Accounts & safety
Five ways in, depending on who you are, and each one keeps as little information as it can.
Account types
| Who | How they sign in | What we keep |
|---|---|---|
| Guest | Nothing: one click on Start coding | A random name. Deleted after 30 days unused. |
| Student added by a teacher or parent | Class code + name + secret word | The nickname the adult chose |
| 13+ on your own | Username + password | Username; email only if you add one |
| Teacher | Email + password | Email, school name, username |
| Parent / homeschool | Email + password | Email, username |
Kids under 13
Anyone under 13 needs a parent or teacher to set up their account. That's the law in the US (COPPA), and it's how we'd want it anyway. When someone signs up on their own, we ask their birth month and year once, use it to check, and don't store it. Kids under 13 are sent to a grown-up, or can play as a guest, which collects nothing about them.
Forgot your login?
| Account | What to do |
|---|---|
| Student with a secret word | Ask your teacher or parent to press Reset secret word. |
| Teacher or parent | Forgot password: we email a link that works for one hour. |
| 13+ on your own | Forgot password works if you added a recovery email in Settings. Add one now so you're covered. |
Resetting a password signs you out everywhere else, just in case.
Settings
In Settings you can:
- Choose who sees your portfolio (13+, teachers and parents).
- Change your password.
- Add a recovery email (13+ on your own).
- Delete your account and everything in it. Teachers and parents deleting their account also delete the student accounts they created.
How we keep things safe
- Kids' code runs somewhere else. Published projects and Python run on a separate web address, so code in a project can't reach anyone's account.
- Private by default. Portfolios start visible only to your class or family.
- Passwords are scrambled (hashed) before we store them. Sign-in attempts are limited, so passwords and secret words can't be guessed by trying lots of them.
- No ads, no trackers, no selling data. One cookie keeps you signed in.
- Usernames are checked for rude words.
The full details are in our Privacy Policy and Terms.