Privacy

Saved in your browser

GateLab and CodeLab keep your work in the browser (IndexedDB and localStorage) so you find it again next time. This includes your circuits and projects, your Learn progress, your settings and the name you use in live sessions. None of it is sent to us unless you share it. To delete it, clear the data for learngates.com in your browser settings.

This storage is only there for features you use, so under Italian law (article 122 of the Codice privacy) it doesn’t need a cookie banner.

When you open a page

As with any site, your browser sends the server your IP address and the address of the page. We don’t keep a log of these requests. The server does hold IP addresses in memory for a short time to limit abuse, for example too many connections from one address. Each address is dropped at the latest an hour after you leave, and all of them are dropped when the server restarts.

Open pages also send a small signal every 30 seconds so we can see how many people are online. The signal contains a random number that the page makes up when it opens, and nothing is stored on your device for it. The server keeps the totals for each minute of the last 24 hours.

Live sessions

In a live session the circuit or code goes through our server to everyone in the session, along with the name and colour you picked. Use a first name or a nickname.

The server saves the content of the session so it isn’t lost if the server restarts. It is deleted when the host ends the session, or after 30 days without use. Names are never written to disk. The server knows them only while you are connected.

The owner of the site can see which sessions are open and who is in them, and can join one to help or to stop misuse.

C and C++ programs

When you run a C or C++ program, the code is sent to the server and compiled there in a sandbox. The temporary files are deleted right after. The compiled program stays in memory for a while so the same code starts faster next time, until the server restarts. The log only records that a compile happened, whether it worked and how long it took.

CodeLab websites, the circuit simulator and the Learn checks run in your browser and never reach the server.

Share links and embedded circuits

A share link has the circuit in the part of the address after #. Browsers don’t send that part to servers, so we never see it.

Circuits embedded in other sites work the same way and don’t save anything in your browser. Your browser still loads the frame from learngates.com, so we get the request like any other page. The site showing the circuit has its own privacy policy.

Error reports

If the site’s own code breaks while you use it, the page sends us a short report so we can fix it. The report has the error message, the lines of our code where it happened, the address of the page without anything after ? or #, the name of your browser (for example Chrome 141 on Windows) and the version of the site.

Your circuits, your code and your programs are never in a report, and neither are errors that come from them. We don’t store your IP address with a report, and reports are deleted after 30 days.

Other companies

The server is rented from OVHcloud and is in Beauharnois, Canada. The European Commission considers data protection in Canada adequate, so the GDPR allows data to be sent there.

Cloudflare handles the domain’s DNS records. It tells browsers where the server is, but the site’s traffic doesn’t go through Cloudflare. Mail sent to privacy@learngates.com is forwarded by Cloudflare to a Gmail inbox, so Cloudflare and Google see those messages.

Fonts and scripts come from our own server. We don’t load anything from Google Fonts, ad networks or social networks. Websites you build in CodeLab can still load whatever their own code points to.

Legal basis

We rely on legitimate interest (article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR). The data is used to keep the site working and safe, to count visitors without knowing who they are, and to run the live sessions and compiles you ask for.

Students

Students can use the site without an account or an email address, and nothing asks them for personal details. It helps if teachers remind the class to use nicknames in live sessions and to keep personal information out of shared work.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete data about you, ask us to limit how it is used, or object to it. Since nothing is linked to names, we usually can’t look you up by name. To have a live session deleted, send its link to privacy@learngates.com.

You can also complain to the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (garanteprivacy.it) or to the data protection authority where you live.

Changes

If the site starts using data in a new way, this page will be changed before that happens. Last updated 19 October 2026.