDB and
chrome.storage.local). - Local Folder Access (Optional): If you explicitly choose a local directory using the File System Access API, standard
.mdfiles are read and written to that specific folder on your local disk. The extension only accesses the directory you choose after you explicitly grant permission. - Web Clipping: The web clipper extracts the selected text, article title, source URL, and visible author metadata only when you explicitly click a context menu command ("Add to Note", "Save page as Note", or "Save image to Note"). It does not monitor or log background browsing activity.
- Approximate Location (Optional): Your approximate coordinates are processed only if you opt-in to display local weather on the daily dashboard. Coordinates are sent directly to the weather API and are never stored or logged by us.
3. Chrome Permissions Justifications
We believe in full transparency regarding why each permission is declared in our manifest.json:
| Permission | Why It Is Needed |
|---|---|
storage & unlimitedStorage | To save notes, dashboard layouts, themes, reminders, and clippings locally on your device without hitting the default 5MB storage quota limit. |
contextMenus | To provide the right-click "Add to Note", "Save page as Note", and "Save image to Note" clipping commands. |
activeTab & scripting | Used strictly upon your explicit right-click action to extract the selected passage and visible page metadata for the web clipper. |
alarms & notifications | To trigger focus timer completions and scheduled note reminder alarms via local browser notifications. |
host_permissions | To fetch live RSS/Atom headlines for user-selected news categories (e.g., Hacker News, BBC, Ars Technica) and load weather forecasts from Open-Meteo when enabled. |
4. Third-Party Network Requests
Vault New Tab does not send your notes or personal data to developer servers. The extension only connects to third-party endpoints when you interact with specific visible features:
- Open-Meteo: When you enable the weather widget, your approximate coordinates are sent to Open-Meteo's API to fetch current temperatures and conditions. (Open-Meteo Privacy).
- RSS / Atom Publishers: When you view news topics, feed requests are sent directly to the selected publisher's public RSS feed.
- Google Favicon Service: Website shortcuts fetch site favicons via Google's public favicon endpoint (
www.google.com/s2/favicons). - External Media and Embeds: If you view an embedded YouTube preview card, Spotify player, or image URL, standard browser requests are made to those hosting platforms.
5. Remote Code Policy
Vault New Tab does not use remote code. All JavaScript, styles, and HTML assets are bundled directly inside the extension package installed on your computer. We do not load external scripts via <script> tags or eval().
6. Data Retention and Deletion
All data remains stored in your local browser instance indefinitely until you choose to delete notes, clear browser data, or uninstall the extension. You can export a full JSON backup of your notes anytime in Settings.
7. Policy Changes
Any updates to this Privacy Policy will be posted to this URL and documented in our extension release notes.
8. Contact and Feedback
If you have questions, feedback, or privacy inquiries regarding Vault New Tab, please reach out through our public feedback board:
• Public Feedback & Roadmap: https://vaulttab.userjot.com/
• Official Domain: https://vaultnewtab.com