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BubblesTheDev Web Browser

Browser Privacy Comparison

This document reflects the current privacy posture of BubblesTheDev Web Browser version 1.0.17.

The goal is accuracy, not marketing language. The browser does not implement first-party telemetry, analytics SDKs, cloud sync, a built-in silent auto-updater client, or automatic diagnostics upload. It does, however, make normal network requests when the user browses the web, uses built-in search features, or uses the optional managed updater flow.

High-Level Comparison

This table is intentionally high-level. Mainstream browsers change over time, but the Bubbles column below matches the current codebase.

Feature BubblesTheDev Web Browser Google Chrome Microsoft Edge Brave Firefox
First-party telemetry Not implemented Yes Yes Limited Limited
Analytics SDKs in app code None Yes Yes Limited Limited
Automatic diagnostics upload No Yes Yes Limited Limited
Cloud sync requirement None Optional Optional Optional Optional
Auto-updater service No built-in silent updater; optional owner-run managed updater for opted-in installs Present Present Present Present
Local browser data storage Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Local persistence protection Brotli-compressed, with OS-backed or credential-backed encryption when available Yes Yes Yes Yes
Manual encrypted diagnostics export Yes Varies Varies Varies Varies
Per-site permission controls Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ad and tracker filtering built in Yes Limited Limited Yes Limited
Search-provider requests from built-in home/search page Yes, after user search on bubbles://home Yes Yes Yes Yes
Local-only music library scan Yes, explicit opt-in N/A N/A N/A N/A

Local-First Behavior

BubblesTheDev Web Browser stores browser state in the Electron userData directory.

Current persisted data includes:

  • homepage setting
  • browsing history
  • bookmarks
  • bookmark-import consent choices at runtime
  • saved password metadata and encrypted password vault entries
  • imported Chromium extension metadata
  • imported ProtonVPN WireGuard profile metadata
  • bookmark bar visibility
  • Music Player opt-in state and chosen folder
  • per-site permission settings
  • cached search results and suggestions

The persisted browser-state payload is compressed before it is written to disk. When Electron safe storage is available, that payload is also protected with OS-backed encryption. If that is unavailable, the runtime falls back to credential-backed AES-GCM protection when possible.

The application does not automatically upload this browser-state data.

Installer builds can optionally be configured with an owner-run update server. In that case, installs that use Automatic updates can send a minimal update-registration record containing install-management fields such as install ID, app version, install path, install root, install drive type, host name, platform, architecture, last-seen time, and the IP address seen by that server. They can also request the latest published release metadata and download the published installer package. This does not include browsing history, bookmarks, saved passwords, or page contents.

Diagnostics And Runtime Checks

Diagnostics are generated locally.

Current behavior:

  • runtime diagnostic entries are written to the local diagnostics directory
  • users can export an encrypted .bdiag diagnostics report manually
  • no automatic diagnostics upload path is implemented
  • the runtime checks panel surfaces local status for storage protection, enabled download-scan providers, ad-block counters, executable path, and performance state

This means diagnostic data stays on-device unless the user explicitly chooses to export it.

What Still Uses The Network

This browser is not offline-only. Network traffic still occurs when the user does one of the following:

  • opens websites or web apps
  • signs into websites
  • loads page assets such as images, scripts, fonts, and media
  • downloads files
  • uses external search engines directly
  • uses the bundled bubbles://home search experience

The internal Bubbles search page can contact DuckDuckGo and Google endpoints to assemble results, related searches, and suggestions after the user performs a search.

Music Player Privacy Model

The Music Player is local-only.

  • It is disabled by default.
  • No folder scan starts until the user explicitly agrees in the Music Player UI.
  • It scans the default Music folder or another local folder the user selects.
  • Playback uses local files only.
  • The application does not upload the user's music library.

Security And Privacy Model

The browser uses Electron with Chromium sandboxing and process isolation while avoiding first-party telemetry frameworks and automatic background reporting.

Current characteristics:

  • sandboxed renderers and helper windows
  • contextIsolation enabled
  • nodeIntegration disabled in renderers
  • separate session handling for incognito windows
  • per-site permission prompts with allow, block, and ask-later behavior
  • ad and tracker request filtering with local counters
  • modular download protection using Windows Defender, Authenticode verification, and browser heuristics when available
  • no automatic diagnostics upload
  • no first-party analytics pipeline
  • no cloud sync service
  • no built-in silent auto-updater service
  • optional owner-run managed updater only for installs that explicitly opt into Automatic updates

Uninstall Privacy Model

Uninstall behavior is also local-first.

Current uninstall behavior:

  • the installed app files are removed
  • the user can choose which local data categories should be removed or kept
  • current removable categories include browser profile data, saved passwords, diagnostics reports, and local update preferences
  • if a category is left unchecked, that data remains on the device for a future reinstall or update
  • uninstall cleanup also removes stale uninstall metadata and re-checks leftovers before showing a warning

Summary

BubblesTheDev Web Browser currently aims for a local-first privacy posture: