Your privacy isn’t a setting.
It’s the architecture.
Your data stays yours: what you don’t share, we can’t see. It lives in files you own on your device today, and anything you sync is sealed first — so most of it never reaches us at all.
The short version
What Velnode never does
No asterisks on these. They’re removed from the design, not toggled off.
Where your data lives
Yours alone — in files only you hold.
Bookmarks, history, notes, your timeline — they’re plain files on your machine, not rows in someone’s database. You can read them, back them up, or delete them with any tool you like. By default there’s no cloud account in the way — nothing leaves your device unless you turn on sync, and even then only as encrypted blobs we can’t read — your browser doesn’t need our servers to work.
Full transparency
What leaves your device — only when you choose
Most of Velnode works with nothing leaving your machine. These are the only times data goes out — each one is your decision.
Cloud AI
If you add your own AI key and aren’t in Local-Only or Kids Mode, your prompt goes straight to the provider you chose — not through us.
Account sync
Turn on sync and your data is sealed on your device first. We only ever hold ciphertext we can’t read.
Plugin network
A plugin can reach the internet only if you grant it — and only to the domains it declared up front.
Crash report
Off by default. If you opt in, a scrubbed summary is shown to you before it sends — and never includes personal data.
Encryption
Sealed on your device, before anything moves
Two of the most sensitive things you own — your passwords and your synced data — are encrypted where you control them.
Password Vault
AES-256-GCM, scrypt, and RSA-4096, wrapped in your OS keystore and locked by a passphrase only you know. Your passphrase and 24-word recovery phrase are never stored or sent — not even to us.
Zero-knowledge sync
When you sync, your data is encrypted on your device with a key that never leaves it. Our server holds only opaque ciphertext — we couldn’t read your data if we tried.
On-device AI
Vee thinks on your machine, not ours
Velnode’s assistant can run a local model entirely on your device. Turn on Local-Only mode and AI is kept on the machine — enforced in the core, where a web page or plugin can’t quietly reroute it. Cloud AI is available too, but only with your own key and your choice.
In your hands
Privacy controls, on by default
You don’t have to dig through settings to be protected. These ship on.
Ad & tracker blocking
Blocks known trackers and ad networks at the network level — on by default, no filter-list upsell.
Enhanced Incognito
Strips 32 tracking parameters, removes fingerprinting headers, and upgrades you to HTTPS.
Deny by default
New permissions ship denied. Camera, mic, location — nothing turns on until you say so.
Kids Mode
A locked-down mode for younger users — enforced in the policy layer, not just the UI.
The difference
What sets Velnode apart
Plenty of browsers care about privacy. Velnode’s difference is the combination — and where the lines are drawn by default.
↳ Your data, not our cloud
Most browsers default to syncing your data through their cloud account. Velnode keeps it in files on your device unless you choose otherwise.
↳ On-device AI by default
Many browsers’ built-in AI runs on the maker’s servers. Velnode’s Vee can run entirely on your machine, with Local-Only enforced at the core.
↳ No telemetry by default
Where others ship analytics on (opt-out) or send a daily ping, Velnode sends nothing by default — only an opt-in, scrubbed crash report.
↳ Signed plugins, not a bazaar
Velnode loads a plugin only if it’s cryptographically signed — a load-time gate the big extension stores don’t enforce.
Credit where it’s due: Tor sets the bar for anonymity, Mullvad for a no-account, no-trace browser, and Brave, Firefox and DuckDuckGo all do real privacy work. Velnode’s bet is data ownership and on-device intelligence in one browser you don’t have to take on faith.
The fine print
Want every detail?
Our full Privacy Policy — plain language, under the NZ Privacy Act 2020 — is published. This page is the plain-English overview; the policy has the complete detail.
Full Privacy Policy
What’s stored, what isn’t, and your rights under the NZ Privacy Act 2020.
🔭Transparency
How Velnode works in the open: what we collect, how we’re funded, and responsible disclosure.
🔒Report a vulnerability
Found a security issue? Email [email protected] — we read every report.