Harbor

Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective 21 October 2026 · Harbor for Android

Harbor is built to keep what you do online on your phone. This policy explains, in plain words, what information Harbor handles, where it is kept, and when it goes anywhere.

The short version

  • Harbor has no accounts, no analytics, no ads and no crash reporting. The developer does not collect any information about you.
  • Your history, bookmarks, tabs, saved passwords and settings are stored only on your phone.
  • When you browse, your phone connects directly to the websites, search engine and add-ons you choose, plus a few services that keep the browser safe and up to date. They are all listed below.
  • You can delete everything at any time with Clear browsing data, or by uninstalling the app.

1. Who we are

Harbor is a web browser for Android made by Virat Kumar, an independent developer based in India (“the developer”, “we”, “us”). This policy covers the Harbor app, whether you install it from Google Play or directly from the developer. You can reach us at harborbrowser@gmail.com.

2. Information the developer collects

None. Harbor has no servers of its own that receive data from the app. We do not collect, store, sell or share your personal information, browsing activity, device identifiers, location or usage statistics.

  • No account or sign-in is needed, and none is offered.
  • Harbor contains no analytics, advertising or tracking code, and does not use Google Play services or Firebase.
  • Harbor does not send crash reports or usage statistics to us, to Mozilla, or to anyone else.

If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to write. We use it only to reply to you, and we delete it if you ask.

If you install Harbor from Google Play, Google handles the download and may give developers anonymous, aggregated statistics (such as install counts and crash rates from people who have chosen to share diagnostics with app developers in their Android settings). This is governed by Google’s Privacy Policy; it never includes your browsing.

3. Information stored on your phone

Like any browser, Harbor keeps some information so it can work. All of it stays in Harbor’s private storage on your phone, which other apps cannot read. Harbor turns off Android’s cloud backup for its data, so it does not leave your phone through backups either.

Browsing history
The address, title and time of pages you visit in normal tabs. Private tabs are never added to history.
Bookmarks
Pages you choose to bookmark.
Open tabs
Your normal tabs, so they come back after you restart the app. Private tabs are not saved.
Downloads
The list of files you downloaded, and the files themselves in your phone’s Downloads folder.
Saved passwords
Only if you tap Save when Harbor offers it, and never from private tabs. They are encrypted with AES-256, using a key held in your phone’s secure Android Keystore, and showing or copying a saved password needs your screen lock. You can turn password saving off in Settings.
Cookies, site data and cache
Stored by the web engine so websites keep you signed in and load faster, following your cookie settings.
Site settings
Permissions you give individual websites (for example, location or camera), and whether Harbor Shield is on or off for a site.
Harbor Shield counts
How many ads and trackers were blocked, shown to you in the app.
Translation languages
Language models you downloaded for Translate page, so translation works on your phone.
Site icons
Small icons of websites you visit, used in your tabs, history and bookmarks.
Add-ons
Add-ons you install and the data they keep.
App settings
Your choices, such as search engine, theme, text size and the date you accepted this policy.

4. When Harbor connects to the internet

Harbor only connects to the internet to do what a browser has to do. None of these connections go to the developer.

Websites you visit

When you open a website, your phone connects to it directly. As with every browser, the site (and the services it uses) can see your IP address, basic browser and device information, and anything you type or upload, and it may set cookies. Harbor also fetches a site’s icon from that same site. Each website’s own privacy policy applies to what it does.

Your search engine

Searches typed in the address bar go to the search engine you choose: Google by default, or DuckDuckGo, Bing or Brave Search, which you can pick in Settings. In normal tabs, Harbor also sends what you are typing to that search engine to show search suggestions. You can turn suggestions off in Settings, and they are never fetched in private tabs. The search engine’s privacy policy applies.

Harbor Shield, the built-in ad and tracker blocker

Harbor Shield decides on your phone which ads, trackers and cookie notices to block; nothing about the pages you visit is sent anywhere to make that decision. To stay effective, it regularly downloads updated public filter lists, including cookie-notice lists, from the sites that publish them (such as GitHub, jsDelivr and EasyList). These are ordinary file downloads that include no information about your browsing.

Reader view

Reader view rearranges the page you are already viewing, on your phone. Nothing extra is downloaded or sent to make it work.

Translate page

Translation runs on your phone, and the page’s text is never sent to a translation service. The first time you translate a language, Harbor downloads that language’s model from Mozilla’s servers; it is kept on your phone for next time. This download includes no information about the page you are translating.

