Pencil Code Privacy Policy

Pencil Code is a service intended for use by all ages, so our users' privacy and safety are very important to us. To protect the privacy of all our users, we limit what we collect and what we publish on the service. Pencil Code policies are in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that limits use of children's personally identifiable information online.

Using Pencil Code

You can see, create, edit, and run programs with Pencil Code without registering. However, if you want to save your own projects on the Pencil Code service, you must register for an account.

When you register for an account, we ask that you do not use your real name as an account name. (Do not use your first and last name on the service, because you are not allowed to post personally identifiable information.)

The account name that you choose will be used as the name for a public website created to publish your programs. Pencil Code does not function as a personal messaging system. There is no way for another user to contact you through your Pencil Code account name.

Posting Personally Identifiable Information is Not Allowed

Pencil Code does not collect personally identifiable information, and our Terms of Service expressly prohibit posting personally identifiable information. That means you are not allowed to post content containing your own full name or the full name of other users, contact information, addresses, or other identifying information. We will remove personally identifiable information that we find on the service.

Teachers and other adults who need to post contact information or other personally identifying information are encouraged to use other services to host that content.

Posted Content is Public

One of the missions of Pencil Code is to nurture a community of students who learn from each other, so all content posted on Pencil Code is shared with all other users of Pencil Code. Other users may copy and share information that you post.

Changing Your Password and Deleting Your Account

You can change your password or delete your account at any time. To delete your account, simply delete all the files in your account. Empty accounts will be removed within a day or two. If you have forgotten your password or if you need to delete your (or your child's) account and you need help, email david.bau@gmail.com, and David will reset the password or delete the account.

Cookies and Local Data

We put "cookies" on your computer to identify your computer when you use Pencil Code. The cookies are used to remember you when you are logged in; to help you find your previous work when you leave and return to Pencil Code; and to help the Pencil Code Team understand how students use the service.

Pencil Code saves backups of your data on your local computer to help safeguard your programs when the network is unreliable.

Pencil Code can be operated with cookies disabled in your browser, but you may need to log in and provide your password again each time you wish to save.

Research and Analytics

When you save, edit, view, and run projects on Pencil Code, information is collected to facilitate analysis and improvement of the service. A record is saved of your interactions with Pencil Code and the state of your project when you run it.

Some of this data may be used in research studies intended to improve our understanding of how people learn with the system. The results of this research may be shared with educators and researchers through conferences, journals, and other publications.

About This Policy

The Pencil Code Team continually develops and improves the service. In the future Pencil Code may modify this policy to, for example, reflect changes to the Service or reflect changes to the law. You should look at the privacy policy regularly.

Contacting Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy, you can email David Bau at david.bau@gmail.com.