Privacy policy
Last updated: October 1, 2026
- There are no accounts, and we never ask for your name or email.
- Your lesson progress, settings and checklist ticks are saved in your browser, not on our server.
- Our server keeps normal web logs (including your IP address) for 14 days, for security and fixing problems.
- We count visits, and how long pages are used, without cookies and without storing IP addresses.
- Only if you click Accept: a random number in your browser lets us see whether people come back and how far they get through a path. Click Reject any time and we delete it. We don't sell anything about you, and there are no ads.
Who we are
This policy covers computerhackingtools.com, run as "Computer Hacking Tools" ("we", "us"). Questions or requests about your data: privacy@computerhackingtools.com.
What we collect, and why
| What | Details | Why | Kept for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web server logs | Your IP address, the date and time, the page you asked for, the page you came from and your browser's name and version. | Keeping the site secure (spotting attacks) and fixing problems. | 14 days |
| Visit counts | The day and hour, the page, the website you came from (just its name) and any campaign tag in the link you followed (like utm_source=instagram), your device type (phone, tablet or computer), your browser's and operating system's names and versions, your country, and an anonymous visitor number. The country is looked up from your IP address at the moment of the visit, using a database on our own server (IP geolocation by DB-IP); your IP address is not sent anywhere or stored. The visitor number is made from your IP address and browser with a secret that changes every day and is then thrown away, so we can count a visitor once a day but can't recognise you the next day. | Knowing which lessons people use, and which browsers and screens to design for, so we can improve the site. | 400 days |
| Reading time | A small script on each page measures how long the page is actually used (only while the tab is visible and you've scrolled, typed or clicked in the last 2 minutes), how many practice terminal missions you completed, and whether you marked the lesson complete. It also sends your browser window's width, whether you're using light or dark mode, whether you chose Rocky, Ubuntu or both, and your browser's language setting. It's sent once when the page loads and again when you leave it, with the same anonymous daily visitor number. No cookies, nothing stored in your browser, and the commands you type are not included, with one exception: if you type a command the practice terminal doesn't know, its name (like nmap, never what came after it) is sent, so we know which commands to add. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal, the script sends nothing. | Seeing which lessons take long or lose people, and designing for the screens people really use. | 400 days |
| Feedback you send | If you use “Send feedback”, or “Was this lesson helpful?” or “Report a problem” at the end of a lesson: your answer, the page, the problem type, anything you typed (up to 500 characters, with anything that looks like an email address or phone number removed), whether you chose Rocky or Ubuntu, and the anonymous daily visitor number (so one person can't vote many times). Please don't type personal details. We can't reply to feedback. | Fixing and improving lessons. | 400 days |
| Site searches | What was typed into the site's search box (up to 60 characters) and how many results it found. Nothing about who searched. | Finding missing lessons and words. | 400 days |
| Error reports | If a page breaks in your browser: the page, the error message and your browser's name and version. No IP address. | Fixing broken pages and practice terminals. | 90 days |
| Learning journeys (only if you click Accept) | Your browser makes up a random number and keeps it in its storage (cht-aid). It's sent with the reading-time details above, together with how many lessons of the current path you've finished (from your progress in this browser). That lets us link your visits on different days: whether you came back, which days you were active, how far you got through each path and how long it took. We store only a scrambled version of the number, and never link it to your name, email or IP address. | Seeing where learners stop, so we know which lessons to improve first. | Until you click Reject (we then delete it at once), or 400 days after your last visit |
A backup copy of these records is made every night and kept for 30 days, on servers we run, so the times above can be up to 30 days longer in a backup. When you click Reject, your learning journey is deleted at once from the live data, and from the backups as they expire.
The practice terminal runs entirely in your browser. The commands you type in it are not sent to us, apart from the name of a command it doesn't know, as described above.
What stays in your browser
Some things are saved in your own browser's storage (called localStorage) so the site remembers them between visits. They never leave your device, and we can't see them:
- which lessons and challenges you've finished,
- whether you want to see Rocky, Ubuntu or both, and light or dark mode,
- the ticks on the recipes checklists,
- your cookie choice,
- copies of the pages and files you've opened, so they work offline.
To remove them, clear this site's data in your browser's settings. Your progress will be gone, so there's no way for us to restore it.
Cookies and analytics
Today the site sets no cookies at all. Clicking Accept in the banner turns on the learning journeys described above. We may also add Google Analytics later, under the same Accept. Nothing optional happens unless you click it, and you can change your mind any time with Cookie settings. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as "Reject". When analytics is switched on, the cookie policy will list exactly what it stores.
What we don't do
- We don't sell or rent information about you, and we don't show ads.
- We don't load fonts, scripts or images from other companies: everything comes from our own server. (Google Analytics will be the exception, and only if you accept it.)
- We don't build profiles of visitors. Unless you click Accept, everything we count resets every day, so we can't follow anyone from one day to the next. If you do accept, the learning journey is only used to improve the lessons, and it isn't linked to who you are.
Children
Computer Hacking Tools is meant for teenagers and adults, aged 13 and older. It isn't aimed at younger children. A child under 13 may only use it with a parent or guardian, who makes the site's choices for them, including Accept or Reject in the cookie banner. There are no accounts, and we never ask for personal information. If you think a child under 13 has sent us personal information (for example in an email), or used the site without a parent's agreement, contact us and we'll delete what we hold.
We're planning optional accounts so learners can keep their progress and teachers and parents can follow along. Before any of that goes live, this policy will explain exactly what it collects, including how accounts for children work.
Who else sees it
The information above stays on our own server. We'd only hand it to someone else if the law required it. Our hosting provider runs the hardware the server is on.
Your choices and rights
You can ask us what we hold about you, ask us to delete it, or ask any other question about your data, by emailing privacy@computerhackingtools.com. Most of what we keep can't be linked to you, but we'll help where we can. Depending on where you live (for example the EU, the UK or California), you may have extra rights under your local law. We'll respect them.
Keeping it safe
The site is only served over encrypted HTTPS. The logs and statistics are only available to the people who run the site, and old records are deleted on the schedule above.
Changes to this policy
When we change what we collect, we'll update this page and the date at the top first.
Contact
privacy@computerhackingtools.com. See also the terms of use, the acceptable use policy and the cookie policy.