We don't know which websites you visit
We have no idea you spend 12 hours on Twitter every day—but no judgment.
Privacy Policy
We have no idea you spend 12 hours on Twitter every day—but no judgment.
We’ll never know you searched “what’s that smell coming from my closet”—but we hope you solve your mystery.
We won’t tell the internet sales people you purchased plates, we won’t even know you purchased plates—but we hope you love them!
What we do care about when it comes to data is building the best, most reliable product we can. For instance, understanding which features our members are digging most (and which features they hate, oof). Keep reading to check out our full privacy policy.
A Letter to All Arc Users,
Welcome to privacy at the Browser Company. To us, privacy means a web browser that the people we know and love can feel safe using. It means you don’t have to worry that your data is being misused, misappropriated, or bought and sold in ways you’re not aware of. It means we’re not now, not ever, in the business of profiting from your data.
We care about your privacy and want to be upfront about how we treat your personal data: what we do collect, why we collect it, where it all goes, and for how long. So we wrote this privacy policy to explain it to you in the clearest, simplest way we know how.
In addition to this privacy policy, please read our Terms of Service which also applies to your use of the product. It’s also where you can find any terms not directly defined in this policy.
One more reminder before you get started. We care about your privacy, but unfortunately, not everyone on the internet does. Just because we don't collect a particular piece of information doesn’t mean websites you visit or services you use won't try to. We do offer settings and tools to help you limit the information collected by other websites—read the section “Additional Ways to Enhance Privacy Online” below for more.
And as always, if you have any questions or suggestions, give us a shout at help@arc.net. We’re all ears!
The following are terms that are frequently referred to in this privacy policy but not common in everyday language. We wanted to take a bit of extra time to explain them.
| Category of Personal Data | Example | When we collect this data | Examples of why we collect this data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profile or Contact Data | Name, Email, Account password | Directly from you, when you choose to give it to us (such as when you sign up for an account) |
|
| Device Data | Type of device and operating system used to access the Services | Automatically, when you use our mobile or desktop application |
|
| Product Usage Data | How often you use various product features Inferences drawn from your product usage data, for instance, “Folks love using these keyboard shortcuts!” | Automatically, when you use our mobile or desktop application |
|
For instance, when you submit a bug report or request support, we’ll collect the information you share with us to help solve your problem. Specifically, if you submit a bug report, we’ll automatically collect the names of browser extensions you have installed in case they’re responsible for the issue you're reporting.
We do NOT use cookies to track visitors to our website. To measure site traffic, we sought out a privacy-first service provider. Our provider uses IP addresses to maintain unique visitor counts and the geographic distribution of the site traffic. However, they’re contractually obligated not to collect any other personal information or sell your data.
Notes and Easels. Notes and Easels are specific features of the Browser that allow you to create content, including text, images, and links. When you create a Note or Easel, it’s automatically stored with our Service Provider so that you can access it on other devices. We do not use or access this data for anything other than displaying your content to you. If you decide to share a Note or Easel publicly, it will be viewable by anyone with the link.
Boosts. Boosts are a feature of the Browser that lets you customize your web interface including changing the colors, fonts, and even removing entire sections from sites. Similarly to Notes and Easels, Boosts are automatically stored with our Service Provider so that you can access them on other devices. If you decide to share a Boost, the content of the Boost, along with any personalizations, will be viewable by anyone with the link. We may use aggregate data on shared Boosts to draw inferences about features usage and popularity.
Third-party connections. Some features of the Browser rely on third-party APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for their functionality. In these instances, the Browser directly connects you with the third party. If you choose to use these features, the third party may receive certain data as detailed below. This data never passes through our servers, and we have no way of knowing its contents.
We never sell your data, and we’ll only share it in the following circumstances:
In general, we collect personal data to provide and improve our product and Services. This includes data to make the Browser work (such as account information) or data to make the Browser better (such as Device or Product Usage Data). We also collect data to make sure we’re able to:
We do our best to protect the Personal Data we collect from any unauthorized parties accessing, using, or sharing it, but it’s important to remember that no method of transmitting data over the internet or storing data is 100% secure. We also ask you to help us out with protecting your data. Easy steps include creating a strong password and limiting access to your device and account credentials.
We hold on to Personal Data for as long as you have an account with us or as otherwise necessary to provide you with our Services. We'll only hang on to it for longer if needed to meet our legal requirements discussed above, or if it’s anonymized so that it can’t be linked to a specific user.
If you are a resident of California, Nevada, or the EU, you may be afforded specific privacy rights and protections related to your personal data. Learn more here.
As noted in the Beta User Agreement, we do not knowingly collect or solicit Personal Data about children under 16 years of age; if you are a child under the age of 16, please do not attempt to register for or otherwise use the Services or send us any Personal Data. If we learn we have collected Personal Data from a child under 16 years of age, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that a child under 16 years of age may have provided Personal Data to us, please contact us at help@arc.net.
As an important reminder, Arc’s data practices may not extend to the websites you visit when using our browser, which we can't control. We do offer settings and tools to help you limit the information collected by websites you visit.
Navigate to Arc > Preferences > General > Privacy Preferences to control cookies and change other privacy and security settings. In the General preferences window, you can also change your default search engine and turn search suggestions on and off.
We’re constantly trying to improve our product and services, so we may need to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we do, we’ll let you know by placing a notice on the app and on the The Browser Company website and/or contacting you directly, mostly likely via email.
If you opted not to receive legal notice emails (— we get it), or you haven’t given us your email in the first place, the updated policy will still apply. We’ll do our best to get these updates in front of you, however, the ball’s ultimately in your court to read and understand them. If you continue to use the product we’ll assume the updates are good with you. Of course, give us a shout if there’s anything that needs further explaining.
If you are located in the EU or UK and have any questions or requests related to how we handle your data, you may use the following information to contact our Data Protection Officer and our EU or UK-Based Member Representative.
By mail:
By email: thebrowser.company@gdpr-rep.com