Smart Browser Privacy Policy

Overview

Smart Browser is built around a simple idea: your browsing belongs to you. The app has no accounts, no sign in, no analytics, no crash reporting and no advertising. Everything you do in it is kept on your phone. This policy explains what the app stores on your device, the small number of requests it makes to outside services and why, and the permissions it asks for.

This policy covers the Smart Browser app for Android (package com.smartwap.smart), made by Irfan Habeeb. Your use of the app is also governed by the Smart Browser Terms and Conditions.

What we do not collect

We do not collect, receive, sell or share your browsing history, searches, bookmarks, liked pages, saved passwords, downloads, notes or any other personal data. The app contains no analytics tools, no crash reporting tools, no advertising identifiers and no tracking of any kind. There is no Smart Browser server that your data could be sent to, so there is nothing about you on our side to look at, hand over or lose.

Data stored on your device

The following is kept only in the app's private storage on your phone:

Browsing history, bookmarks and bookmark folders, liked pages, recent searches and recently closed tabs.
Your open tabs, tab groups and small preview images of them.
Downloads and their records, and pages you save for offline reading.
Notes you write on the New Tab page, your wallpaper image and your shortcuts.
Site icons, site permissions you have allowed or blocked, and every setting you choose.
The privacy report: how many ads, trackers and popups were blocked, and on which sites, for the last few days.
Files you create with the built in tools, such as PDFs, scans, edited images and QR codes.

None of this is uploaded, synced or sent anywhere by the app. Android's automatic cloud backup is switched off for Smart Browser, so your data is not copied to a cloud backup either. You can delete any of it at any time, for example by removing an entry from History, Downloads or Liked pages, or by using Settings, Privacy and security, Clear browsing data. You can also have data cleared every time you quit the app. Uninstalling the app removes everything.

Saved passwords

If you choose to save a password, it is stored only on your phone, encrypted with a 256 bit AES key that is created and kept inside Android's secure Keystore. The key never leaves the Keystore, and viewing your saved passwords requires your fingerprint, face or screen lock. Saved passwords are never sent to us or to anyone else. You can turn off password saving, or delete saved passwords, at any time.

Usernames and passwords you type into a website's own sign in box (HTTP authentication) are kept in memory only while the app is open, so downloads from that site work too. They are forgotten when the app closes or when you clear cookies.

Backups you make yourself

Settings lets you export your data (bookmarks, history, liked and offline pages, settings and open tabs) to a single file, and restore it later. You choose where the file goes using Android's own file picker, and the app never uploads it. Including saved passwords in a backup is optional and off unless you turn it on. Because the password key cannot leave your phone's Keystore, passwords inside a backup file are stored as plain text, so please keep any backup that includes passwords somewhere safe.

Private tabs

Pages you open in a private tab are never written to your history, recent searches, site icons or privacy report site list. Private tabs never ask your search engine for suggestions and never receive website notifications. Cookies, site storage, cache and location answers from private tabs are kept apart from normal tabs and are deleted when the last private tab closes. You can also lock private tabs so they need your fingerprint or screen lock to open.

Ad, tracker and cookie popup blocking

The ad blocker checks each web request against filter lists stored on your phone. This check happens entirely on your device, and nothing about the pages you visit is sent anywhere to perform it.

To stay effective, the app downloads fresh copies of its filter lists every few days from their public publishers: EasyList and EasyPrivacy from easylist.to, and IndianList from adblockplus.org. If you turn on Hide cookie popups, a public cookie notice list is downloaded too. If you add your own filter lists, the app downloads them from the addresses you entered. These are plain downloads of public files. No information about you or your browsing is included in these requests, although, like any internet request, the server can see your IP address.

Requests that leave your device

Smart Browser makes a few requests to outside services as part of normal use. Each one is listed here so you know exactly what is sent and why.

Searching. When you search from the address bar or the New Tab page, your search is sent to the search engine you chose in Settings (Google by default; Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Brave, Ecosia, Startpage or your own engine can be picked instead), the same way any browser works.
Search suggestions. While you type, what you have typed so far is sent to your chosen search engine to show suggestions. These requests are sent without cookies, so they are not tied to any account. Private tabs never send them, and you can turn suggestions off in Settings, Search engine.
Site icons. To show icons for sites in your history, bookmarks, shortcuts and similar lists, the address of the site is sent to Google's public favicon service (gstatic.com). Only the site is used for this; nothing else about you is sent.
Translate Page. When you choose Translate Page, the text of the page you are viewing is sent to Google Translate so the translation can be shown in place. Translating selected text opens Google Translate's own website with that text. Neither happens unless you ask for it.
On this day. The New Tab page's On this day card fetches the day's events and Wikimedia Commons' picture of the day from Wikipedia once a day. The request includes only today's date. You can hide this card in Settings, New Tab.
Filter list updates. Described in the section above.

