Privacy Policy
This privacy policy explains what information TheLearnDen (“we”) collects when you use thelearnden.com, how we use it, and the choices you have. TheLearnDen is a free UK learning-resource directory operated from the United Kingdom. For any privacy matter, use the editorial contact page.
Privacy in simple words
- You can browse TheLearnDen without an account. You do not need to give us your name or school to find resources.
- If you allow learning analytics, we count visits and learning actions. Learning analytics does not collect your search words or written learning answers.
- Essential only keeps this optional learning activity off. Cloudflare counts website traffic separately, without cookies.
- You can change your choice in Cookie settings. If you share this browser, your choice affects everyone who uses it.
- Ask a trusted adult if you need help, or contact us with a privacy question. Please do not send a child’s name or school.
Who is responsible for your data
TheLearnDen is run by a solopreneur who is also a home-educating parent, based in England and trading as TheLearnDen, who is the data controller for this site. You can browse learning resources without giving us a name, school or account. We and the services named below process limited information to operate the site, handle feedback and measure aggregate use; emails sent to us are deleted once answered. To exercise any of your rights or ask a question about this policy, use the editorial contact page.
Children’s privacy
TheLearnDen does not ask children for names, email addresses, school details or accounts. Resource feedback is stored without raw IP addresses, browser fingerprints or advertising identifiers.
What we collect and store
We keep combined counts of topic views, searches and resource opens. We also store resource feedback under reference numbers, rather than a name or account. If you suggest a resource link with your feedback, do not include names, school details or other personal information. We keep operational records only as long as needed to check links, protect users and keep the site working.
Cookies and browser storage
TheLearnDen sets no advertising or tracking cookies. Your browser saves site settings on your device and temporarily remembers search filters, your place on a page and information that prevents counting the same action twice. Resource-card feedback works without analytics permission and does not add cookies or browser storage. A random reference is kept only in the open page so you can update or remove that feedback; it cannot be recovered after you reload or close the page. These temporary details are cleared when that browser session ends. Cloudflare Web Analytics provides separate cookieless website statistics.
Helping us improve TheLearnDen
You can choose whether to share learning activity to help us improve TheLearnDen. Learning activity is off until you allow it in Cookie settings. Cloudflare website statistics run independently.
What we collect
For UK visits, we use temporary random reference numbers to count activity on a page and during a visit in one tab. They are not names or accounts and do not identify you on other websites. The visit reference changes after 30 minutes without activity and at midnight GMT (1 am during UK summer time). This does not change your saved cookie choice or ask you to accept again.
We count page views, resource opens, the size of search results, and tool or game starts and completions. We do not receive the words you search for or children’s written answers. We may receive the referring website’s name and short campaign codes from page links. We keep recognised source or campaign references and the referring website’s name when available. We do not collect the full page query string. Our activity records do not store full internet addresses (IP addresses) or detailed browser descriptions. Cloudflare handles the connection and stores these records for us.
When you allow learning activity, we can also record how quickly a page loads and responds, whether its layout moves unexpectedly, and simple error categories such as a resource that could not load. These measurements include a numerical value, a quality rating and a temporary random reference. They are linked to the page and visit while detailed records are held. We group them into reports and delete the detailed records under the limits below. This is separate from Cloudflare website statistics, which runs independently.
We group activity to understand and improve the site. When you allow learning activity, this browser also remembers whether it has been counted today, this calendar week and this calendar month. These calendar markers contain no visitor identifier. We send only first-visit or repeat-visit flags with a page view, then keep combined browser counts. They count consenting browsers, not people: shared browsers count together, while different browsers or clearing site data can count again. Unmeasured visits and earlier unique counts remain unknown. Daily unique counts cannot be added to obtain unique visitors across days. Reports show combined counts, not a named child’s history or an assessment of their learning.
Learning pages also send information about which question was attempted, how many attempts were made, whether an answer was correct and the type of feedback. These are stored as daily totals without learner or visit references. Temporary references are kept separately to prevent counting the same action twice. We do not receive the words entered as an answer.
How long we keep it
After daily counts are prepared successfully, we delete the detailed activity and temporary processing records. If a report fails, recovery and cleanup aim to delete live records within 48 hours of receiving them. Cleanup starts earlier to allow time to clear a backlog. We stop new collection if deletion is blocked or we cannot check that it is working. A Cloudflare outage can delay deletion. We mark the affected report as incomplete and resume cleanup when the service recovers. Cloudflare recovery backups on the Paid plan may keep deleted records for 30 days, separately from live records. Recent daily combined reports are kept for up to 400 days. For longer history, we keep reviewed monthly totals for broad page and source groups, without visit references, individual page addresses, search words or referring website addresses. Monthly history is released no sooner than 35 days after a month ends. Behavioural counts and active time are rounded estimates. Small groups and related totals are withheld together rather than shown as zero. Averages use those same rounded counts and times. Each monthly total expires at the start of the same month five years later. Small groups and totals considered together still need privacy safeguards before they can be reported.
Your cookie choice
Allow learning analytics turns on learning-activity collection. Essential only keeps it off. Cookie settings lets you change this choice on any page. This choice does not disable Cloudflare Web Analytics. We save an accepted choice on this device for 30 days from your decision. Browsing does not extend that time. After it expires, the saved preference may remain until replaced or you clear this site’s data, but it no longer gives permission to collect. The choice applies across pages and tabs, including to anyone else using the same browser. It records settings and times, not a visitor or visit reference.
You can exclude this browser from learning-activity statistics in Cookie settings. We save this setting on this device without a visitor identifier, until you turn it off or clear site data. While exclusion is on, Allow learning analytics cannot start collection. Turning exclusion off does not give permission to collect: you must allow learning analytics again. This setting does not turn off Cloudflare website statistics.
