The following sections describe how we process data (including, but not limited to personal data) in our desktop applications – Opera browser for Computers (on Windows, Mac, and Linux) and Opera GX desktop (on Windows and Mac).
Opera Account
Our browsers do not require you to sign in to start using them for regular browsing activities, such as browsing the web. However, you have the option to create an Opera account to use certain services (like commenting on our Forum or blogs, subscribing to VPN Pro, accessing Cashback, etc.). Note that even if you create an Opera account, your account and its associated data is not associated with the random ID of your browser installation, which remains separate.
If you choose to create an Opera account, we ask for a preferred username and an email address. The email address will be used to identify you as a user and for password recovery. Alternatively, you can use your Google, Facebook, Twitter, or VK account to sign in to an Opera account and access our services with the same profile. If you use these social networks to sign in, we may collect information such as your name, profile picture, and email address from them. If you use your Opera account in conjunction with a service like VPN Pro or Cashback, the data we process in connection with those services will be associated with your Opera account.
You can modify your Opera account, delete it, or request a copy of your data using your profile page. We retain your data for seven days after you’ve decided to discontinue your Opera account in case you choose to change your mind. After this seven-day period, your account and data are permanently deleted. Your Opera account with a verified email address will be deleted automatically if you don’t sign in for two years. Accounts with unverified email addresses will be deleted after six months of inactivity.
Note also that Opera allows you to sync your browser data, such as Speed Dial entries and bookmarks, between devices that have another Opera browser installed on them. The synced data is retained until your Opera account is deleted, and it is never associated with your browser installation’s randomly generated ID.
Purpose: To allow you to access certain services.
Legal basis: Contractual grounds (e.g., providing you the services).
Personalized Content
Our browsers may include personalized content features, such as a native News Feed, or specialty content features such as Shopping Corner. When you interact with these features, we collect some information, such as the articles you read in the News Feed, and your general location (your city or country). We use this information to build a profile of your interests, which we use only to select more relevant content for you. This information is only linked to your browser installation’s randomly generated ID and may be stored on our servers for up to three months - after this three-month period, this data is automatically deleted. We process this data based on your consent. If you would like to withdraw your consent, you can go to the Settings menu under ‘Privacy and security’ and ‘Privacy consent settings’, and disable ‘Personalized content’.
Purpose: Providing a more personalized experience and encouraging user engagement; monetization.
Legal basis: Consent.
Browser Extensions
You can install browser extensions or add-ons, which can be downloaded from the Opera add-ons website. Most of these extensions are developed by third parties and are subject to their own privacy terms. Please carefully review the terms before installing extensions. Please note that, as described in our Terms of Service, the sidebar messaging services (such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, etc.) offered within Opera are provided by third parties. These services will not collect any data from you through the sidebar tool unless you specifically sign into them and use them. Opera does not collect any data when you use these services.
Free VPN
Our free, built-in browser VPN is a no-log service. This means we do not log any personal data, or any other data, related to your browsing and originating network address on our servers while you use the VPN. When the VPN is active, all browser traffic is encrypted using strong, industry-standard AES-256 encryption.
VPN Pro
Depending on where you live, you may be able to purchase a premium VPN service called ‘VPN Pro’ through a subscription.
- VPN Pro is provided by a third-party service provider which owns, operates, and maintains the infrastructure which provides the Service. Data communicated through VPN Pro will be encrypted and routed through one of thousands of servers around the world. However, we do not promise that the service is absolutely secure.
- VPN Pro is a no-log service. Neither we nor our third-party service provider collect or store records of web pages you visit or links you click on in the servers dedicated for this Service.
- In some cases, to use VPN Pro you need to create and sign in to an Opera account. We use your Opera account to identify you as a valid subscriber to the VPN Pro service. We will share only information required to identify you as a subscriber with our third-party service provider, including a random ID number that is not associated with any of your real-life personal information. We do not share other data or personal data such as your email or name with our third-party service provider.
Purpose: To provide the service.
Legal basis: Contractual grounds.
Aria
Depending on which version of the browser you are using, you may be able to access an AI-powered chat assistant (‘Aria’). Aria is powered by OpenAI and Google (both US-based companies).
To access Aria, you do not need to sign into your Opera account, however if you do log in, you’ll get access to additional/extended features of Aria. We do not share your Opera account data with anyone, including OpenAI or Google. For more information on how we use and retain Opera account data, see the section on Opera account above.
