Privacy policy — Area Switcher

Effective date: 2026-09-13. Applies to version 0.12.1.

Area Switcher does not send workspace data or PINs to the developer or third
parties. It has no analytics, telemetry, advertising, remote code or account
registration. Empty base workspaces open https://www.google.com/ as an ordinary
website navigation, which contacts Google under its own privacy policy. The X
start page and test-environment instructions are packaged with the extension
and make no network requests.

The extension processes tab IDs, pinned/active/hidden states and tab-group membership
locally to show the selected workspace. Workspace assignments and the active base
are stored using Firefox's sessions API and may be restored by Firefox with its
session. Rail preferences and a salted PIN verifier are stored in storage.local.
The plaintext PIN is used transiently to verify or change it and is not stored.
Unlock state, recent active tab IDs and PIN retry limits are kept in storage.session
for the running browser session. None of this data uses storage.sync.

The HTTP/HTTPS content script adds the workspace rail to pages. It does not read
page text, form contents, passwords or browsing URLs for collection. PIN entry is
possible in the edge rail; changing it remains restricted to the extension popup,
because the rail is part of the page and a page can observe key events. X is a
visibility latch, not a secret, and the PIN defaults to 1. Ordinary browsing within
any workspace contacts the websites the user opens under those websites' own
privacy policies.

When the user activates T, the extension sends a local Native Messaging helper a
status, setup or launch command. A launch command can contain the active tab's
HTTP/HTTPS URL so the same site opens in the test profile. The helper receives this
information only on the same Mac and does not transmit it to the developer or any
third party. Internal Firefox URLs and extension URLs are not forwarded.

The optional macOS helper stores its files, a user-selected profile label and the
separate Firefox test profile below ~/Library/Application Support/Area Switcher/.
It does not inspect or modify the normal Firefox profile or profiles.ini. Before
launch it writes the documented diagnostic preferences to the test profile and can
copy the bundled signed Privacy Inspector XPI into that profile. Website activity in
the test profile creates ordinary Firefox history, cookies, cache and website data.

X is only a tab visibility aid. It does not encrypt tabs, isolate cookies/logins,
stop background page activity or prevent Firefox/other extensions from revealing
tabs. Private browsing windows are not supported.

Removing the extension deletes its extension storage and session values through
Firefox. This does not delete browser history, cookies, website data or the tabs
themselves; those are managed separately in Firefox. Disabling the extension does
not erase its saved settings. There is no remote copy of extension data to request
or delete, and a forgotten PIN cannot be recovered by the developer.

Removing the macOS helper deletes its executable, Native Messaging manifest and
bundled Privacy Inspector copy. Its uninstaller deliberately preserves the test
profile so audit data is not lost accidentally; the user may delete that profile
directory separately.