Extension permissions

Back Written by Philipp

Every browser extension has to tell the browser up front what it wants to do. These requests are called permissions. When you install an extension, the browser shows you the most important ones, and the extension can only do what you have allowed.

This article lists every permission Bookmark Sidebar uses and explains in plain words why it is needed. Each permission is only used for the purpose described here, and nothing else.

Some of the warnings the browser shows sound scary, especially "Read and change all your data on all websites". Below you can read what they actually mean for this extension.

Permissions needed for the basic features

These permissions are requested when you install the extension, because the sidebar can't work without them.

Access to all websites

Shown by the browser as: "Read and change all your data on all websites"

This is the permission that sounds the most alarming, so it gets the longest explanation.

In overlay mode, the sidebar is shown on top of the website you are visiting. The browser doesn't offer any way for an extension to show something on top of a website from the outside. The only way is to add the sidebar to the website itself, and to do that, the extension needs access to the websites you visit.

The browser can't tell what an extension does with this access, so it shows the strongest warning. Bookmark Sidebar only uses it to add the sidebar to the page. It doesn't read what you type, doesn't look at the content of the websites and doesn't collect any information about the pages you visit.

Bookmarks

Shown by the browser as: "Read and change your bookmarks"

The extension shows your bookmarks in the sidebar, so it needs access to them. The same permission also lets you add, edit, move and delete bookmarks right from the sidebar.

Storage

The extension needs a place to save your settings, such as the colors, the size of the sidebar or the mode you chose. These settings are saved in your browser. If you turn on sync in your browser, they are also synced to your other devices.

Unlimited storage

Browsers only give extensions a small amount of storage space by default. Bookmark Sidebar saves some extra information for each of your bookmarks, and how much space this takes depends on how many bookmarks you have. The background image of the extension's new tab page is saved there as well. Together, this can be more than the default limit, so the extension asks for more space.

This storage is only on your own computer. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.

Website icons

Next to each bookmark, the sidebar shows the small icon of the website (the "favicon"). The browser already has these icons saved, and this permission lets the extension show them.

Side panel

Bookmark Sidebar can also be used in the browser's built-in side panel, where your bookmarks stay visible next to the website while you browse. This permission allows the extension to show its content there. You can read more about it in the article about the side panel mode.

Fonts

In the settings, you can choose a different font for the sidebar. This permission lets the extension get the list of fonts that are installed on your computer, so you can pick one of them.

Context menu

When you right-click the extension icon, you see a few extra entries, for example links to the settings and this knowledge base. This permission lets the extension add these entries.

Scripting

When you install or update the extension, the websites that are already open in your tabs don't have the sidebar yet. You would normally have to reload each tab before you could use it. This permission lets the extension add the sidebar to all open tabs right away, so it works without reloading.

Optional permissions

These permissions are not requested when you install the extension. They belong to features of the extension's new tab page that you have to turn on yourself. The browser only asks you for them at the moment you turn on the matching feature, and you can say no. If you do, only that feature stays turned off.

History

Shown by the browser as: "Read and change your browsing history"

The search field on the extension's new tab page can suggest websites you have visited before while you type. To find these suggestions, the extension needs to look into your browsing history. This permission is only requested when you turn on history suggestions for the search field.

Most visited websites

Shown by the browser as: "Read a list of your most frequently visited websites"

The extension's new tab page can show your most visited websites as tiles below the search field, just like the browser's default new tab page does. This permission is only requested when you choose to show your most visited websites there.

No code from the outside

Everything the extension does is included in the extension itself. It doesn't download and run any code from the internet. This means the extension can only do what has been checked when it was published in the extension store.

This rule also affects bookmarklets. A bookmarklet is a special bookmark that doesn't open a website, but runs a small piece of code on the page you are visiting, for example to translate it or to save it to a reading list. You can recognize them by their address, which starts with javascript:. Since this code isn't part of the extension, the browser doesn't allow the extension to run it. That's why bookmarklets don't work when you click them in the sidebar. They still work as usual from the browser's bookmarks bar.