Your input (which means anything that you choose to type into Aria’s chatbox, including any personal data you choose to include) is shared with OpenAI or Google in order to provide you with responses. Aria also automatically processes your input to give you more precise or meaningful responses. Moreover, based on your inputs, Aria identifies prompts that are shared with Google for the purpose of generating Google Search Suggestions to enrich the response you receive from Aria. We will ask you for your consent for such data processing when you use Aria for the first time. Aria has several additional features, which you may choose to use (e.g. context mode, image generation, voice output, image understanding, tabs management). Aforesaid features may require collecting and processing additional data, i.e. URL and tab names. To learn more, please read our FAQ.
After your session is complete, your chats, URL and chat tab names will be stored locally on your device and on Opera servers but will not be retained by OpenAI or Google.
If you use Aria without logging into your Opera account, all aforementioned data will be permanently deleted after 48 hours, and you will not have access to them on your device.
If you use Aria while logged into your Opera account, then the aforementioned data will be automatically removed after 30 days from Opera’s servers but will still be available on your device. At any time, you can delete your chats (both stored locally and on Opera servers), by going to the chats list by clicking the chat bubble icon on the top bar of the chat. There you can either delete them one at a time, or you can select multiple chats and delete them all at once by clicking the bin icon.
You may always opt out from the Google search suggestions feature via Aria Settings.
Purpose: To provide and manage the service.
Legal basis: Legitimate interest (for Opera account data), Consent (for any data you input to Aria), Contractual grounds (other data).
Cashback
Cashback is an incentive program where you can earn rewards when purchasing goods or services from participating online merchants. If you choose to use the Cashback program and visit supported websites, we will collect merchant URLs, a list of your purchased items, transaction amounts, and IP address. This data is required for the Cashback service to function, and we also use it to provide more relevant partner deals, and to detect fraud and misuse of the service. To enable payouts, your Opera account will be linked with a payment service provider, which will receive your customer ID, and relevant payment related data with Opera. Your payment data may be stored for up to five years due to regulatory requirements. You can modify your Opera account, delete it, or request a copy of your data using your profile page. Your Cashback data will be automatically deleted after two years of inactivity. You may choose to delete your Cashback account, which will erase your personal data from the system, through the Account Setting menus in Cashback account.
Purpose: To provide and improve the service.
Legal basis: Contractual grounds, legal compliance.
GX Cloud
GX Cloud is a set of online services, and a community for gamers, consisting of the following websites: GX Games, GX Store, GX Create, GX Dev and GX Me.These give you access to games, and other content as well as the option to play, compete in, and create video games, mods, and so on. Certain content available on the GX Cloud feature needs to be purchased (“Paid Content”). You may also use GX Cloud as a publisher to publish and distribute content and Paid Content.
You do not need an account to play most games; however, to get access to certain content (including Paid Content), participate in challenges, publish, distribute or create content, you need an Opera account. After signing up for the first time, you will be prompted to provide your date of birth and an optional avatar. We use your date of birth to ensure you are eligible to use the service. You can modify your Opera account, delete it, or request a copy of your data using your profile page. For more information on how we use and retain Opera Account data, see the section on Opera Account above.
You need to have an active payment account established with a payment service provider, bank, and/or other partner who cooperates with Opera for purposes of purchasing or distributing Paid Content. The payment service provider may process additional data, including your name, email address, full address, phone number and card ID. The payment service provider will share your customer ID, email address, and relevant payment-related data with Opera. Your payment data may be stored for up to five years due to regulatory requirements.
Purpose: To provide the service.
Legal basis: Contractual grounds.
GameMaker
Depending on where you live, it may be possible to purchase a license to the proprietary computer software program known as ‘GameMaker’, as well as to access platforms and websites that we operate, where you may use our content, or publish your content.
To access and use GameMaker, you will need to sign into your Opera account. We do not share your Opera account data with anyone. For more information on how we use and retain Opera account data, see the section on Opera account above. We may process your Opera account data (including email, user ID, location, device ID), as well as your other personal data such as first name and last name, only to identify you as a valid subscriber to GameMaker. If you use a legacy GameMaker account (meaning an account created before September 21st, 2022) we process additional data, such as: your home address, phone number, security questions answers, VAT number.
