Tabs API is usable without tabs permission.

chrome/browser/extensions/extension_tab_util.cc

Index: chrome/browser/extensions/extension_tab_util.cc
diff --git a/chrome/browser/extensions/extension_tab_util.cc b/chrome/browser/extensions/extension_tab_util.cc
index 55d9c4ceb1e8b99c6e27e5ff4e6d809b3557f0cd..db3d3c22e9cd5988fe6706a71f754d043bff6194 100644
--- a/chrome/browser/extensions/extension_tab_util.cc
+++ b/chrome/browser/extensions/extension_tab_util.cc
@@ -131,6 +131,15 @@ DictionaryValue* ExtensionTabUtil::CreateTabValueActive(
   return result;
 }
 
+void ExtensionTabUtil::StripTabOfSensitiveData(DictionaryValue* tab) {
+  if (tab->HasKey(keys::kUrlKey))
+    tab->SetString(keys::kUrlKey, std::string());
+  if (tab->HasKey(keys::kTitleKey))
+    tab->SetString(keys::kTitleKey, std::string());
+  if (tab->HasKey(keys::kFaviconUrlKey))
+    tab->SetString(keys::kFaviconUrlKey, std::string());
+}
+
 bool ExtensionTabUtil::GetTabStripModel(const WebContents* web_contents,
                                         TabStripModel** tab_strip_model,
                                         int* tab_index) {