Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 26, 2026

Overview

Secret Guard is a privacy-focused Chrome extension that provides a PIN-locked private bookmark vault, incognito tab recovery, and optional history cleanup. It works in both regular and incognito Chrome windows. We are committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what data we collect and how we handle it.

Data Storage

Secret Guard stores extension data locally on your device using Chrome's built-in storage APIs. The storage lifetime depends on the data:

Session storage: The default-space recently closed tab list and, unless persistence is enabled, default-space bookmarks are kept for the current Chrome session.
Local storage: Settings and PIN-space metadata are stored locally. If you enable "Persist Bookmarks," default-space bookmarks also move to local storage and survive browser restarts.
Encrypted PIN spaces: A PIN space's bookmarks, recent-tab list, and settings are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM and stored in local storage. They remain until you delete the space or extension data.

We do not operate any servers that store your browsing data, bookmarks, or tab history.

Data We Do NOT Collect on Our Servers

Browsing history or URLs you visit
Bookmark content or metadata
Personal information beyond the optional Pro license fields described below
Usage analytics or telemetry
Cookies or advertising and usage-tracking identifiers

Bookmark Recovery (Optional)

Bookmark Recovery is off for each default or PIN space until you enable it in that scope. When enabled, the extension directly requests each saved bookmark URL and that URL's origin /favicon.ico, follows redirects, and processes the response text and favicon bytes locally to determine whether the bookmark moved. Requests omit browser credentials. A response-text excerpt of up to 16 KB is retained in memory for signal extraction; only derived check state, timestamps, a destination candidate, and a favicon fingerprint are stored locally with the bookmark. Turning recovery off for a scope stops checks for that scope; revoking the optional host access stops all recovery checks.

Saved URLs and response content are not sent to or stored on Secret Guard-operated servers. The destination site, redirect destinations, and network providers can still receive the normal metadata associated with a direct request, such as your IP address.

Pro License (Optional)

If you purchase a Pro license, the following data is processed:

Email address: Stored on our license server to associate with your purchase. Provided by Lemon Squeezy (our payment partner).
License key: Generated by Lemon Squeezy and stored on our server for activation/verification.
Device ID: A randomly generated UUID stored locally on your device and sent to our server during license activation and verification to enforce single-device licensing.

The Secret Guard license system handles only the Pro license data listed above for activation and verification. It never receives or stores your browsing data.

Uninstall Feedback (Optional)

When you remove Secret Guard, Chrome may open a page on secretguard.app where you can optionally tell us why. Opening the page sends the extension version, the page language, and your install-age range in the page address (URL); nothing is stored on our servers unless you submit the form. If you submit it, we store only the reason you picked, an optional comment (up to 500 characters), the extension version, the page language, and how long the extension had been installed in coarse ranges (under a day, 1–7 days, 8–30 days, over 30 days). No IP address or identifier is stored, and the exact install date never leaves your device.

Third-Party Services

Lemon Squeezy: Processes Pro license payments. Subject to Lemon Squeezy's privacy policy.
Cloudflare: Hosts our license server and website, including the optional uninstall feedback page. Subject to Cloudflare's privacy policy.

Permissions

Secret Guard requests the following Chrome permissions:

tabs: To track and restore closed tabs (works in both regular and incognito windows).
bookmarks: To detect bookmarks created in incognito and offer to move them into your private vault.
storage: To store settings, bookmarks, and PIN data locally.
alarms: For auto-lock timeout functionality, Cleanup Mode flush triggers, and scheduled Bookmark Recovery checks.
history (optional): Requested only when you enable Cleanup Mode (Pro). Used to delete browsing-history entries for URLs visited inside a private space. Not requested otherwise.
*://*/* (optional host access): Requested only when you enable Bookmark Recovery. Used to check saved bookmark URLs and their origin favicons directly, as described above.
https://secretguard.app/* (host permission): For Pro license activation and verification only. No browsing data is sent.

Security

Default-vault lock: The default vault stores a salted PBKDF2-SHA-256 verifier locally so it can check the PIN. This PIN gates the extension interface; default-space bookmarks are not encrypted by that PIN.
Registered PIN spaces: A registered space's PIN is not stored. Its PIN and per-space salt are processed with PBKDF2-SHA-256 (100,000 iterations) to derive the AES-256-GCM key that encrypts that space's payload at rest.
Optional locked tracking: If you explicitly enable “Track this space while locked” for a Pro PIN space, the extension copies the minimum bookmark URL and recovery fields needed for locked checks into a separate local shadow encrypted with a device key stored by the extension. This makes those addresses recoverable by the extension without entering the PIN, which weakens concealment for that space. The option is off by default; disabling it removes that space's shadow projection, and the shared shadow data and device key are removed after the last space opts out.
Content Security Policy restricts script execution to the extension itself.
In incognito windows the extension uses Chrome's split mode, running in a separate context isolated from regular browsing.

Children's Privacy

Secret Guard is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect any personal information from children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at support@secretguard.app.