Privacy at SolarBench
The short version, for everyone: SolarBench does not know who you are and does not want to. No accounts. No names. No tracking cookies. Your streaks and badges live on your own device. If you put a score on the world rankings, we keep the score, what kind of device it came from (like "PC" or "Tablet"), and which country: never who you are.
What stays on your device
Your daily-question streak, mission badges, settings, nickname and class code are saved in your browser's own storage, on your device. They never leave it unless you submit a score. Clearing your browser data removes them.
What the rankings store
When you press SUBMIT after a stress test or speed test, we store: the score, the kind of device (PC, Mac, Phone or Tablet), the operating system family (like "Windows" or "Android"), a two-letter country code guessed from your device's timezone, the date, and, if you typed one, your nickname (call-sign) and class code. Nicknames are limited in length and characters and filtered for rude words. Please use star names, not real names.
A random number invented by your browser is stored with your scores so your device can show you your own history. It identifies a browser, not a person. We never store IP addresses with scores; a scrambled daily code derived from the IP exists only to stop spam, cannot be turned back into an address, and matches nothing after the day ends.
Class boards
A class code is a shared word your teacher invents. Scores submitted with it appear on a private class list. Anyone who knows the code can see that list, so teachers should pick something unguessable and pupils should still use star-name nicknames.
Visit counting (analytics)
If you press "THAT'S FINE" on the little question about counting visits, we load Google Analytics so we can see how many people use SolarBench and which countries they visit from, with advertising features switched off. If you press "NO THANKS", or never answer, it does not load at all. You can change your mind by clearing the site's browser data.
Live space weather
The SUN TODAY figures come from NOAA (the US space weather service). Our server fetches them and passes them on; your device never talks to NOAA directly.
For grown-ups: the formal bit
SolarBench is operated from the Isle of Man and designed around data minimisation in the spirit of UK GDPR and the ICO Age-Appropriate Design Code. We hold no personal accounts and no contact details of visitors. The lawful basis for the ranking database is legitimate interest in operating a public leaderboard containing no personal identifiers. Ranking rows are kept indefinitely as anonymous statistics but can be removed on request. To have a nickname or score removed, email hello@solarbench.im with the nickname and approximate date, and it will be deleted. SolarBench is sponsored by BroadbandSwitch.uk, whose own services carry their own privacy policy. The sponsor receives no data about SolarBench visitors from us.
Last updated 30 August 2026 · SolarBench v2.1