Privacy & Cookies
Phonics Check Buddy is a free practice tool made by a UK parent. It is built to be private by default: almost everything happens on your own device, and analytics only ever run if you say yes.
Who we are
Phonics Check Buddy is made and run by Broadhurst Digital Limited, a company registered in the United Kingdom. If you have any questions about privacy, email martin@broadhurst.digital.
What is stored on your device
The app saves a few things in your browser’s local storage so it works well between visits. This includes:
- your practice and check history (scores and dates);
- the monster stickers you’ve collected;
- settings such as the paper year you last chose and whether sound is muted;
- your cookie choice (see below).
This information stays in your browser only. It is never uploaded to us or anyone else, there are no accounts, and there is no server storing your child’s results. Clearing your browser data (or using the “Clear history” button) removes it. There is no personal data about your child beyond an anonymous score you chose to save locally.
Analytics — only with your consent
We’d like to understand how the app is used so we can improve it — for example, which practice papers are most popular. To do that we use Google Analytics 4 (and, if enabled in future, Microsoft Clarity), configured to anonymise data. We never use analytics for advertising, and we never sell data.
None of this loads until you choose “OK” on the cookie bar. If you choose “No thanks”, no analytics scripts or cookies are loaded at all. Refusing is exactly as easy as accepting, and the app works fully either way. Your choice is remembered on your device.
You can change your mind at any time using the link in the footer of any page.
Donations & payments
If you choose to support the app, donations are handled by Ko-fi (and its payment processor, Stripe) on their own websites. We never see or store your card details. Donating is entirely optional and, importantly, never unlocks anything — every feature is free for everyone, always.
Fonts
The app uses Google Fonts to load its friendly typefaces. Your browser requests these from Google’s servers when a page loads.
Your rights
Because we don’t collect personal data or hold accounts, there’s very little for us to “hold” about you. You can withdraw analytics consent at any time via the Cookies link, and you can clear all locally stored data by clearing your browser storage for this site. For anything else, email martin@broadhurst.digital.