Pinako is a browser extension for organizing tabs. The free version runs entirely on your computer. Paid tiers add cloud sync, library sharing, and AI features, all of which require an account and store data on our servers.

This page explains what data we handle, why, and what choices you have.

At a glance

• The free extension keeps everything local. No account, no cloud, no analytics.
• Pro tiers store your tree, libraries, notes, and account in Supabase so you can sync across devices and use the web portal.
• Card payments are handled by Stripe. We never see card numbers.
• AI Search builds a search index by sending your item text once to Voyage AI, only after you agree, and then sends only your search words. Full LLM Search sends the relevant context plus your query to xAI's Grok API. The Pinako AI Bridge runs only on your computer.
• We do not sell your data, read the contents of pages you visit, or use anything you store in Pinako to train AI models.

Permissions Pinako requests

Chromium browsers ask you to approve permissions before installing any extension. Here is what each one does in Pinako and why we need it.

Permission	What we use it for
tabs, tabGroups, sessions	Read and arrange your open tabs and tab groups; restore recently closed tabs.
bookmarks	Two-way sync between Pinako and your browser's bookmark manager.
storage, alarms	Save your tree, settings, and scheduled snapshots in your browser's local storage.
contextMenus	Right-click actions inside Pinako and on web pages.
clipboardWrite	Copy URLs and exported data to your clipboard.
downloads	Export your tree as JSON or HTML.
favicon	Show the small site icons next to each tab.
unlimitedStorage	Keep more than the browser's default amount in local storage: your libraries, snapshots, search index and pictures in notes.
nativeMessaging	Talk to the Pinako AI Bridge desktop app (Pro only).
identity	OAuth sign-in for a Pro account.

If you choose to enable Pinako in incognito mode (a toggle in your browser's extension settings), private tabs appear in your tree alongside normal ones. Incognito tabs are excluded from cloud sync.

Pinako can also display tabs from your signed-in mobile devices via Chrome's built-in browser sync. This relies on the chrome.sessions browser API — Pinako reads from Chrome's local cache of your sync data. We never make any server call to fetch your phone's tabs, and we do not store mobile tab data on our servers.

The free extension

If you don't sign in, Pinako never sends your data anywhere. Everything you see in the extension (your tree, bookmarks, memos, tags, snapshots, pictures in notes, theme, and settings) lives in local storage on your machine. If you've enabled Pinako in incognito mode, those tabs show up in your tree as well, but they stay local.

To wipe local data, uninstall the extension or use the in-app reset.

Pro tiers and cloud sync

Signing in to a Pro account stores additional data in our backend (Supabase, hosted in Oregon, USA):

• Your account: email and OAuth provider ID, or email and a hashed password
• Your subscription: tier, billing period, and the Stripe customer ID
• Your synced trees: groups, windows, tabs, memos, tags, and library structure
• Your notes: rich-text content attached to a tree or library
• Pictures and media you add to notes, kept in your plan's cloud media space
• Device identifiers and version numbers used to sync changes across devices

Sync runs both ways between the extension and the pinako.pro web portal. Incognito tabs are not synced.

Payments

Stripe processes all subscription payments. Card numbers, expiry dates, and CVCs go directly to Stripe and never touch our servers. We store the Stripe customer ID and the metadata Stripe sends back through webhooks (tier, billing period, status). See stripe.com/privacy for Stripe's policy.

AI features

AI Search (Pro and above) lets you search your tabs, bookmarks, and libraries with natural language. It has two engines: Neural Vector Search (the default) and Full LLM Search.