To enable payments (both making and receiving), your Opera account will be linked with a payment service provider. The payment service provider may process additional data, including your full address and card ID. The payment service provider will share your customer ID, and relevant payment-related data with Opera. Your payment data may be stored for up to five years due to regulatory requirements.
If you use GameMaker Forum, we will additionally collect and process your date of birth. This is to ensure that you are over the required age limit.
Various educational subscriptions for GameMaker are available to schools and other institutions of learning, licensed under applicable law to teach (‘Educational Institutions’). We do not collect and/or process any personal data or any personally identifiable data from Educational Institutions’ students, pursuant to or in connection with educational subscriptions, and thus students remain entirely anonymous to us. We do collect and process personal data from Authorised Representatives of Education Institutions (e.g. teachers) in the course of opening an account. For more information, please see our GameMaker Feature Terms of Service.
Please note that with reference to your data processed in scope of GameMaker service, you may make inquiries or requests (including a request to access or delete any of your personal data that we might possess) by sending an email to datacontroller@yoyogames.com.
Purpose: To provide the service.
Legal basis: Contractual grounds.
My Flow
If you use the “My Flow” function, a random ID is generated by the Flow server and assigned to each client device. These IDs are used solely to enable pairing functionality between Opera desktop and mobile applications and persist only while your devices are connected to My Flow. Your data is protected with end-to-end encryption and we retain it only as long as you continue to use the feature. You can disconnect your devices from My Flow, and delete your data through the application’s Settings menu.
Usage Statistics
When you install an Opera application, a random installation ID is generated. We collect this identifier, as well as Machine ID, hardware specifications (model, release date, etc.), operating system, environment configuration, and feature usage data to improve our products and services. For example, we may use it to analyze how our users interact with our applications, or to determine the effectiveness of promotional campaigns, or to detect and debug problems. We have no practical way of using any of this data to identify you personally. We retain this usage data for up to three years. You can opt out of reporting extended statistics through the Settings menu under ‘Privacy and Security’, by disabling ‘Help improve Opera by sending feature usage information’.
Purpose: Improving our products.
Legal basis: Legitimate interest (debugging and improving products and services).
Crash Reports and Logs
If an Opera application crashes, we collect a log that includes some information about your browser’s version, your operating system, platform and some memory data related to the crash. We collect this data with the sole purpose of improving our products and services. Crash logs are kept for up to five months. You can opt out of reporting this data to us through the Settings menu under ‘Privacy and security’, by disabling “Automatically send crash reports to Opera” .
If you visit our websites, we may collect your IP address to help diagnose problems with our servers and to administer our websites. We use IP addresses of website visitors solely for this purpose and may keep these website access logs for up to six months.
Browser Assistant
Opera for computers on Windows includes a component called Browser Assistant that displays notifications promoting the browser’s features or the browser itself. Browser Assistant checks if any notifications are pending on a scheduled basis and may report occurrences of certain system events (such as low battery, low hard disk space, new Wi-Fi network connected, another browser installed). Browser Assistant collects this data, as well as a randomly generated Opera ID so that we can determine and evaluate the effectiveness and performance of the notifications that we display to users. We may retain this data for up to four years. You can opt out of this data collection through the Settings menu under ‘Privacy and Security’, by disabling ‘Display promotional notifications’.
Purpose: Improving our products.
Legal basis: Legitimate interest (improving our products by understanding effectiveness of notifications of users).
Malicious-site Check
We use a fraud prevention framework (which includes Google Safe Browsing) to check the primary domain name of the website you visit against lists of known, malicious websites to protect you online. We do not collect full URLs of pages you visit for this purpose. We do not process any personal data in this context. You can disable this feature by heading to your browser Settings under ‘Privacy and security’, ‘Security’, and disabling ‘Protect me from malicious sites’.
Search Providers
Opera browsers allow you to customize the search engine used in the browser address bar. In most cases Google is the default provider, but other providers (such as Bing) might be set as default based on which version of the Application you are using. You can always change your default provider in the settings menu. Opera does not share personal data with search engine providers to enable search within Opera browsers.
Just like any other third-party website you might access, use of any search engine is subject to the terms of service and privacy policy offered by the specific search engine provider. Some of the web search services available in the Application may be provided by partners of CodeFuel Ltd. including, for example, bing.com. For information on the web search services data collection, please visit the search provider’s privacy policy.
