Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 22, 2026

Cairn is a Chrome browser extension that helps you organize open tabs into named workspaces, search across your browsing, and clean up tab clutter. This policy explains what data the extension touches, where it lives, and what — if anything — ever leaves your device.

Summary

Cairn stores everything locally in your browser. There is no account, no server, no backend, and no telemetry of any kind. The only thing Cairn ever sends off your device is an AI request you explicitly and manually trigger, using your own API key, to an AI provider you choose — and it shows you exactly what would be sent before it sends anything.

What data Cairn accesses, and why

Data	Why Cairn accesses it	Where it goes
Open tabs and tab groups	To save your current browser as a workspace, and to restore, close, pin, or group tabs on your command	Stored locally only (`chrome.storage.local`)
Browsing history	Searched locally to power universal search and to detect "old" (stale) tabs	Never leaves your device; not stored by Cairn, only queried live
Bookmarks	Searched locally to power universal search	Never leaves your device; not stored by Cairn, only queried live
Recently closed tabs/sessions	Powers the "Recently closed" recovery list	Never leaves your device
A rolling snapshot of your open tabs	So that if the browser restarts and your tabs don’t come back — after a crash, or because Chrome isn’t set to reopen them — Cairn can offer those tabs back, including ones you never saved as a workspace. Keeps the last few snapshots, discards them after a week, and never records incognito tabs. Can be turned off in Settings.	Stored locally only (`chrome.storage.local`)
Workspace names, tabs, notes, tags you create	The core feature — saved workspaces	Stored locally only, on your device
Automatic backup files (optional, off by default)	If you turn on automatic backups, Cairn saves a copy of your workspaces and notes as a file on a schedule. Chrome asks your permission to save files the first time you turn it on. Cairn keeps the last 10 files it wrote and only ever removes its own.	A “Cairn Backups” folder in your own Downloads folder. Never uploaded; AI keys are never included
Reminders you set	When you ask to be reminded about a workspace, Cairn stores the time and, if you allowed notifications when setting your first reminder, shows a desktop notification when it comes round.	Stored locally only; the notification is shown by your own computer
Shared workspace files	“Share” saves one workspace as a file, only when you press it. What you do with that file is up to you.	Your Downloads folder. Cairn sends it nowhere
Extension settings	Your preferences (theme, font, search sources, thresholds, etc.)	Stored locally only, on your device

Cairn does not run any content script on any webpage, does not track your activity, does not use analytics or crash-reporting SDKs, and does not communicate with any Cairn-operated server — because there is no Cairn-operated server. Everything above lives in chrome.storage.local, which is private to your browser profile and is deleted if you uninstall the extension or clear its site data.

The one optional exception: AI workspace analysis

Cairn can optionally use an AI provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, or a self-hosted/custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint) to summarize or answer questions about a workspace. This feature is:

Off by default. Nothing is sent anywhere until you go into Settings and configure a provider yourself, with your own API key.
Manually triggered per request. Every AI request requires you to click "Ask AI" and then "Continue" on a privacy notice.
Fully disclosed before it happens. The privacy notice lists exactly which fields — tab titles, tab URLs, and/or your notes — will be included, based on checkboxes you control.
Sent directly to the provider you chose, using your own API key, over HTTPS. Cairn has no server in the middle.
Your API key is never included in exported backups.

Chrome will separately ask your permission (a native browser prompt) the first time you configure a specific AI provider, scoped only to that provider's domain — requested at that moment, never at install.

How Cairn uses and shares your data

The Chrome Web Store's Limited Use requirements ask every extension to state four things plainly. Here they are.

Use. Cairn uses the data above only to provide the features described on this page and in the extension itself — saving, restoring, searching and tidying your tabs. It is not used for any other purpose, and not to determine creditworthiness or for lending.
Sharing and transfer. Cairn transfers your data to exactly one destination, and only when you ask it to: the AI provider you configured, when you press "Ask AI", using your own API key. It is shared with nobody else under any circumstance — there is no Cairn-operated server for it to be sent to, and no data to hand over in a merger, acquisition or sale, because Cairn never holds it.
Advertising. Cairn does not use your data for advertising of any kind — not personalized, not retargeted, not interest-based. Cairn shows no ads and has no advertising partners.
Human review. No human reads your data. Not us, not anyone. There is no server holding it and no mechanism by which anyone could: everything lives in your own browser profile, and the only thing that ever leaves it goes directly to a provider you chose, using a key you supplied.

Consent happens in the product, not just here

Chrome's policies are explicit that disclosure must not live only in a document like this one. Cairn asks in the product, at the moment it matters:

Workspace AI questions — a privacy notice listing exactly which fields will be sent, shown before every single request.
Your AI provider's domain — a native Chrome permission prompt, at the moment you save that configuration, never at install.
Saving backup files — a native Chrome permission prompt the first time you turn on automatic backups, never at install.
Reminder notifications — a native Chrome permission prompt the first time you set a reminder. Saying no is fine: reminders still show inside Cairn and on its toolbar icon.
Crash recovery and the illustrated character can both be switched off in Settings.

Nothing on this page is a first disclosure. It is the complete version of things the extension already tells you as you go.

Data retention and deletion

All Cairn data lives in chrome.storage.local under your Chrome profile. You can delete it at any time via:

Settings → Data → Clear local data (removes everything Cairn has stored, keeps the extension installed)
Settings → Data → Reset extension (returns Cairn to its just-installed state)
Uninstalling the extension, which removes all of its local storage

Changes to this policy

If Cairn's data practices change, this document will be updated and the "Last updated" date above will reflect the change.