Neural Vector Search and Voyage AI. Neural Vector Search finds items by meaning using a search index kept in your browser. Pinako asks you once before the first index is built. When you agree, the text of your items (titles, web addresses, folder names, tags, and notes, including those in libraries other people have shared with you) is sent through our backend to Voyage AI, which turns each item into a "vector", a list of numbers that captures its meaning. The vectors are stored only in your browser. After the first build, only new or changed items and your search words are sent. Our Voyage AI account is opted out of data retention and training, so Voyage AI does not keep this text or train on it. We record token counts for credit metering, not the text, plus a one-way, keyed fingerprint of each indexed item so the same content is not charged to you twice; the text cannot be read back from it. Voyage AI's policy: voyageai.com/privacy. If you choose Full LLM Search instead, nothing is sent to Voyage AI.

Full LLM Search and Refine results with LLM. When you run a Full LLM Search, the relevant tree, library, or bookmark context plus your query is sent through our backend to xAI's Grok API. Refine results with LLM sends the top results of a Neural Vector search the same way. We log the number of tokens used for credit metering, not the content of your queries or results. xAI's policy: x.ai/legal/privacy-policy. We do not grant xAI rights to train models on your data, and we do not train any models ourselves.

Pinako AI Bridge (Pro and above) is a small desktop app that exposes your tree to AI clients on your own computer (Claude Code, Cursor, and similar) over a local server at localhost:37421. All bridge traffic is local. Nothing is sent to Pinako or any third party.

WebMCP uses Chrome's in-browser model context API. Same story: local only.

Bring-your-own AI keys in the Pinako chat panel. If you add an Anthropic, Gemini, OpenAI-compatible, or OpenRouter key in AI Settings, the key is stored in your browser's local extension storage on your machine and is sent over HTTPS through our authenticated backend to the provider you chose. We never log the key and do not persist it beyond the lifetime of each request. If your device may be compromised, revoke the key at the provider's dashboard and remove it from AI Settings.

Sharing libraries

When you share a library with someone, we store the recipient's email so you can manage and revoke access. They can see only the library you shared, at the access level you chose.

Email

Library share invites and messages you send through the feedback or support form are delivered by email through Resend. Resend receives the recipient's address and the message content only to deliver it. See resend.com/legal/privacy-policy for Resend's policy.

Optional cloud backups

Pinako lets you back up your tree to third-party services if you choose. When you do, your data is uploaded directly from the extension to the service you selected. Pinako never uploads to any of these automatically. Each service has its own privacy policy.

• Google Drive and Dropbox — private cloud storage in your own account, accessed via OAuth. Pinako only sees the files it creates.
• Arweave — a public blockchain. Anything you upload is permanent and publicly readable. Use only for backups you would be comfortable making public.
• Lighthouse and Filebase — IPFS storage. Files uploaded to IPFS are addressed by content hash and may be retrievable by anyone who has the hash.

What we don't collect

No analytics, telemetry, or tracking pixels. No third-party ad networks. No reading or parsing of page content (only tab metadata: title, URL, and favicon). No browsing history beyond the tabs you choose to organize. We do not sell or rent personal data to anyone.

Cookies

The pinako.pro site uses first-party cookies for authentication and the Stripe checkout flow. No tracking cookies.

Keeping or removing your data

Free users: uninstall or use the in-app reset to remove all local data.

Pro users: delete your account from the web portal. We remove your synced data within 30 days. Stripe retains billing records as required by tax and accounting law.

You can export your tree to JSON or HTML at any time from the extension.

International transfers

Our servers are in Oregon, USA. If you sign up from outside the US, your data is transferred and stored there. The same applies to data processed by Stripe, xAI, and Voyage AI.

Your rights

If you're in a jurisdiction with data protection laws (GDPR, CCPA, and similar), you have the right to access, correct, delete, and export your data. Most of these are self-serve in the extension or web portal. For anything else, email us.

Children's privacy

Pinako is not directed at children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has signed up, contact us at info@pinako.pro and we'll delete the account.

Security

Cloud data is stored with row-level security so users can only access their own rows. All transit is over HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to keep yours safe.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that affects you, we'll bump the effective date at the top and post a notice in the extension.

Contact

Questions about this policy: info@pinako.pro