Privacy Policy

This is the privacy policy of the Micro:bit Educational Foundation, it defines how we deal with your information when you visit this web site or use any of the Micro:bit Educational Foundation services. We value the privacy of all our users. It is our intention that anyone using microbit.org should never have to disclose any information to use the website.

Children

Although we have users of all ages, the BBC micro:bit and the resources provided on this website are designed for 8-12 years old (and the people who teach them). We consult with children and their educators on a regular basis to help the Foundation design new products, data collection and processing policies.

GDPR

The Foundation is based in the UK and subject to GDPR legislation from the 25 May 2018. The Foundation is registered with the Information Commissions office.

No cookies or analytics

microbit.org is a completely static web site. It does not make use of cookies, browser based analytics or make requests to any third-party web site without you explicitly clicking a link. See Third party web sites.

Server logs

Websites like microbit.org need web servers to process all the HTTP requests coming from browsers. Web servers make a note of every request or error in logs. A human or a computer can read these logs and determine

Which page of the website is being requested
The time and date of the request
The IP making the request
The HTTP request code and the response the websever gave (e.g 404 for an error)
The browser and build version that made the HTTP request
The operating system and version of the machine making the request

The Foundation web team may look at these internal server logs to fix errors (such as the server being slow or a page being broken). We may use these logs if we think the website is under attack.

We process the data from these logs using analytics software. This assumes that the data isn’t being faked. The software processes the data, essentially counting up all the types of requests. The processed data allows the Foundation to know how the website is being used (popularity of pages or browsers) and from the IP address, we can determine which country or region is making the request.

We never combine this data with any data from any other system. So we never know how you use the website with your unique data provided to the Foundation in 3rd party systems. We also do not use this data to show you content based on a location. (So a student in Edinburgh UK has the same experience as someone in San Paulo, Brazil).

We purge logs to save space and to secure the data on a regular basis.

The Python Editor

The editor at python.microbit.org is hosted and maintained by the Foundation and is subject to this policy

Third party web sites

Web sites operated by a third party on our behalf may collect information about you for the purpose of providing you the service. These include:

The makecode.microbit.org editor, provided by Microsoft. Read their privacy statement and their Student Pledge
The support.microbit.org knowledgebase and support site, provided by Freshdesk collects your email address, meta data associated with your device (Operating system and browser version) and any information you provide as part of a support ticket. They also store a password if you choose to create an account. Read their privacy policy
Content and editors hosted at microbit.co.uk, provided by the BBC. Read their privacy policy
We use MailChimp to manage our newsletters and they use cookies. Read their privacy policy
Our translation system, provided by Crowdin. Read their privacy policy
Our public repositories hosted on Github. Read their privacy statement
We use Slack as a hub for our developer community. Read their privacy policy
We may link to content provided by third parties

Third party apps

Mobile and desktop applications operated by a third party on our behalf may collect information about you for the purpose of providing you the service and are subject to their respective app store policies. These include:

The Android App, provided by Samsung and hosted in Google's Play Store. Read Samsung's privacy policy and read Google's privacy policy
The iOS app, provided by Insight Resources is subject to this policy and hosted Apple's iTunes store. Read Apple's privacy policy
The Windows App, provided by Microsoft is hosted on the Microsoft App store and subject to their privacy statement and their Student Pledge

Deleting user accounts and personal data

If you wish to remove your data from any of these systems, please follow the respective instructions. For anything not listed, please open a support ticket

Public Platforms

The Foundation is active on a range of public platforms including GitHub, Twitter, Facebook and Slack, and follow their privacy policies. We treat these forums as public. For example, if you say something on Twitter in a public message we might quote you on Facebook, and we might talk to you on Slack about a GitHub pull request.

Questions, complaints or queries

The Foundation is a small, growing organisation. We are always looking to be better. Especially when collecting and using personal information for any individual. For this reason, we take any complaints and suggestions for improvements very seriously. Please contact us if you require any further information.