Privacy policy
Switchboard and Switchboard Lite ยท Last updated 17 October 2026
The short version
Switchboard keeps everything on your computer. It has no account, no server, no analytics and no tracking, and it never sends your tabs, links, settings or stats anywhere. Nothing leaves your machine unless you export it yourself.
What's stored, and where
Your tabs, links, link groups, launch groups, shortcuts, settings and optional usage stats are kept in your browser's local extension storage on this computer. They aren't synced, and uninstalling the extension deletes them. The stats only count things like link opens and searches, for recaps shown inside the extension, and you can turn them off or clear them in Settings.
Permissions and what they're used for
- Storage and unlimited storage: to keep your data locally, however many links you save.
- Bookmarks: only when you run a bookmarks import or export, to read your browser's bookmarks or write your tabs into them.
- Favicons: to show each link's icon from the browser's own icon cache, without fetching anything from the web.
- Alarms: to schedule the optional daily link health check.
- Search: to hand a web search to your browser's own default search engine, when that's the engine picked in Settings.
- History (optional, off until you allow it): used locally to find icons for links you've saved. Your history is never stored or sent anywhere.
- Access to all sites (optional, off until you allow it): used only by the link health check, which requests each saved link directly from your browser to see whether it still loads. Local network addresses are skipped, and links are never deleted.
When something does leave your computer
- Web search: when a search matches none of your links and you press Enter, your query goes to the search engine picked in Settings (your browser's default unless you change it), as any search from the address bar would.
- Exports: backups and bookmark files are saved where you choose. Exporting to the browser's bookmarks lets its own sync carry them, if you use sync.
- Feedback: the Send feedback link opens a Google Form in a new tab. Only what you type into it is sent.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version ships with the extension and is published at the same address, with a new date at the top.
Contact
Questions go through the feedback form.