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The Privacy Policy page.

The Scratch Privacy Policy is a legal agreement that users of the Scratch Website agree to by using the site. It can be accessed via the link on the footer of the Scratch Website. The Privacy Policy explains how Scratch collects, handles, and protects the information of users. It also describes the rights of users in regards to their information and ways that they can protect their privacy on Scratch. A summary of the Privacy Policy as of November 2019 can be read below.


Note Disclaimer: This is not a substitute for the actual Scratch Privacy Policy, which can be found here. The below information is only a summary and may not contain the full contents of the real Privacy Policy. This summary is not legally binding as the actual Privacy Policy is.
Note Note: This is not the Scratch Wiki Privacy Policy; that can be found here, which is in German.

Scratch understands how important privacy is to the community, especially kids and parents. They wrote the Privacy Policy to explain what information they collect through their website, how they use, process, and share it, and what they're doing to keep it safe. It also explains one's rights and choices with respect to their information, and how users can contact the Scratch Team if they have any questions or concerns.

If one would like to build projects with Scratch without submitting any personal information to the Scratch Team, they can download the Offline Editor. Projects created in the Offline Editor are not accessible by the Scratch Team, and using the offline editor does not disclose any personally identifying information to Scratch unless the projects are uploaded to the Scratch Website.

Privacy Policy Update

A banner saying "The Scratch privacy policy has been updated, effective May 25, 2023. You can see the new policy here." with a darker color than the header, below the header of Scratch.
The privacy policy update banner.

On May 25, 2023, the privacy policy of Scratch was updated. It is now more detailed and more recent. There was also a banner on all Scratch 3.0 pages, informing users of the privacy policy change.

What personal information does the Scratch Team collect about a user?

This section defines "Personal Information" as used in the Privacy Policy (information connected or related to an individual).


The Privacy Policy indicates when and why Scratch collects one's Personal Information. If a user does not provide the necessary Personal Information, they may be unable to use all or part of the Scratch Website.

Account Information

A Scratch Account is needed to use certain features of the site. Scratch collects the username, country, birth date, gender, and email address that are provided when one creates an account. As others can see the chosen username and country, please do not select a username that could be identifying, such as one's real name.

User-generated Content

Scratch collects all information about projects (including unshared projects), comments, and forum posts that a user creates.

Communications

If a user contacts the Scratch Team directly, such as by email, the Scratch Team may receive other information about that user, such as their name, email address, phone number, the contents of the message and any attachments, or any other provided information.

Personal Information Collected Automatically From Use of the Site

Scratch and third-party service providers automatically collect information about one's site use via cookies and server logs. They may collect info about a user's IP address, browser, network, device, OS, site usage, and more.

This section describes how Scratch may use this automatically-collected information. Third-party service providers, such as Google Analytics, also use cookies to collect and analyse user information and information about site use (Google's practices are described at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/).

A user may be able to decline the transfer of cookies to their computer through settings in the browser. More information is provided at this website. If the cookies are not accepted, however, it may be more difficult to use Scratch.

Users should refer to the Cookie Policy for more information about the usage of cookies on Scratch.

How does Scratch use Personal Information?

Internal and Service-Related Usage

Scratch uses Personal Information for operation of the Scratch Website.

Analytics and Improving the Site

Scratch and third-party service providers (like Google) use Personal Information, such as one's location and activities on the site, to monitor usage of and improve the site.

Communications

Scratch may send emails to an email address that one provides for various reasons (such as technical-support or updates to the Scratch Website), or to send a newsletter if a user chooses to subscribe to it. Parents and guardians who register children on Scratch may receive other updates from the Scratch Foundation as well.

Aggregate Data

Scratch may de-identify and aggregate (combine) collected information for analysis and use in research studies about how people learn with Scratch. More information is provided here.

Legal

Scratch may use Personal Information to enforce the Terms of Use, in legal defense, and in compliance with legal obligations and internal policies.


If a user is located in the European Economic Area (EEA), Scratch only processes the user's Personal Information if the user has consented to the use of the information, they need it to provide certain services (e.g. account registration), they are legally obligated to use the information, and/or they have a legitimate interest in using the information (e.g. for tailored content, analytics, or improving the site).

How Does Scratch Share Personal Information?

Scratch may share Personal Information with third parties if they provide services (such as website hosting and analysis), with one's permission (e.g. an "opt-in" prompt), in the case of a deal with another entity (e.g. a sale or transfer), to enforce the terms and conditions, to protect their rights, or if legally obligated to do so.

Third Party Services

The Privacy Policy does not address, and Scratch is not responsible for, the practices of third parties and how they handle a user's information.

Rights and Choices

Updating Personal Information

A user can change their password, email address, and/or country through the Account Settings page. If the password (or username) is forgotten, it can be reset here; however, a user cannot change their own username, only make a new account.


A user can delete their account through the link at the bottom of the Account Settings page, which hides one's information from public view but does not remove it from Scratch's servers. Contact help@scratch.mit.edu for assistance in removing the information from the servers.

Marketing Communications

To opt out of marketing communications, follow the instructions provided in any of the communications, or send a request to help@scratch.mit.edu. Administrative messages may still be received even after unsubscribing.

Data Protection Rights (EEA)

This section describe the rights given in certain jurisdictions. For example, a user may have the right to receive information about the Personal Information maintained about them, update that information, restrict or object to the processing of the information, have the information blocked, anonymized, or deleted, transfer the information to another company, or lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, subject to local law.


Where required by law, Scratch obtains a user's consent for the processing of certain Personal Information (for example, information collected by cookies). If consent is needed, a user has the right to withdraw it at any time, free of charge. This does not affect the lawfulness of the processing pre-withdrawal.


To exercise any of the above rights, a user can contact The Scratch Foundation as specified in the "Contact Us" section below.

Data Retention

Scratch takes measures to delete or anonymize one's information when it is no longer necessary for their purposes, unless they are legally required to keep it for a longer period. This section describes the various criteria they consider when determining the retention period for a user's information.

How does Scratch protect Personal Information?

The Scratch Team has administrative, physical, and technical procedures in place to protect one's information against destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized access, and other unlawful forms of processing. For example, they encrypt transferred data and strictly limit access to Scratch servers. However, no security system is impenetrable, and Scratch cannot completely guarantee the security of one's information.

Notifications of changes to the Privacy Policy

Scratch will notify its users through the site or by sending an email or other communication in the event that material changes are made to the Privacy Policy. Users are encouraged to review the policy on a regular basis, and continued use of the site following any changes indicates acceptance of the revised policy.

International Cross-Border Data Transfer

Scratch is based in the United States, and collected information may be transferred to, and stored at, any affiliates, partners, or service providers inside or outside the EEA.

What can users do to help protect privacy on Scratch?

Users can help protect privacy on Scratch by not sharing personal contact information (such as one's name, physical address, email address, or phone number) anywhere on the Scratch website. Also, do not share an account's password with anyone. The sharing of personal information can be reported by using the "Report" link which appears on the page.

Contact Us

The Code-to-Learn Foundation d/b/a The Scratch Foundation is the entity responsible for the processing of Personal Information. For any questions about the Privacy Policy, or to exercise one's rights to their own Personal Information, the Scratch Foundation may be contacted at help@scratch.mit.edu or via mail at:


Scratch Foundation

ATTN: Privacy Policy

7315 Wisconsin Ave.

4th Floor West

Bethesda, MD 20814




Links