We remember a rejection across pages and tabs for this browser session using a cookie with the same value for everyone. A later session may show the choice again. Restoring a browser session may also restore the rejection. If that cookie cannot be saved, we save a rejection on this device instead. Learning activity stays off if your browser sends a privacy signal or we cannot save or read your choice. These controls do not stop Cloudflare website statistics.
Turning learning activity off stops new activity records and cancels attempts to send anything waiting. It clears the active visit references and browser-count calendar markers. To avoid counting retries twice, one pending page-view record is valid for retry for up to 48 hours, and recent acceptance receipts for ten minutes; turning activity off clears these too. Expired records are removed when the browser next checks them or you clear site data. Separate temporary records needed to remove recent activity may remain. Turning learning activity off does not delete existing combined reports or stop Cloudflare website statistics.
Removing recent activity
This browser keeps temporary records so it can verify a request to remove recent learning activity. They include a random visit reference and a private verification code. They are shared within this browser and may remain after a tab or page closes. You can use them until 48 hours and 5 minutes after the day of the visit ends. The day ends at midnight GMT (1 am during UK summer time). Expired records are removed when the site next checks them or you clear this site’s data. Closing the browser does not guarantee deletion. Clearing this site’s data may prevent a later removal request. Existing combined reports are not automatically deleted when you turn statistics off.
When statistics are off
Learning activity statistics stay off if the browser cannot safely save the required records, coordinate access to them, or confirm an eligible UK visit. If tabs cannot communicate or temporary tab storage is unavailable, but the remaining checks work, reference numbers are limited to the current page. This UK eligibility check applies to learning activity. Cloudflare website statistics runs independently of it.
Optional game progress
Learning games start with progress saving off. If you switch on Save progress on this device, the browser stores personal bests, question-review boxes and the days on which a game was practised. This information is used only to resume and adapt practice on that device; it is not sent to TheLearnDen or any third party. A celebration setting and the save preference can also be stored after you choose them. Saved game progress stays on this device until you use the in-game clear control, turn saving off, clear site data in the browser, or use our device-data reset.
Den Drop scores
You can play without publishing a score. If you choose Save score, the round’s game moves are sent to check the score. A saved score and a random nickname can appear on the public weekly leaderboard. We do not ask for your name or a PIN.
Den Drop also keeps best scores and a pace record in this browser. These local records are separate from publishing a score and from optional learning-game progress. You can remove the local records by clearing this site’s browser data.
When a shared round starts, the service stores a round reference, timing and verification details. Its save reference expires 15 minutes after it is issued. Expired round records are removed in small batches as new shared rounds are prepared. Scores from earlier weeks are cleared when the leaderboard is loaded or a score is accepted. Expiry does not mean every stored copy is deleted immediately. Cloudflare can retain database backup history after a live record is removed.
For a question about a score, use our Contact page. There is no Den Drop player account, and a random nickname alone does not reliably tell us who submitted a score. Please do not send a child’s name or school.
Third-party services
Cloudflare hosts the site and provides cookie-free aggregate analytics. If an adult chooses to contribute, Stripe handles the payment under its own privacy policy and terms; TheLearnDen does not receive or store card details. If you subscribe to our email digest, Substack stores your email address to deliver it, and every email includes an unsubscribe link. Links on TheLearnDen open independent external websites with their own privacy policies.
Bookshop.org paid links and merchant reports
Following a labelled Bookshop.org paid link takes you through Awin. Its fixed reference identifies the recommendation’s page and book, not your DenPulse browser reference. We do not send your learning activity, score or letter through these links. Awin and Bookshop.org handle your visit under their own notices.
We use private merchant reports to show reporting-period totals by recommendation. We do not join these reports to individual DenPulse visitors or infer which visitor made a purchase. Our funding policy explains the commercial arrangement.
Cloudflare website statistics
Cloudflare Web Analytics measures website traffic and performance without cookies or browser storage. It operates independently of DenPulse. Choosing “Essential only” keeps DenPulse’s optional browser counting and learning-activity collection off; it does not turn off Cloudflare Web Analytics.
Earlier combined analytics choices remain effective for optional learning analytics and no longer control Cloudflare Web Analytics. This is separate from Cloudflare’s security and hosting services, which may use strictly necessary cookies. See Cloudflare’s privacy policy for its processing.
Your learning-activity choice
Cookie settings lets you change the learning-activity choice. Cloudflare website statistics run independently. Learning activity is only available for eligible UK visits, stays off until you allow it, and stays off if a privacy signal is present or the choice cannot be saved or read.
We use combined learning-activity statistics to improve TheLearnDen. Where this learning activity involves personal information, our legal basis is legitimate interests: understanding and improving TheLearnDen. You can turn learning activity off at any time in Cookie settings. Where the law requires a parent’s permission to use a child’s personal information, that permission is still needed. A cookie choice does not replace it. Use the editorial contact page to exercise your privacy rights.
Optional learning analytics is off. Cloudflare Web Analytics operates separately.
Your rights and choices
Use Remove feedback on the resource card while the page remains open to delete that vote. After reloading or closing it, use the editorial contact and identify the resource and approximate submission date; we do not have a name or account to identify your feedback. You can also clear all TheLearnDen data from this device. Our combined reports do not contain visitor reference numbers. The services named above may handle information about your connection before producing those reports.
Under UK data protection law (UK GDPR) you can ask to access, correct or delete personal information we hold. For any privacy request, use the editorial contact and do not include a child’s name, school or other unnecessary personal information. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).
Changes to this policy
If this privacy policy changes, the date below is updated and significant changes are noted on the site.
Last updated: 27 October 2026.