Who operates Tabbit
Tabbit is operated by Zektek LLC (“Zektek,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This policy applies to the Tabbit browser extension, the supporting photo image proxy at tabbit-image-proxy.zektek.com, and the usage-analytics gateway at extension-event-gateway.zektek.com. It also describes Tabbit’s direct use of Open-Meteo for weather and location lookups, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Rijksmuseum for the Brushwork scene, and Chrome services used by optional browsing features.
Information stored in your browser
Tabbit stores the following in your browser:
- your display preferences, such as the chosen scene, photo search tags, clock and date placement, and map style, palette, size, and reset options;
- quick links you add, including their labels and addresses, their display order, and sites you dismiss from optional top-sites suggestions;
- your weather settings, including whether weather is shown, your chosen temperature unit, the location text you enter, and the latitude and longitude resolved from it;
- a randomly generated map layout seed used to keep your map design stable across tabs and restarts;
- cached copies of the most recent scenes and weather reading so a new tab opens instantly;
- local scene progress and lifetime statistics, such as collected coins, unlocked themes, distances, and scene counters;
- for the map scene, a local browsing session made up of bare hostnames (never full addresses), which you can clear at any time;
- whether anonymous usage analytics is turned on (on by default); and
- a randomly generated analytics client identifier, plus a short-lived session identifier that expires after 30 minutes of inactivity.
Display, weather, Brushwork, quick-link, and map settings, along with the map layout seed, use Chrome’s synchronized extension storage and may sync through your Google account if Chrome sync is enabled. Cached scenes, paintings, and weather; local scene progress and statistics; the local map session; the analytics on/off setting; and the analytics client identifier are stored only in Chrome’s local extension storage on each device. The analytics session identifier uses Chrome’s session storage, which clears when the browser closes.
Information processed when you use Tabbit
Scenes
For the curated photos scene, Tabbit requests images from our own photo image proxy at tabbit-image-proxy.zektek.com, sending only your chosen search tags and sort preference. The proxy fetches matching photos from a stock-photo provider on our behalf, so no provider API key ships inside the extension and the provider does not receive your search request directly. Our proxy sees your IP address as part of an ordinary web request and uses it only for rate limiting. The Brushwork scene works differently and is described in its own section below. Tabbit’s other scenes are drawn entirely on your device and make no outside request.
Brushwork scene
Brushwork displays public-domain paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Rijksmuseum. Both sources are enabled by default, and you can turn either one off in Tabbit’s options. Tabbit periodically requests eligible paintings and their metadata directly from the selected museum services, with no Zektek proxy involved. Met requests use collectionapi.metmuseum.org. Rijksmuseum requests use data.rijksmuseum.nl and id.rijksmuseum.nl, and its images are served through iiif.micr.io. Because these requests go directly from your browser, the selected museum services receive your IP address as part of an ordinary web request. Their handling of that information is governed by their own privacy policies.
Weather and location
When weather is enabled, Tabbit requests current conditions directly from Open-Meteo (open-meteo.com) using the latitude and longitude for your chosen location. When you type a location, Tabbit sends that place name directly to Open-Meteo’s geocoding service to look up its coordinates. Because these requests go straight from your browser, Open-Meteo receives your IP address as part of them. Open-Meteo’s handling of that information is governed by its own privacy policy.
Generative map scene
The generative map style turns your current browsing session into a private transit-style scene. Reading tabs requires optional browser permissions, which Tabbit requests only when you choose the map style and explains before asking. When enabled, Tabbit records the bare hostname of sites you visit (for example example.com), how often you return to them, the order you move between them, and the hostnames of your pinned tabs, which become landmarks.
Tabbit never stores the full address, path, query string, or page contents, and ignores browser-internal pages. This session data stays in your browser’s local storage and is never sent to Zektek or anyone else. It clears each browser launch or once a day depending on your setting, when you clear the route, or if you revoke the map permission.
