Response by Startpage
Developer response
posted 5 years ago10/10/2019
IMPORTANT UPDATE ON PERMISSION REQUEST REMOVAL
Over the last few days, Startpage has received valuable feedback regarding our recent extension update and valid concerns around our request to view browser tabs. We realize that users understandably would prefer not to allow such permissions. As privacy advocates committed to serving our community, the team made it our highest priority to address this issue.
Effective immediately our extension will no longer request access to browser tabs for existing and new users. See version update here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/startpage-privacy-search-engin/versions/
We appreciate all feedback and ask that you continue to openly communicate with us. Please feel free to reach out directly by email at support@startpage.com, by Twitter @StartpageSearch, or on product review sites. We review these daily and look forward to hearing from you.
First Review Reply 10/06/2019
Thank you for using Startpage. The request to view tabs is only applicable in the initial install process, in order to pass a marketing page URL from add.startpage.com to confirm a successful installation. However, to enable that feature, we had to request users allow access to the tabs. Once install is complete, we NEVER look at your tabs, so we are actively pursuing other options to grab that URL without needing access to tabs.
IMPORTANT UPDATE ON PERMISSION REQUEST REMOVAL
Over the last few days, Startpage has received valuable feedback regarding our recent extension update and valid concerns around our request to view browser tabs. We realize that users understandably would prefer not to allow such permissions. As privacy advocates committed to serving our community, the team made it our highest priority to address this issue.
Effective immediately our extension will no longer request access to browser tabs for existing and new users. See version update here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/startpage-privacy-search-engin/versions/
We appreciate all feedback and ask that you continue to openly communicate with us. Please feel free to reach out directly by email at support@startpage.com, by Twitter @StartpageSearch, or on product review sites. We review these daily and look forward to hearing from you.
First Review Reply 10/06/2019
Thank you for using Startpage. The request to view tabs is only applicable in the initial install process, in order to pass a marketing page URL from add.startpage.com to confirm a successful installation. However, to enable that feature, we had to request users allow access to the tabs. Once install is complete, we NEVER look at your tabs, so we are actively pursuing other options to grab that URL without needing access to tabs.