The add-on store

Harbor’s add-on store shows add-ons from addons.mozilla.org, run by Mozilla. When you open the store, Harbor loads the catalog, icons, screenshots and add-on files from Mozilla’s servers, and sends Mozilla what you search for in the store. About once a day Harbor asks Mozilla whether your installed add-ons have updates. Mozilla’s privacy policy applies.

Add-ons are made by other developers, not by us. An add-on can only do what you allowed when you installed it, but within those permissions it may collect or send data. Please read an add-on’s permissions and privacy policy before installing it.

The web engine

Harbor’s web engine is developed by Mozilla. To protect you and keep working properly, the engine may contact:

  • Safe Browsing, to download lists of known phishing and malware sites (Google Safe Browsing, provided through Mozilla). Pages are checked against these lists on your phone. If a page’s address looks like a match, only a short, partial fingerprint of the address is sent to confirm it, never the address itself.
  • Mozilla’s update service, for security data such as tracking-protection lists, certificate revocation lists and lists of harmful add-ons.
  • Certificate checks. A website’s security certificate may be checked with the organisation that issued it.

Harbor does not switch on the engine’s crash reporter and does not include any telemetry uploader.

Secure DNS (off unless you turn it on)

Secure DNS is off by default. If you turn it on in Settings, the names of the websites you visit are looked up through the provider you choose (Cloudflare or Quad9) instead of your network’s default. That provider’s privacy policy applies.

Voice search

If you search by voice, Harbor opens your phone’s own speech recognition app (for example, Google’s). Your voice is handled by that app under its own privacy policy; Harbor never records audio and only receives the resulting text.

This policy

This Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use are built into the app. Reading them in Harbor does not connect to the internet.

5. Permissions Harbor uses

Harbor asks for Android permissions only for these purposes. You can withdraw any of them at any time in your phone’s Settings > Apps > Harbor > Permissions.

Internet
To load web pages and connect to the services described above.
Notifications
To show download progress, and notifications from websites you have allowed to send them.
Camera
Only when a website asks to use your camera (for example, for a video call) and you allow it. Harbor asks you first. Harbor itself never takes, saves or sends photos or video.
Microphone
Only when a website asks to use your microphone (for example, for a call) and you allow it. Harbor itself never records or keeps audio.
Location
Only when a website asks for your location and you allow it, site by site. Harbor passes your location to that website and does not store or send it anywhere else.
Storage (Android 9 and older only)
To save downloaded files to your Downloads folder. Newer versions of Android do not need this permission.

Harbor can also be set as your default browser, so that links you tap in other apps open in Harbor.

6. Private tabs

Pages you open in a private tab are not saved to your history, and private tabs are not restored after a restart. Harbor does not offer to save passwords in private tabs. Cookies, site data and cache from private tabs are deleted when you close the last private tab. Private tabs do not hide your activity from the websites you visit, your employer or school network, or your internet provider.

7. Deleting your data

Because your data lives only on your phone, you are always in control of it:

  • Settings > Clear browsing data deletes your history, cookies and site data (including site permissions), and cached files.
  • Individual history entries, bookmarks and saved passwords can be deleted from their own screens.
  • Downloaded files can be deleted from your Downloads folder.
  • Uninstalling Harbor deletes everything Harbor has stored in its app storage. Files you downloaded to your Downloads folder stay until you delete them.

The developer holds no copy of your data, so there is nothing for us to delete on our side. If you have emailed us and want that email deleted, just ask.

8. Security

Harbor keeps your data in Android’s private app storage, encrypts saved passwords with a key held in the Android Keystore, excludes its data from cloud backups, blocks known trackers by default, and offers an HTTPS-only mode. Because nothing is sent to us, there is no developer database that could be breached. No system is perfectly secure, so we recommend keeping your phone locked with a PIN, pattern or fingerprint.

9. Children

Harbor is a general-purpose web browser and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information by email, contact us at harborbrowser@gmail.com and we will delete it.

10. Your rights

Wherever you live, including under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the EU’s GDPR, you may ask us what personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct or delete it. In practice, the only information we could hold is an email you sent us. Write to harborbrowser@gmail.com and we will reply within 30 days.

11. Changes to this policy

If Harbor’s data practices change, we will update this policy and its effective date before the change takes effect. The updated policy comes with the app update, and Harbor asks you to review it again when it changes in an important way.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy or about your privacy in Harbor? Email harborbrowser@gmail.com.

Developer: Virat Kumar, India.

See also the Terms of Use.