Last updated: June 2025
This page explains what information Artoo Maker Lab (artoo.io) collects when you visit, why, and what control you have over it. We are a small, independent site about Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32 and robot builds, and we try to collect as little as possible.
Who we are
Artoo Maker Lab is an independent content website. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “this site” mean Artoo Maker Lab and the pages served from artoo.io.
We publish tutorials, guides, project write-ups and simple browser-based tools for makers. We do not run user accounts, a shop or a forum, so most visitors never give us any personal information directly.
Information collected automatically
Server logs
Like nearly every website, our hosting server keeps standard access logs. Each time a page or file is requested, the log can record:
- Your IP address
- The date and time of the request
- The page or file requested
- The referring page, if your browser sends one
- Your browser type and operating system (the “user agent”)
- Whether the request succeeded or failed
We use these logs to keep the site running, fix broken pages, spot abuse such as spam bots or attacks, and understand overall load. We do not use server logs to build profiles of individual readers.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files that a website stores in your browser. This site may use a few types:
- Essential cookies. These keep the site working, for example remembering a display preference such as light or dark mode, or recording your cookie consent choice.
- Analytics cookies. If we use an analytics service, it may set cookies to count visits, see which pages are popular and learn roughly how people find the site. We use this information in aggregate to decide what to write next and what to improve.
- Advertising cookies. If we show ads to support the site, advertising partners may set cookies to deliver ads, limit how often you see the same one, measure performance and, depending on your choices, show ads based on your interests.
Where the law requires it, we will ask for your consent before setting non-essential cookies, and you can change your mind at any time.
Analytics and advertising partners
This site may work with third-party analytics or advertising providers. When we do, those providers may collect information such as your IP address, device details, pages viewed and cookie identifiers, and they process that information under their own privacy policies.
We choose partners that offer reasonable privacy controls, and where available we enable settings such as IP anonymisation. We do not give these partners your name, email address or any other information that directly identifies you, because we generally do not have it.
If we add, change or remove a partner in a way that affects your privacy, we will update this page.
Embedded content from other sites
Some articles include content hosted elsewhere, such as YouTube videos, social media posts, code snippets from repositories or maps. Embedded content behaves as if you had visited the other site directly.
That means the provider may:
- Set its own cookies
- Collect data about you, including your IP address
- Track your interaction with the embedded content, especially if you are logged in to that service
Where a privacy-friendlier embed option exists, such as YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode, we prefer it. We have no control over what these providers do with your data, so check their privacy policies if this matters to you.
Tools that run in your browser
Some pages include calculators and utilities, such as resistor colour code decoders, voltage divider calculators or pin reference tools. Where a tool is marked as running in your browser, the values you enter are processed locally on your device using JavaScript. They are not sent to our server and we do not store them.
If a tool ever needs to send data to a server to work, we will say so clearly on that tool’s page.
Information you choose to give us
If you contact us, for example through a contact form or by email, we receive whatever you send: usually your name, your email address and your message. We use it only to read and reply to you. We will not add you to a mailing list unless you ask to join one.
If we launch a newsletter in future, signing up will be optional, every email will include an unsubscribe option, and this policy will be updated to explain how subscriber data is handled.
How long we keep data
We keep information only as long as we need it:
| Type of data | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Server logs | A limited period, typically no longer than needed for security and troubleshooting, after which they are deleted or anonymised |
| Messages you send us | As long as needed to deal with your enquiry, then deleted unless an ongoing conversation makes it sensible to keep them |
| Consent and preference cookies | Until they expire or you clear them from your browser |
| Analytics and advertising data | According to the retention settings of the provider concerned, which we set to the shortest practical period where the option exists |
We do not sell your personal data
We do not sell, rent or trade personal information about our readers. We share data only in the limited ways described on this page: with our hosting provider so the site can run, and with any analytics, advertising or embed providers whose services appear on the site.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have legal rights over your personal data. These commonly include the right to:
- Ask what data we hold about you
- Correct information that is wrong
- Delete your data
- Object to or restrict certain uses of it
- Withdraw consent you have previously given, such as for cookies
- Opt out of the use of your data for targeted advertising
To make a request, get in touch using the contact details published on this site. Tell us what you are asking for and include enough information for us to find the relevant data, such as the email address you wrote to us from. We will respond within a reasonable time and within any deadline the law sets.
Because we collect so little that identifies individuals, we may not be able to link things like server log entries to you personally. If that is the case, we will tell you.
You also have the right to complain to the data protection authority in your country if you believe your data has been mishandled.
Managing cookies yourself
You can control cookies directly in your browser. Every major browser lets you view, block and delete cookies, and most let you block third-party cookies on their own. Blocking essential cookies may stop some features working properly, but the articles themselves will still be readable.
For advertising, many ad networks also offer their own opt-out settings, and some browsers support privacy signals that ask sites not to track you.
Children
This site is written for a general audience of makers and hobbyists, and it is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
Security
We take reasonable steps to protect the site and the limited data we hold, including serving pages over HTTPS and keeping our software up to date. No website can promise perfect security, but we work to keep risks low and to collect less data in the first place, which is the most reliable protection of all.
Changes to this policy
We will update this page when our practices change, for example if we add a new analytics tool, start showing ads or launch a newsletter. The “Last updated” date at the top will always show when the latest changes were made. Significant changes will be made clear on this page.
Contact
If you have questions about this policy or how your data is handled, reach us through the contact details published on this site. We read every message and will answer as clearly as we can.