Privacy Policy

The extensions exist to hand a download off to the Orlo app. To do that, when you start a capture they read:

• The download URL — the link you want to download.
• The page and referrer — the URL of the page you triggered the download from (used as referrer context), when available.
• A suggested filename — from the server's Content-Disposition header or the page context.
• The file size — if the server advertises it.
• The User-Agent and relevant request headers — so the download matches what your browser would have sent.
• That site's cookies — only if you turn on the “Send cookies” setting or click the popup's “Save Site Cookies” button. With “Send cookies” enabled, the extension reads the cookies that match the download URL so that downloads behind a login work. The “Save Site Cookies” button reads the current site's cookies once, on your explicit click, and hands them to the Orlo app, which keeps one entry per site in your macOS Keychain (viewable and deletable in the app's Passwords tool) so later downloads from that site stay signed in. Otherwise, cookies are never read.

Where this goes

All of the above is sent only to the Orlo app running on the same machine, over a local channel:

• Chrome / Firefox: through the browser's native messaging to Orlo's native host, then over a local Unix-domain socket to the app.
• Safari: through a shared App Group Unix-domain socket to the app, or — if the app isn't listening at that moment — by launching it with an orlo:// link.

These are local-only channels. Nothing from the extensions is sent to us or to any third party over the network. The extensions make no network requests of their own.

Safari note: Safari extensions can't auto-capture downloads. On Safari, capture happens only when you explicitly use the right-click context menu (or open a magnet/.torrent link). Chrome and Firefox can optionally auto-capture downloads when you enable that setting.

Site access: to capture a download from a site you choose, the extension may request permission to access that site. On Chrome and Firefox this is requested on demand only when you turn on “Send cookies” or click the popup's “Save Site Cookies” button. The extension uses that access solely to read the download's URL, headers, and — when you enabled or clicked the above — that site's cookies for the download; it does not read, monitor, or record your browsing.

The extensions store their own settings — captureEnabled, a minimum file size, and the sendCookies toggle — in the browser's local extension storage. That stays in your browser.

When you add a download, Orlo fetches the URL you chose. To do that it makes a standard HTTP/HTTPS request to that download server — the server hosting the file — exactly like any browser or download tool.

• Your IP address is inherent to making that connection, as with any web request.
• If cookies, User-Agent, referrer, or custom headers were forwarded from your browser (see above), Orlo replays them to that same server so the download succeeds. This is only sent to the server you're downloading from.
• If you configure an HTTP proxy in settings, requests go through that proxy instead.
• Completed files are tagged with macOS's standard com.apple.quarantine marker so Gatekeeper can screen them on first open — the same treatment browser downloads get. This is a local macOS security marker; nothing is sent anywhere.

This is you talking to the sites you download from. Orlo doesn't route your downloads through us, and we never see them.

If you add a .torrent file or a magnet link, Orlo downloads it the way BitTorrent works: by connecting to other peers, trackers, and the DHT (Distributed Hash Table) to exchange pieces of the file.

As with all BitTorrent, this reveals your IP address and listening port to the trackers, peers, and DHT nodes you connect to. Peers can also be discovered from other peers via Peer Exchange (PEX). This is inherent to the BitTorrent protocol, not specific to Orlo.

• This only happens for torrents and magnets you add.
• The DHT is enabled by default; UPnP port forwarding is off by default. You can change torrent settings (DHT, listen port, seeding, rate limits) in the app.
• None of this involves us — Orlo is not a tracker and does not proxy torrent traffic.

Orlo checks our update server for new versions. This is a standard web request, so our update server sees your IP address, a user-agent, and your app version — the same information any website receives when your computer connects to it. It carries no personal data beyond that ordinary request.

Updates are cryptographically signed, and Orlo verifies the signature before installing. This update check — and downloading an update if one is available — is the only routine connection Orlo makes to us. (In development builds, auto-update is disabled entirely.)

• No analytics, tracking, or telemetry. Orlo contains no analytics SDKs and sends us no usage data.
• No crash reporting. Orlo does not phone home when something goes wrong.
• No accounts, no sign-in, no profiles.
• No selling or sharing your data. We don't have it to sell.
• No third-party services embedded in the extensions or the app for tracking purposes.
• Peer country flags are offline. The flags shown next to BitTorrent peers come from a bundled, on-device database. No IP-lookup requests leave your Mac to produce them.
• Your download list, queues, and settings never leave your Mac unless you move them yourself.

Everything Orlo stores is kept locally on your Mac. Nothing is synced to us.

• Download list, queues, and settings: stored in the app's local files (e.g. downloads.json, queues.json) and in standard macOS preferences, inside your account's Application Support folder. These hold the URLs, forwarded headers, filenames, progress, and queue and torrent settings needed to manage your downloads. When a download was captured with “Send cookies” on, its saved entry can include the session cookies and authorization headers that were forwarded — kept only so the download can be retried/resumed. These files are protected by macOS account permissions; removing the download deletes them.
• Saved site cookies and logins (Passwords tool): when you click “Save Site Cookies” in the extension popup — or when a captured download's cookies refresh an existing entry — the app keeps one Cookie entry per site in your macOS Keychain, alongside any HTTP logins you saved. They are used only to authenticate downloads from that exact site, never leave the Keychain except into an encrypted backup you create, and can be viewed (behind Touch ID / your password) and deleted at any time in the app's Passwords tool.
• Resume data: small sidecar files next to in-progress downloads let a download resume after interruption. They contain the URL, byte ranges, and validation tags (ETag/Last-Modified).
• Browser integration files: to connect the extensions, Orlo writes a small native-messaging manifest into each supported browser's configuration folder. These just point the browser at Orlo's local host and contain no personal data.
• Local sockets: the app creates owner-only local socket files at runtime for extension communication and removes them on shutdown.
• Extension settings: stored in each browser's own extension storage.

You control retention: removing a download, clearing your list, or uninstalling the app removes this local data. There is no server-side copy for us to retain or delete, because we never receive it.

Chrome Web Store — Limited Use

Orlo's use of information received from the browser extension complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements. Data the extension accesses (download URLs, page/referrer, filename, request headers, and — only when you enable “Send cookies” or click “Save Site Cookies” — that site's cookies) is used solely to provide the extension's single user-facing function: handing the downloads you choose to the Orlo app on your own device. It is transmitted only to that local app and is never sold, transferred to third parties, used for advertising or personalized ads, or used to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes. It is not transferred to us or to any external server at all.

Firefox Add-ons (AMO)

The Firefox extension declares no data collection, which is accurate: everything it reads is delivered only to the Orlo app on the same machine and never to us or any third party. The cookies permission is used strictly for that local hand-off when you enable “Send cookies” or click the popup's “Save Site Cookies” button.

Orlo is a general-purpose utility and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect any personal information from anyone, including children.

If we change how Orlo handles data, we'll update this page and revise the effective date above. Material changes will be reflected here before they take effect in a released version.

Questions about this policy or about Orlo's privacy practices? Reach us through orlo.akxl.io.