Personalized Ads & Profiling
Based on data such as IP address, hashed user ID, and your general location (your country or city), some of our Applications serve targeted ads. These ads are provided by our monetization partners. You can always adjust your personalized ad choices in the application’s Settings menu or through your operating system’s settings.
As noted in our End User License Agreements for computers, mobiles, and the Terms of Service, our applications are generally provided for free and are therefore ad-supported. You can choose to share this data with us to help us provide a more personalized experience for you and offset the costs of our business. You can consent to sharing this data when you first install our applications or at any point through the settings.
We may also combine this data with other elements – including categories of websites you search and visit, device information (model, release date, device IDs, hardware specifications, operating system, etc.), and categories of ads you have clicked on in our products. We use this to build a better understanding of what our users are interested in.
We do not log or store your entire browsing history for this purpose. Instead we make a simple record of whether you have visited certain categories of websites based on the primary domains of pages you visit and mix it with other data (which might depend on which application you use, and may include page loads, number of Speed Dial clicks, whether you have ad blocker enabled or not, etc.) to make an informed guess about whether you are interested in broad categories of interests (such as sports, gaming, news, etc.). We then add this basic profile to other data, such as your general location (country or city) in order to enable our advertising partners to target their ads to groups of users who might be interested in their products and services.
We do not share your personal interests or browsing history with anyone. We retain this data for up to one year, after which it is deleted automatically.
We only process this data based on your consent. If you would like to view your options, or to withdraw your consent, please visit the settings menu of the application you are using.
Purpose: Improving our products and services, monetization.
Legal basis: Consent.
Speed Dials
Our browsers include visual bookmarks on the home screen which we call Speed Dials. You can customize the Speed Dials through the Application’s settings menu. Some Speed Dials are ads provided by our advertising partners. If you choose to use Opera’s default Speed Dials, you may be redirected through Opera’s partners or other third parties. These partners and third parties may collect data from you independently of Opera. This data may include third party cookies, device IDs, and session statistics. If you wish to opt out of such data collection, you can block third-party cookies through your browser’s Cookie Settings. You may also choose not to receive Speed Dial suggestions, or to adjust your Speed Dials by deleting preset options based on your own preference.
Promotion & Marketing
We process some data in order to promote and market our products and services. Some of this data comes directly from you when you submit it to us for some specific purpose. For example, if you decide to provide feedback to Opera, or participate in a promotional campaign, contest, or survey, organized by Opera or our partners on behalf of Opera, we may ask for information such as your name, age, phone number, email, or postal address. Depending on the nature of the campaign or contest, it may be necessary to share your data with third parties. When that applies, we will make it clear in the terms applicable to the campaign.
If you agree to receive marketing information from Opera via email, SMS, or push notifications, we may use third party technology providers to deliver such messages to you. You can opt out from marketing communications at any time in your Opera account profile settings or directly from a marketing email you received.
If you submit your phone number or email address on an application download page, we may send you a download link via SMS or email for your convenience.
In Opera for Windows computers, we may use the Browser Assistant component to promote the browser and its features to you. Browser Assistant comes as part of the Opera Browser for Windows, and may be manually removed from the system’s startup list, or via the browser settings. To learn more about Browser Assistant, please read our dedicated section on it in this statement.
In general when we process data in the context of a promotional campaign, contest, or survey, we process your personal data on the basis that doing so is necessary to enable you to participate in the campaign. In some cases we process data for marketing purposes based on your consent. In any case we will not retain your data for longer than necessary to fulfill the specific purpose for which it was initially collected. You can always control your preferences via the settings menu or through your account, and if you have other concerns you can reach out to us through this form.
Purpose: To promote our products and services.
Legal basis: Varies by context as explained above - may include contractual grounds, legitimate interest, or consent (in some cases).
Third Party Technologies
Our applications and services include third-party technology or code, some of which may use your data in different ways. When such third-party technologies use previously collected data, they typically act as data processors for us. When they collect data on their own, they typically act as independent data controllers. For convenience, we have included links to their privacy policies below. Data controllers are marked with an asterisk.
- Third-party features:
- Payment service providers:
- Technology providers:
Please note that this list of third-party entities applies only to the currently supported versions of our applications and services.