Privacy policy

What we keep

The first time you open a quiz, a game, or your stats, KanaDrill makes an anonymous player record for your browser. Tied to that record, we keep:

• A display name. It starts out random, like “fuwafuwa-tanuki”, and you can change it when you join a game.
• Your drill history. Which kana you answered, whether you got them right, how quickly you answered, and a summary of each game you finish.
• Timestamps. When the record was made and roughly when you were last here.

We don't ask for your name, email address, or any other contact details. Please don't put personal information in your display name.

If you make an account

Signing up is optional — everything on the site works without one. It exists so your progress follows you to another browser or device instead of living in one set of cookies. If you do sign up, we additionally keep:

• A username. The name you sign in with. Pick anything; it doesn't have to be your real name, and it isn't shown to other players unless you also use it as your display name.
• Your password, hashed. Passwords are stored as a bcrypt hash, never as text. We can't read yours, and nobody who obtained the database could either.

There's still no email address on file, so we can't send you a password reset. Instead you get ten single-use recovery codes when you sign up. We store only a hash of each, so we can't read them or show them to you again — if you lose both your password and your codes, the account can't be recovered by us or by anyone else.

Signing up doesn't create a second record — the anonymous player record your browser already had becomes your account, so nothing you've drilled is lost. Signing in on a browser that has its own anonymous practice is different: it switches that browser to your account and leaves the anonymous record behind. We don't delete that record, but nothing points at it any more and it can't be signed in to, so it's gone as far as you're concerned. The sign-in page warns you before this happens. If you want to keep that practice, sign up on that browser instead.

Cookies and local storage

• _kanadrill_uid links your browser to your player record, signed in or not. It holds a random token and nothing else — never your username or password — and it lasts until you clear it or sign out.
• _kanadrill_key is a session cookie the site needs in order to work. It connects the live page to your player record and protects against forged requests.
• Theme preference. If you pick light or dark mode, that choice is saved in your browser's local storage and never sent to us.

None of these are used for advertising or to follow you to other sites.

Multiplayer games

In a game room, other players in the room can see your display name and your scores. A room is gone once everyone leaves or it sits idle. Your own results are saved to your drill history.

Server logs

Like almost every website, the servers and hosting that run KanaDrill may keep short-lived technical logs, such as your IP address, browser type, and the pages you requested. These logs are used only to keep the site running and to deal with abuse.

How we use it

We use this information only to run KanaDrill. It powers your stats, your progress on the kana chart, and multiplayer games. We may also look at overall usage, such as how many people are playing. We don't sell it, share it for advertising, or give it to anyone else, unless the law requires us to.

Deleting your data

You can delete your data yourself at any time. Without an account, open your Stats page and choose Delete my data; with one, use Delete my account on your account page. Your player record, username, display name, drill history, stats and sign-in tokens are all removed immediately and can't be recovered. We keep no part of it, in any form. You're signed out of every browser at the same time.

Clearing this site's cookies — or signing in to an account from an anonymous browser — starts you over as a new player. Your old record stays on our server and can no longer be connected to you. If you want it gone, delete it first.

If you need a hand, email [email protected] with the player ID shown at the bottom of your Stats or account page. If you don't delete your record, we keep it for as long as KanaDrill is running.

Children

KanaDrill isn't aimed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you think a child has entered personal information, such as a real name in a display name, contact us and we'll remove it.

Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top of this page. If a change affects what we collect, we'll say so here before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email [email protected]. See also the terms of service.