Privacy Policy

Thank you for using Fluent New Tab. Your privacy is and always will be critically important. This policy explains what data the extension handles and why, ensuring you have full transparency and control.

1. The Golden Rule: No Personal Data Collection

Fluent New Tab does not collect, store, transmit, or sell your personal data. Period.

We do not use any tracking scripts, analytics, or telemetry. We have no way of knowing who you are, how you use the extension, or what you search for.

2. Your Data Stays On Your Device

All your settings—including preferences, custom shortcuts, and uploaded wallpapers—are stored locally on your computer using the browser's built-in storage (localStorage and IndexedDB). This data is yours and yours alone; we have no access to it.

3. Third-Party Services: How Features Work

To provide features like weather and dynamic content, the extension needs to request information from external services. This communication happens directly between your browser and the service provider. No data ever passes through our servers.

Below is a list of all third-party services used and why:

• Search Suggestions: When you type in the search bar, queries are sent to your chosen search engine (e.g., Google) to provide auto-completion suggestions.
• Weather Information: If you enable the weather widget, the location you provide is sent to Open-Meteo to fetch current weather data and forecasts.
• Dynamic Wallpapers: If you enable a dynamic wallpaper, the extension fetches a new image daily from one of the following sources:
  • Bing Wallpaper: peapix.com
  • NASA Picture of the Day: api.nasa.gov
  • Wikimedia Picture of the Day: commons.wikimedia.org

4. Permissions Explained

To ensure full transparency, below is the full `manifest.json` file, which declares all permissions the extension requires. Following the file, you'll find a detailed explanation of each permission requested.

General Permissions

• storage: This permission is essential for saving your personal settings, such as your preferred theme, custom shortcuts, and widget configurations, directly on your local device.
• unlimitedStorage: This permission allows the extension to store larger files locally, such as high-resolution custom wallpapers that you upload from your computer. It prevents the browser from deleting your wallpapers if it runs low on storage space.

Host Permissions

These permissions allow the extension to communicate with specific external services to fetch dynamic content. The extension can only interact with these approved domains, and no data is sent to our servers. It's important to note that the extension will only contact a service if you have explicitly enabled the feature that requires it (e.g., enabling the weather widget or selecting a dynamic wallpaper).

• https://www.google.com/* and https://suggestqueries.google.com/*: Used to provide search suggestions when you type in the search bar with Google as your selected search engine.
• https://peapix.com/* and https://img.peapix.com/*: Used to fetch the daily Bing Wallpaper when this dynamic background option is selected.
• https://api.nasa.gov/* and https://apod.nasa.gov/*: Used to fetch the daily "Astronomy Picture of the Day" from NASA when this dynamic background option is selected.
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/* and https://upload.wikimedia.org/*: Used to fetch the "Picture of the Day" from Wikimedia Commons when this dynamic background option is selected.
• https://geocoding-api.open-meteo.com/*: Used to convert a city name into geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) for the weather widget.
• https://api.open-meteo.com/*: After getting coordinates, this is used to fetch the current weather forecast data from Open-Meteo.

5. You Are in Control

Because all data is stored on your device, you have complete control. You can delete all your data at any time by:

1. Using the "Reset to Defaults" option in the extension's settings.
2. Clearing your browser's local storage for the extension.
3. Uninstalling the extension, which automatically removes all its associated data.

6. Open Source and Verifiable

Fluent New Tab is 100% open-source. We invite you to review the source code on GitHub to verify that the extension operates exactly as described in this policy.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect new features or clarify our practices. Any changes will be posted on this page with a revised "Last Updated" date.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled, please open an issue on our GitHub repository.