Privacy Policy
Last updated: 2 September 2026
This policy explains what the The Strong Rope website (thestrongrope.com) and the The Strong Rope mobile app for iOS and Android collect, why, and what you can do about it. Both are run by The Strong Rope ("we", "us"). We decide what is collected and why, and we are responsible for your personal data.
Part A covers the website. Part B covers the mobile app. The sections after them apply to both.
Summary
- You do not need an account to read the website.
- You do need an account to use the mobile app, and we collect your email, name and the profile details you choose to give us.
- The website uses Google Analytics; the app uses Firebase Crashlytics and Firebase Analytics to see when it crashes and how it is used.
- We do not show advertising, we do not collect an advertising ID, and we do not sell your data.
Part A — The website
A1. Information collected automatically
Google Analytics. The site uses Google Analytics to understand which pages are read and how people arrive. Google sets cookies on your device and receives your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you view and the site or search that referred you. This information is processed by Google on servers outside your country. We do not show a cookie banner, and we do not ask for your consent first — Google Analytics loads and sets its cookies as soon as a page opens. You can block it with your browser's cookie settings or a browser extension.
YouTube thumbnails. The home page and the lectures list show preview images
for our YouTube videos. Those images are loaded straight from Google's servers
(i.ytimg.com) rather than from ours, so opening either page sends your IP
address and the address of the page you are on to Google, whether or not you
click anything. We do not embed the YouTube player itself, so YouTube's own
player cookies are not set unless you follow a link to YouTube.
Server logs and rate limiting. Our servers see your IP address with each request. It is used to serve the page, to apply rate limits that protect the site from abuse, and to diagnose faults. We do not use it to build a profile of you.
A2. Search analytics
When you search articles or lectures, we record the search terms, how many results came back, how long the search took, and which result you clicked. This is stored on our own servers and is anonymous by design — no IP address, no cookies and no browser identifier are recorded with it. We use it to find searches that return nothing useful and improve the library.
A3. Information kept on your device
Some preferences are saved in your browser's local storage and never leave your device or reach our servers:
- your light or dark theme choice
- anything you type into the self-reflection worksheet
Clearing your browser's site data removes them.
A4. What the website does not do
- It does not have visitor accounts, sign-in or registration.
- It does not sell anything or take payments.
- It does not run advertising, ad networks or remarketing pixels.
- It does not ask for your location, contacts, camera or microphone.
Part B — The mobile app
B1. Account information
To create and use an account we collect and store:
| Data | Required | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Email address | Yes | You, or your Google account if you use Google Sign-In |
| Name | Yes | You, or your Google account |
| Profile picture | No | Your Google account, or a picture you set |
| Gender | No | You |
| Age range | No | You |
| Mobile number | No | You |
| Country, state, city, postal code | No | You |
| Preferred language | No | You |
| Contact/update preferences | No | You |
Your role within the organisation (for example student, teacher or administrator) is also stored so the app can show the right features.
B2. Authentication
Sign-in is handled by Google Firebase Authentication. You can sign in with an email address and password, or with Google Sign-In. When you use Google Sign-In, Google shares your email address, name and profile picture with us.
We never see or store your Google password. Authentication tokens are stored on your device in the iOS Keychain or the Android Keystore.
B3. Device information
Each request the app makes to our servers includes:
- the app version
- your device model (and manufacturer on Android)
- your operating system version
We use this to support the app, investigate faults and decide which devices and OS versions to keep supporting. It is not used to build an advertising profile.
B4. Push notifications
If you allow notifications, Firebase Cloud Messaging issues a token identifying your installation of the app, and we store it so we can send you notifications about new content and class announcements. If you turn notifications off, the token is no longer used to reach you.
B5. Content you create
If you use the class, syllabus or quiz features, we store your answers, attendance and related records so the app can show your progress and so your teachers and administrators can see the results for their classes.
B6. Crash reports and app usage
We use two Google Firebase services to keep the app working:
Firebase Crashlytics records crashes so we can fix them. A crash report contains the error and the sequence of code that led to it, your device model, operating system version, app version, and an identifier for your installation of the app.
Firebase Analytics tells us how the app is used: which screens are opened, how often the app is launched, session length, device and operating system, and an approximate region derived from your IP address.
We use this to fix faults and decide what to improve. We do not use it to advertise to you, and we do not link it to your name or email address.
We have turned off collection of the advertising ID. The app is used by students and may be used by children, so we do not collect that identifier even though the service would otherwise do so by default.
B7. What the app does not collect
- It does not show advertising, and it does not collect an advertising ID.
- It does not collect your location. Country, state, city and postal code come only from what you type into your profile.
- It does not access your contacts, photos, microphone or camera.
Both the website and the app
1. Why we use your information
- To create your account and sign you in (app).
- To show you content and features appropriate to your role (app).
- To record class attendance, syllabus progress and quiz results (app).
- To send notifications you have agreed to receive (app).
- To understand which content is read and searched for, so we can improve it.
- To see when the app crashes and how it is used, so we can fix faults and decide what to improve (app).
- To keep the service secure and to diagnose faults.
2. Who we share it with
We share personal data only with the partners and service providers who help us run the website and the app:
| Recipient | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Google Analytics | Website audience measurement |
YouTube / Google (i.ytimg.com) | Delivering video thumbnail images to your browser on the website |
| Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Messaging) | App sign-in and push notifications |
| Google Firebase (Crashlytics, Analytics) | App crash reports and app usage |
| Our hosting and technology providers | Running our servers and storing account, class, content and search-analytics data |
Our hosting and technology providers act on our instructions and may not use your data for their own purposes. Google processes website analytics data under its own terms, as described in Part A.
Your data may be processed outside your country, including on servers operated by Google. We may also disclose information where the law requires it, or to respond to a lawful request, or to protect our rights.
We do not share your data with advertisers or data brokers, and we do not sell or rent your personal data to anyone.
3. How long we keep it
We keep your app account information while your account exists. Class, attendance and quiz records are kept while you are enrolled and afterwards for our own record-keeping.
When you ask us to delete your account, we anonymise your personal details and keep the class, attendance and quiz records without anything identifying you, so class statistics stay accurate. We keep anything the law requires us to keep.
Anonymous website search analytics are not linked to any person and are kept for as long as they are useful for improving the site.
4. Your choices and rights
- Access and correction — view and edit your profile in the app.
- Notifications — turn them off in your device settings at any time.
- Contact preferences — change your update and unsubscribe settings in your profile.
- Website tracking — block or clear cookies in your browser settings to stop Google Analytics.
- Deletion — you can ask us to delete your account and personal data by emailing [email protected]. Because we are an international, volunteer-run group, this can take up to 60 days. If we still owe you a prize, we keep the details needed to deliver it until delivery is complete, and finish the deletion afterwards. We will tell you if that applies to you.
Depending on where you live you may also have the right to a copy of your data, to object to certain processing, or to complain to a data protection regulator.
5. Children
The website and the app are intended for general audiences, and the app is used by students of the organisation. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children in a way that requires parental consent under applicable law. If you believe a child has given us personal data without appropriate consent, contact us and we will remove it.
6. Security
App authentication tokens are stored using the iOS Keychain and the Android Keystore. Traffic between the website, the app and our servers uses HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.
7. Changes
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top and, where the change is significant, tell you in the app or on the website.
8. Contact
Questions, or requests about your data:
The Strong Rope
Email: [email protected]