Is Hubort safe?

Here is what Hubort can reach, what it does with it, and how to check each point yourself rather than take our word for it. In short: the extension reads only the AI sites you allow and talks only to the app on your own computer; your chats stay in a database on that computer; and nine things can use the internet, eight of them only when you choose. Hubort is new, its installer isn't code-signed yet, and no outside firm has audited it, so the checks below are worth more than our say-so.

Checked on 27 October 2026, against extension 2.21.3.0.

What can the Hubort extension reach?

Only what your browser lets it, and the browser shows you the list: open its extension settings (chrome://extensions, edge://extensions or Firefox's Add-ons and themes), then Hubort's details. It asks for:

• Your own computer, at 127.0.0.1. That's how it hands chats to the Hubort app. It is the only address the extension can reach once it's installed.
• ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok, each only if you allow it. The browser asks when you switch a service on in the extension's popup, and you can take the permission back in the browser's settings at any time. The same goes for the addresses Gemini and Grok serve the images in your chats from.
• Storage, alarms and scripting. To keep its settings and pairing, to look for new chats on a schedule, and to watch Claude's usage-limit banner on claude.ai. None of these reaches a website by itself.
• Sync instantly, if you switch it on. An optional permission that lets it notice a reply finishing, so it reads that chat at once instead of at the next scheduled look.

It has no permission to read your cookies, your browsing history, your other tabs or any other site. It reads each service with the session you're already signed in with, so it never sees or stores your password. Its code is plain JavaScript, not minified, so what it does can be read in the files the store installs.

Where do my chats go?

Into one file on your own computer, and nowhere else. The extension hands each chat to the Hubort app, which keeps them in a SQLite database, hub.db, in your user folder (on Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\com.hubort.desktop; on a Mac ~/Library/Application Support/com.hubort.desktop). Hubort has no server that receives chats, so there is no copy of yours anywhere of ours.

The app answers only on 127.0.0.1, so another computer on your network can't reach it. On your own computer, a browser needs a pairing code from the app's tray before it can add anything, and another user account on the same computer can't see your chats. To check what the app listens on while it runs, use Command Prompt on Windows or Terminal on a Mac. It uses port 8787, or the next one up to 8796 when another account on the computer runs Hubort too, and every line should start with 127.0.0.1:

Windows

netstat -an | findstr 8787

Mac

netstat -an | grep 8787

Hubort doesn't encrypt the file itself. It is protected the way the rest of your user folder is: by your Windows or Mac sign-in, and by BitLocker or FileVault if you have them on. Anyone who can sign in as you can open it with any SQLite tool, which is also what makes it yours to read, export as Markdown or delete.

Can anything leave my computer?

Nine things can use the internet, and these are all of them. One is on from the start: the update check, which asks GitHub, not us, whether a newer release exists. The other eight happen only when you set them up, switch them on, press Send or answer. The privacy policy says the same in full, with what each sends and to whom.

• The update check On · to GitHub, not to us

  The desktop app asks GitHub whether a newer release exists. GitHub sees your IP address and the app's version, as with any download. We receive nothing.

• Ask Your Archive Pro · off until you set it up

  Your question, and the excerpts that answer it, go to your own AI provider, on your own key, and so does one week of a project when you press Sum up or Draft with AI. Anything shaped like a password or an API key is masked first.

• Live Sync to Notion Pro · off until you set it up

  The chats you pick go to your own Notion workspace, with your own token and an explicit yes.

• Drive backup Off until you set it up

  Your database, to your own Google Drive, with credentials you create.

• Problem reports Only when you press Send

  What you wrote, diagnostics that name no account, and a screenshot only if you add one. You see all of it before it goes.

• Usage reports Off until you switch them on

  A daily summary of counts, with a random install id. Never a chat, a title, a search or an account's name.

• Crash reports Off until you say yes

  Error details, stripped of names, paths and addresses. Never your chats.

• The question after an uninstall Only if you answer

  Removing Hubort opens a page on hubort.app that asks why. Opening it tells us which part was removed and its version. Your answer goes only if you give one.

• A subscription's key check Subscribers only

  Once a day, its licence key and nothing else, to renew it. A licence bought once, the trial and Free never contact us about a licence.

The MCP Connector (Pro, off until you switch it on) adds nothing to this list: AI apps you connect on your computer, like Claude or Cursor, read the chats you allow and send what they read to their own AI service. Hubort itself sends nothing.

Does Hubort change anything in my AI accounts?

No. Hubort only reads. It never sends a message, and never renames, archives or deletes anything in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok. One thing you should hear from us: it reads each service's web app on a schedule, and that may be inconsistent with a service's terms. The privacy policy has the full note, and you can lengthen the interval or switch a service off at any time.

How do I check the installer is really Hubort's?

Compare its SHA-256 with the one published beside it on the download page. The installer isn't code-signed yet (on a Mac, not notarized), so Windows, macOS and your browser warn about it, and the checksum is what tells you the file you have is the one we built. In PowerShell on Windows, or Terminal on a Mac, run the line for your computer with the file's path at the end; the long string it prints should match the download page's exactly.

Windows

Get-FileHash path\to\the-installer.exe

Mac

shasum -a 256 path/to/the-app.dmg

Get the extension only from its store listings, where each version is reviewed by the store before it's published: Chrome Web Store, Firefox Add-ons and Microsoft Edge Add-ons.

Are AI chat extensions safe to install?

Not automatically, and a store badge isn't proof. It has happened three times in seven months. In December 2025, Koi Security found four extensions with 8M+ installs reading AI chats. In January 2026, OX Security found two more, 900,000 users, one with Google's Featured badge. In June 2026, G Data found two more, 470,000+ users between them.

Whichever extension you're weighing, Hubort included, three questions tell you most. Which sites can it read? Its permissions are on its page in your browser's settings. Where does what it reads go? Its privacy policy should name every place. And does it have a server that receives your chats? Hubort's answers are above: the AI sites you allow, your own computer, and no.

What can't you check yet?

• A track record. Hubort is new. On 27 October 2026 its Chrome Web Store listing had no ratings yet, and its Firefox listing had one.
• An outside audit. No outside firm has audited Hubort.
• The desktop app's source. It isn't published. The extension's code is readable, as above, and the app's connections are all on the privacy policy.
• A code signature. Until the installer is signed, the checksum is what ties the file to us.

Hubort is made by Faizan Raza. If you find something that looks wrong, write to [email protected].

How do I try it?

Install the app, then add the extension to each browser you use AI in. The setup guide walks through every step, and the download page has both, with their checksums.