NTab is an open-source, minimalist new tab browser extension with smart multi-column bookmark management. We believe privacy is a fundamental human right. NTab is built with an offline-first architecture with zero tracking.

1. Data Access and Use

• Browser data: NTab accesses bookmarks, top sites, and recently closed pages or browser history to display and manage your new tab page. Deleted bookmarks are retained in a local recovery list for up to seven days; expired entries are removed when the list is loaded or saved.
• Local and browser storage: Preferences and layout data are stored locally. Where available, NTab also writes preferences, collapsed folders, and column layout to Chrome's sync storage, which may sync through your browser account according to your browser settings.
• Optional Google sign-in: NTab requests your name, email address, and profile picture to display your signed-in account. It caches this profile, an OAuth access token, and its expiry time in the extension's local storage. These credentials are not sent to a developer-operated backend.
• No Analytics SDKs: NTab contains zero tracking SDKs, zero analytics trackers (no Google Analytics, Mixpanel, etc.), and zero third-party advertising scripts.
• 100% Client-Side Execution: All layouts, themes, calculations, and bookmark operations run strictly within your local browser sandbox.

2. Permissions Justification

Permission	Purpose	Data Destination
bookmarks	Reads and organizes bookmarks into multi-column cards; performs user-initiated add, move, rename, and delete actions.	Managed through the browser. Optional Drive backups include folder names and paths used to restore layout. Health checking contacts bookmarked websites.
storage	Saves user preferences (theme, column width, font size, custom search engines, 7-day trash bin).	Local storage and, for supported preferences and layout, Chrome sync storage.
topSites	Renders the optional "Top Sites" widget.	Local only via browser API.
sessions	Renders recently closed tabs in the "Recently Closed" widget.	Local only via browser API.
history	Used locally as a fallback to populate recently closed sites if session history is cleared. Never recorded or transmitted.	Local only via browser API.
favicon	Fetches website favicons to display alongside bookmarks via Chrome's internal favicon provider.	Chrome's favicon service for extension bookmarks. Custom search engine icons and fallback icons may contact Google's favicon service with the site's domain.
identity	(Optional) Used strictly when you click "Sign in with Google" to backup settings to your own private Google Drive appDataFolder.	Direct connection to official Google APIs. No intermediate server exists.
host_permissions (*://*/*)	Allows direct requests for bookmark health checking and connections to Google APIs for optional sign-in and cloud backup.	Health checks send HEAD or fallback GET requests to the bookmarked URL. The destination receives normal request information, including the URL and network address, and may keep its own logs.

3. Optional Google Drive Backup

NTab requests the drive.appdata scope to find, create, read, and update its own configuration file in your Google Drive application data folder. This scope does not grant access to your ordinary Drive documents. Signing in checks for an existing configuration but does not apply it. Restore requires your confirmation. You can use manual backup, or enable automatic configuration backup separately for each Google account on each device. While a NTab page is open, automatic backup runs after configuration changes stop for approximately 10 seconds; expired authorization or a cloud-version conflict pauses uploads.

Before applying a cloud restore, NTab keeps a local configuration snapshot so you can undo that restore. Automatic-backup preferences, pending configuration changes, version tracking and backup/restore timestamps are stored locally. New cloud backups retain previous configuration versions rather than replacing their contents; these versions remain until you delete NTab application data. The configuration contains preferences, custom search engine definitions, and layout references such as bookmark folder names, identifiers, and paths. It is not a backup of the complete bookmark tree. Google processes this data to provide Drive storage; NTab does not route it through a developer-operated backend.

Google user data is used only for account display and the backup and restore features described here. It is not sold, used for advertising, or used to train generalized AI models. NTab's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

4. External Services

Submitting a search sends your query to the search engine you select. Loading an external icon or checking a bookmark contacts the relevant service directly. Opening donation links takes you to third-party providers. Those services handle requests under their own privacy policies. The public NTab website is hosted by Vercel, which may process normal web request information to deliver the site.

5. Retention and Your Controls

Signing out removes NTab's cached Google profile and access token from local storage. Signing out does not revoke Google's authorization or delete an existing Drive backup. To revoke authorization, visit Google Account connections. To delete hidden application data, use Google Drive Settings > Manage apps > NTab > Options > Delete hidden app data, where available. Uninstalling removes extension-local data; browser account sync and Drive data are managed separately through their respective services.

Local export files are saved to the location you choose and remain until you delete them. For questions about NTab data handling, contact tanyang338@gmail.com.

6. Open Source Transparency

NTab is open-source software under the MIT License. The complete source code is public and verifiable on GitHub:

https://github.com/noby338/ntab