Each of these services is run by its own provider and is subject to that provider's privacy policy, not this one.

Features that stay on your phone

Many features never make a network request of their own: Reader mode, Read Aloud (which uses your phone's own text to speech engine), Save page as PDF and printing (through Android's system print dialog), PDF Tools, the PDF viewer, the Document Scanner (which finds and flattens pages on your phone), the QR code scanner and generator, the password generator, Image Studio, offline pages, the privacy report and the developer console, which is built into the app.

Privacy settings you control

Block third party cookies stops sites embedded in other pages from tracking you across sites.
Tell sites not to track you sends the Global Privacy Control signal, asking sites not to sell or share your data. In some places, such as California, sites are required to respect it.
HTTPS Only Mode asks for your confirmation before loading a site that does not use a secure connection.
Data saver asks sites for lighter pages and delays loading media until you need it.
Clear data when quitting wipes the data you choose every time you leave the app.

Permissions we request

Internet and network state: to load web pages and to know whether you are on WiFi or mobile data, for example to hold downloads until WiFi when you ask it to.
Local network (Android 17 and later): to open pages on your own network, such as a router's settings page, a printer or a home server, when you visit them.
Camera: for the QR code scanner, the Document Scanner, and websites you allow to use it, such as a video call site.
Microphone and audio settings: only for websites you allow to use it, such as a video call or voice search.
Location: only when a website asks for it and you allow it, exactly like a desktop browser.
Notifications: to show download progress, a reminder while private tabs are open, and notifications from websites you have allowed, while their tab is open.
Background downloads: so large downloads you start can keep going when you leave the app.
Storage (Android 9 and earlier only): to save downloads to your Downloads folder.

Every permission that touches your camera, microphone or location goes through Android's normal prompt, and for websites also through the app's own Allow or Block prompt for that site. None of these permissions are used to collect data for us. You can revoke any of them at any time in Android Settings or in Smart Browser's Site settings.

Clipboard

When you tap the address bar, the app can offer a link you have just copied so you can open it in one tap. The clipboard is only read while the address bar is in use, and on Android 12 and later it is only read when you tap that suggestion. Nothing from your clipboard is stored or sent anywhere.

Smart Page homepage option

Smart Page is an optional homepage you can choose in Settings. It loads irfanhabeeb.com/start, a page we run. Unlike a site you type in yourself, we offer this one inside the app, so it has its own privacy information on that page, which governs anything it handles independently of this policy. The Developer shortcut on the New Tab page and the help link in Settings open irfanhabeeb.com like any other website.

Websites you visit

Websites you open in Smart Browser may set their own cookies, run their own scripts and collect data under their own privacy policies, just as they would in any browser. Smart Browser displays web pages using Android System WebView, which is provided and updated by Google as part of Android. This policy covers Smart Browser itself and does not cover the practices of the sites you visit.

Google Play

If you install Smart Browser from Google Play, Google may collect information about your installation and device under its own privacy policy. We receive only the anonymous, combined statistics Google Play provides to every developer, such as install counts, and nothing that identifies you.

Data security

Because your data stays on your phone, the main thing protecting it is your phone itself, so we recommend using a screen lock. Saved passwords are encrypted as described above. Files you download or share are handled through Android's standard storage and sharing system, which only gives access to apps you choose.

Your choices and rights

Since we hold no personal data about you, there is no account, profile or server record to request, export or delete from us. Everything is already under your control on your phone: you can view, export, clear or delete it whenever you like, or remove it all by uninstalling the app. This applies wherever you live, including under laws such as India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, the GDPR in Europe and the CCPA in California.

Children's privacy

Smart Browser does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children, and is not directed at children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country). Because the app collects no personal data, there is nothing for us to hold about a child. If you have any concern, please contact us using the details below.

Changes to this policy

If the app changes in a way that affects your privacy, this policy will be updated here, with a new date at the top. The app's Privacy Policy screen always shows this page, so you will see the latest version there. Continuing to use the app after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy or how Smart Browser handles data can be sent to smartwapindia@gmail.com.