Legal
Privacy Policy
How Petal handles your data: on your device, under your control.
Summary
Petal Browser does not run servers that collect your browsing data. We do not have user accounts, we do not sell data, and Petal does not send your history, bookmarks, passwords or searches to us. Your browsing data stays on your device unless you turn on a feature that talks to a third-party service, and this page lists those features.
What we collect
The developers of Petal do not collect, store, transmit, sell or rent your personal data to any server we operate. In particular:
- Browsing history, tabs and bookmarks are stored only on your device.
- Search queries go directly from your device to the search engine you choose (for example Google, DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, Bing, Startpage or Ecosia). We do not see or record them.
- Downloads are saved to your device’s storage.
- Saved passwords and credentials are handled by Android’s credential facilities or stored in the app’s private storage on your device.
Data stored on your device
Settings, history, bookmarks, tabs, cookies, site permissions, downloads and saved logins live in Petal’s private app storage (/data/data/com.petal.browser/), which other apps cannot read on a non-rooted device. Backups you create from Settings are files you control and store where you choose.
Permissions
Petal asks Android for the permissions below. Sensitive ones (camera, microphone, location) are used only for a feature you start, or for a website you explicitly allow.
| Permission | Why Petal needs it |
|---|---|
| Internet, network and Wi-Fi state | Load websites and adapt to connectivity changes. |
| Camera | QR/barcode scanning and camera access for web pages you allow. |
| Microphone | Voice search and microphone access for web pages you allow. Audio is not recorded or stored by Petal. |
| Location (coarse and fine) | Only when a website asks for your location and you approve. |
| Storage and media access | Save downloads and let you pick files, photos or videos to upload. |
| Notifications, foreground services | Download progress and background media playback controls. |
| Biometrics | Unlock Petal with App Lock. Authentication is performed by Android; Petal never receives your biometric data. |
| Bluetooth and NFC | Audio devices and web features that request them. |
| Run at startup, wake lock, vibrate | Restore background tasks, keep downloads and playback running, and haptic feedback. |
| Install packages | Used by the in-app updater in builds distributed outside an app store, to install an update you approve. |
Optional features that contact other services
Some features need to contact a third-party service to work. Petal contacts these only when the feature is enabled or when you use it, and the service receives the data shown. Each service’s own privacy policy applies to what it does with that data.
| Feature | Service | What is sent |
|---|---|---|
| Search and address-bar suggestions | Your chosen search engine; Google Suggest for suggestions | The text you type |
| Extensions | Mozilla Add-ons (addons.mozilla.org) | Add-on browsing and download requests |
| Ad and tracker filter lists | EasyList, uBlock Origin uAssets, HaGeZi (hosted on GitHub and easylist.to) | A download request; no personal data, but your IP address is visible to the host |
| App update check (non-store builds) | GitHub | A request for the latest release information |
| Firefox Account sync | Mozilla | Synced data, protected by Mozilla’s sync encryption |
| DNS-over-HTTPS | The provider you pick (for example Cloudflare, Google, Quad9, NextDNS or OpenDNS) | The domain names you visit |
| Translate and visual search | Google Translate, Google Lens | The page text or image you choose to translate or search |
| Link tools | URL unshortener, urlscan.io security check, QR code generator, HTML-to-Markdown converter, favicon fetcher | The URL, domain or content you run the tool on |
| Home screen extras | wttr.in (weather), Hacker News (feed), Unsplash (wallpapers) | A request from your device, which can include an approximate location for weather |
| AI research | The AI provider you configure, using your own API key | The prompts and page content you submit |
Websites you visit can of course collect data under their own policies. Petal’s tracking protection, content blocker and cookie controls reduce this but cannot control what a site does with information you give it.
Advertising
Some distribution builds of Petal, such as the Google Play build, can show optional, non-intrusive supportive ads using the Google Mobile Ads SDK (AdMob). Where ads are present, Google may process pseudonymous identifiers (such as the advertising ID), device information, IP address and ad-interaction data to serve ads and prevent fraud, under Google’s advertising policies and privacy policy.
You can reset your advertising ID or opt out of personalized ads in Android’s settings (Settings > Google > Ads). Petal does not share your browsing history, bookmarks or search queries with advertisers.
Sync and sign-in
Sign-in and sync are optional. If you connect a Firefox Account or a Google account, authentication and any synced data are handled by Mozilla or Google under their own terms and privacy policies. Petal does not operate a sync server and cannot read your synced data.
Web engine and cookies
Petal is built on Mozilla’s GeckoView engine, not the Android system WebView. Enhanced Tracking Protection and Total Cookie Protection keep cookies separated per site, and you can manage cookies, clear browsing data and use private browsing at any time from the Privacy settings.
Security
Browser data is kept in the app’s private storage. Petal supports HTTPS-first browsing, DNS-over-HTTPS, per-site permissions and App Lock. No system is perfectly secure, so keep Petal and Android up to date.
Your choices and deleting data
Because Petal keeps your data on your device, you are in control of it:
- Clear browsing data (history, cookies, cache, site data) from the Privacy and Delete settings.
- Delete everything by clearing the app’s storage in Android settings or uninstalling Petal.
- Sync data: manage or delete it through your Mozilla or Google account.
We hold no personal data about you on our servers, so there is nothing for us to delete, access or export. If you believe we are wrong about that, contact us and we will investigate. Depending on where you live you may have rights under laws such as the GDPR or CCPA, and we will respect them.
Children
Petal does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the applicable age in your country).
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when Petal’s features change. The date at the top shows the latest revision, and earlier versions are available in the repository history.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Open an issue on GitHub or visit our Support page.