Quick links and top sites
You can add quick links by entering a site address and an optional label. Tabbit stores these links and their order in Chrome’s synchronized extension storage. If you explicitly enable auto-fill from top sites, Tabbit requests Chrome’s optional topSites permission and reads Chrome’s own most-visited-sites list to suggest links. Suggested sites, ordering, and dismissals are used only to render your quick links and are not sent to Zektek or our analytics service. Turning auto-fill off revokes the permission and removes auto-added links.
To display recognizable icons, Tabbit first requests a site’s standard favicon directly from that site and may fall back to Chrome’s local favicon store. A direct favicon request exposes your IP address to that site in the same way as an ordinary web request. Chrome’s local favicon lookup is performed on your device.
Limited usage analytics
When enabled, Tabbit sends anonymous usage events to our own event gateway at extension-event-gateway.zektek.com, along with your analytics client identifier, session identifier, and the extension version. The gateway then forwards these events to Google Analytics on our behalf. Because this forwarding happens server-side, Google receives the event data from our gateway rather than directly from your browser, and does not receive your IP address or browser details through this process.
These events can indicate:
- that the extension was installed;
- that Tabbit was active on a given day, at most once per day;
- that you changed the scene or refreshed it;
- whether the optional map permission was granted or declined;
- that you cleared or regenerated the map; and
- that a scene failed to render, using only a coarse reason such as a missing renderer or rendering exception.
Tabbit never sends your search tags, location, visited sites, map data, or any page content through these events. You can turn usage analytics off at any time from Tabbit’s options; doing so stops future events and deletes your locally stored analytics client identifier.
Why we process this information
We use this information only to:
- show the scene, weather, and time you asked for;
- remember your extension settings;
- build your private map scene on your device;
- show and organize quick links on your new tab page;
- understand whether core extension features work; and
- diagnose failures and improve the extension.
We do not sell personal information, use Tabbit data for targeted advertising, or build profiles of the sites you visit.
Service providers
Zektek operates the photo image proxy and the usage-analytics gateway, both hosted on Cloudflare. The image proxy fetches photos from a stock-photo provider on our behalf, and the analytics gateway forwards usage events to Google Analytics on our behalf, as described above. Weather and location lookups are served by Open-Meteo. Brushwork paintings are served by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Rijksmuseum and its image service, according to the sources you leave enabled in Tabbit’s options. Your browser and the extension contact these providers directly. Each provider’s handling of information is governed by its own privacy policy.
Chrome’s handling of synchronized extension settings is governed by Google’s terms and privacy policy.
Retention and your choices
Cached scenes, paintings, and the latest weather reading remain in browser storage until they are refreshed or cleared. Analytics events are retained according to Zektek’s Google Analytics configuration. Extension settings, the map layout seed, the local map session, quick links, scene progress and statistics, the local analytics client identifier, and the analytics on/off setting remain in browser storage until they are cleared, turned off where applicable, or the extension is removed. The analytics session identifier expires automatically after 30 minutes of inactivity.
You can change your scene, turn weather off, clear or regenerate your map, and turn anonymous usage analytics on or off from the extension’s options. You can also edit or remove quick links and disable top-sites auto-fill. Turning analytics off also deletes your locally stored analytics client identifier. Revoking the map permission clears the collected route. You can remove all locally stored extension data by uninstalling Tabbit or clearing the extension’s data in Chrome. You can also use the extension without a Zektek account because no account is required.
Chrome Web Store Limited Use
Tabbit’s use of information received from Chrome APIs adheres to the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. We use that information only to provide or improve Tabbit’s disclosed user-facing features, do not use it for personalized advertising, and do not sell it.
Security and children
We use reasonable technical measures to protect information processed by Tabbit. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Tabbit is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as Tabbit changes. We will post the revised policy here and update the effective date above. Material changes will be communicated through the extension or this page when appropriate.
Contact us
For questions, privacy requests, or concerns about Tabbit, please contact Zektek.