Privacy Policy
Essentials is a local-first browser extension. This document tells you exactly what data the extension touches, where it lives, and what we (the developers) can and cannot see. Essentials for Chrome is operated by Pocket Atelier LLC.
The short version
- Saved sites, tab state, favicon data, and synced Essentials data are not sent to the developer. No in-extension analytics, no crash reporting, no remote logging. Purchase and license data is handled separately as described below. (This marketing site uses privacy-friendly analytics; see below.)
- The extension makes network requests only to fetch favicons for sites you add and to validate your license with the payment provider.
- Essentials data sync is enabled by default. Your essentials use your browser account's built-in sync storage. You can turn sync off in Settings to keep them in that browser installation only.
- Browser sync runs through your browser provider's sync service, such as Chrome Sync tied to your Google Account. The developer does not receive a copy.
- License activation data also uses browser sync. The extension stores only your license key and activation date there, whether or not essentials-data sync is enabled.
- The extension does not read the visible content of the pages you browse: no page text, cookies, form data, or browsing history. It processes tab URLs and titles locally only when needed for features like adding the current tab, showing tile state, or opening/focusing a matching tab.
License activation is separate from the Essentials-data sync setting. After a successful activation, the extension stores only your license key and activation date in your browser provider's extension sync storage so the purchase unlocks other installations of the same browser using the same sync account. It does not retain the payment provider's customer ID or your email address. The validation response may include those customer fields; the extension checks the response structure and immediately discards them. Choosing “Remove license” in Settings removes the synced license record from that browser account.
What is stored, and where
When you add a site to Essentials, the extension records the URL, a title (which you can edit), and the position in your grid. The extension also stores your space metadata (name, two-letter label, color), your layout settings (rows, columns, click behavior), and a local cache of the favicons it has fetched. That data lives in:
- Your browser's local extension storage on your device.
- By default, your browser provider's extension sync storage. For Chrome, that means Chrome Sync tied to your Google Account. You can turn sync off in Settings → Sync to keep Essentials data in that browser installation only. The developer does not receive or operate a copy of this data; your browser provider's terms and privacy practices apply. Favicon images are kept locally only and are not synced.
Browsing data
Essentials does not read the visible content of the pages you browse: not the text, your
cookies, your form data, or your browsing history. It uses the browser's tabs API and
broad host permission to do three things: open or focus the tab matching an essential when
you click it; show the active or loaded state of each tile; and offer "Add current tab" and
"Add to Essentials" from the browser's right-click menu. For those features it processes tab
URLs and titles in real time, locally on your device. This tab information is not sent
outside the extension. These permissions are used strictly to perform user-facing
layout and tab-focus functions. Tab state information is not retained unless you intentionally
save a tab as an essential. Separately, to show a crisp icon for a site you've added,
when that site is open in a tab Essentials runs a small one-off script in that tab that reads
only its icon <link> tags (icon, apple-touch-icon, manifest), never the
page's content. If you intentionally save the current tab as an essential, its URL and title
are stored as described above.
Private browsing
Essentials does not store data from private (incognito) windows. The browser does not run the extension in incognito unless you explicitly allow it; even then, Essentials will not save an incognito tab as an essential, will not cache its favicon, and will not surface its tab state. Your existing essentials still open normally.
Network
The extension makes outbound requests for two purposes: fetching favicons for the sites you
add, and validating your license with the payment provider. For favicons, it first asks Chromium for its
browser-local icon when that source is available. It may then request the saved page,
conventional same-origin icon paths, and icon or manifest URLs supplied by the browser or
website; those requests may follow website-controlled redirects. There is no
developer-selected generic third-party favicon lookup. These requests go directly from your device to those hosts, never through our
servers. Those hosts receive ordinary network metadata for the request, such as your IP
address and browser request information, under their own privacy practices. Essentials does
not attach a developer identifier to those requests.
For licensing, the extension sends your license key via a secure HTTPS request to Polar's
validation endpoint (https://api.polar.sh), once when you activate, and on a
periodic background check
afterward, so a refunded or expired license stops unlocking the paid features. Only the
license key and organization identifier are sent; no browsing data, tab information, or
favicon data is included. The service returns license status, product, and expiration data and
may include its customer record. The extension does not retain the returned customer ID or
email address. These requests go directly from your device to that service under the
provider's privacy practices.
Purchase
Polar, our merchant of record, processes the one-time purchase. We do not receive or store payment card details; those stay with the provider and its payment processor. We do receive purchase metadata from the provider, such as your email address, order ID, and license and refund status, so we can fulfil purchases, provide support, and honor refunds. If you email us at support@essentialsforchrome.app, we use your message and email address solely to answer your support request and will delete the correspondence on request.
Website analytics
This marketing site (essentialsforchrome.app) uses
Umami, a privacy-friendly analytics tool we
self-host on our own infrastructure. It does not set cookies, does not store IP addresses,
and does not track visitors across sites. We use it to understand basic site traffic, such
as page views, referrers, browser and device type, country-level location, clicks on links
to the Chrome Web Store, and similar aggregate metrics. The Essentials extension itself
does not load Umami or any other analytics.
Chrome Web Store compliance
The use of information received from Chrome extension APIs will adhere to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We do not sell, rent, or trade your data, nor do we use or transfer your data for personalized advertising, to determine creditworthiness, or for any lending purposes.
Children
Essentials is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect data from them. The extension does not send children's personal data to the developer.
Changes to this policy
If we ever change what the extension does, we will update this page and note the change in the changelog. There is no mailing list for us to email; the extension is the contract.
Contact
Questions? Write to support@essentialsforchrome.app. A real person will reply.