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TinkerSim Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 9, 2026

1. Who We Are

TinkerSim ("TinkerSim," "we," "us," or "our") provides a browser-based electronics and circuit simulation platform that lets users build, save, simulate, organize, and share circuit projects.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, you can contact us at:

If TinkerSim appoints an EU/UK representative or Data Protection Officer, their details should be listed here once available.

2. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, store, and protect personal data when you:

  • visit our website;
  • create or use a TinkerSim account;
  • use TinkerSim as an individual user;
  • use TinkerSim through an organization account, including schools, institutes, labs, clubs, or other organizations;
  • communicate with us; or
  • interact with our support, security, analytics, and product improvement tools.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites, services, or platforms that we do not control, even if they are linked from our Service.

3. Important Role Information for Organization Accounts

When TinkerSim is used through an organization account:

  • the organization may act as the administrator of your account or workspace;
  • organization administrators may be able to manage users, access controls, and certain workspace content;
  • the organization may act as a separate controller of certain personal data; and
  • TinkerSim may act as a processor/service provider for some organization-controlled data, depending on the relationship and applicable law.

If you use TinkerSim through a school, institute, employer, lab, or other organization, you should also review that organization’s privacy notice.

4. Personal Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal data, depending on how you use TinkerSim.

4.1 Account and Identity Data

  • name or display name;
  • email address;
  • authentication identifiers from our identity provider;
  • organization membership and role information;
  • profile image, if provided;
  • account preferences and settings.

4.2 Project and User Content

  • circuit projects and project metadata;
  • saved canvases and workspace state;
  • imported project files;
  • exported or shared project links you create;
  • lesson progress, guided mode progress, and related activity where available;
  • support messages, feedback, bug reports, and survey responses.

4.3 Technical and Device Data

  • IP address;
  • browser type and version;
  • device type and operating system;
  • language and regional settings;
  • timestamps, session information, and referral URLs;
  • crash logs, error logs, and performance diagnostics.

4.4 Usage and Activity Data

  • pages or screens viewed;
  • simulator interactions and feature usage;
  • project creation, saving, editing, and switching activity;
  • login and account activity;
  • settings changes;
  • support or administrative actions.

4.5 Payment and Transaction Data

If we introduce paid plans, we or our payment processors may collect:

  • subscription plan details;
  • billing contact details;
  • payment status and transaction metadata;
  • limited payment-related records.

We do not intend to store full payment card numbers ourselves if a PCI-compliant third-party payment processor is used.

4.6 Communications Data

  • email communications with us;
  • support ticket content;
  • waitlist and demo request details;
  • newsletter and marketing preferences.

4.7 Cookie and Similar Technology Data

We may collect information through cookies, local storage, SDKs, pixels, and similar technologies, including for:

  • authentication and session management;
  • user preferences;
  • product analytics;
  • security and fraud prevention;
  • performance monitoring.

Where required by law, we will request consent before using non-essential cookies or similar technologies.

5. Sensitive Data and Children’s Data

TinkerSim is not intended to collect sensitive personal data unless it is voluntarily included in support communications or similar user-generated content.

TinkerSim may be used by minors in educational or supervised contexts. We do not knowingly collect more personal data from children than is reasonably necessary for the service, and we expect schools, institutes, parents, or legal guardians to provide any required permissions where applicable.

If we learn that we have collected personal data from a child in violation of applicable law, we will take steps to delete or de-identify it as required.

If you use TinkerSim in an educational context involving children under applicable laws such as COPPA, please ensure you have obtained any required parental or guardian consent.

6. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data:

  • directly from you when you sign up, use the Service, or contact us;
  • from your organization administrator or organization account setup;
  • automatically through your use of the Service and device/browser interactions;
  • from third-party service providers that support authentication, hosting, analytics, billing, support, or security;
  • from integrations you choose to use.

7. Why We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

7.1 Provide the Service

  • create and manage accounts;
  • authenticate users;
  • save and sync projects and workspace state;
  • operate simulations and product features;
  • enable sharing, import/export, and collaboration-related functionality;
  • provide organization administration and access control.

7.2 Improve and Develop TinkerSim

  • analyze usage trends;
  • understand feature adoption;
  • debug issues and improve performance;
  • develop new features and guided experiences;
  • test and optimize product usability.

7.3 Security and Integrity

  • detect abuse, fraud, misuse, or security incidents;
  • protect users, organizations, and our infrastructure;
  • monitor service health, authentication activity, and system integrity;
  • enforce our Terms and protect our legal rights.

7.4 Communications

  • send transactional emails and account notices;
  • respond to support requests;
  • provide security alerts and policy updates;
  • send product updates, promotions, or newsletters where permitted by law and subject to your preferences.

7.5 Legal and Compliance

  • comply with legal obligations;
  • respond to lawful requests;
  • establish, exercise, or defend legal claims;
  • maintain records required by law.

8. Legal Bases for Processing (EEA/UK/Similar Jurisdictions)

If you are in the EEA, UK, or another jurisdiction requiring a legal basis for processing, we rely on one or more of the following:

  • Performance of a contract: to provide TinkerSim, create accounts, save projects, and deliver requested functionality.
  • Legitimate interests: to improve the Service, maintain security, prevent abuse, understand usage, and operate our business in a proportionate way.
  • Consent: where required, including for certain cookies, marketing communications, or optional features.
  • Legal obligation: where processing is required by law.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the necessity and balance of our interests against your rights and expectations.

9. Disclosures of Personal Data

We may disclose personal data to the following categories of recipients:

9.1 Service Providers and Processors

Such as providers for:

  • authentication and user management;
  • cloud hosting and storage;
  • databases and infrastructure;
  • analytics and error monitoring;
  • email delivery and customer communications;
  • payment processing;
  • customer support tools;
  • security and fraud prevention.

These providers may process data on our behalf subject to contractual and legal safeguards.

9.2 Organization Administrators

If you use TinkerSim under an organization account, organization admins may access or manage certain account, role, workspace, and project information in line with the organization’s configuration and policies.

9.3 Legal and Safety Disclosures

We may disclose information where reasonably necessary to:

  • comply with law, legal process, or governmental request;
  • investigate or prevent fraud, security, or technical issues;
  • protect the rights, property, or safety of TinkerSim, our users, or others.

9.4 Business Transfers

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, asset sale, or similar transaction, personal data may be transferred as part of that process subject to applicable legal requirements.

9.5 With Your Direction

We may disclose personal data when you instruct us to do so, such as through sharing features or integrations.

We do not sell personal data in exchange for money. We also do not share personal data for cross-context behavioral advertising except as may be disclosed in a cookie notice if that ever changes.

10. International Transfers

TinkerSim may process or store personal data in countries other than the country where you live.

Where required by law, we will use appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers, such as:

  • adequacy decisions;
  • Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent transfer mechanisms;
  • additional contractual, technical, and organizational measures as appropriate.

11. Data Retention

We retain personal data for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to:

  • provide the Service;
  • maintain account history and project continuity;
  • comply with legal, tax, accounting, or regulatory obligations;
  • resolve disputes and enforce agreements;
  • maintain security and audit trails where appropriate.

Retention periods may vary by data type. We may delete or de-identify data when it is no longer needed.

12. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights such as:

  • the right to access your personal data;
  • the right to correct inaccurate personal data;
  • the right to delete personal data;
  • the right to restrict or object to certain processing;
  • the right to data portability;
  • the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
  • the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority or regulator.

12.1 U.S. State Privacy Rights

Residents of certain U.S. states may have rights to know, access, delete, correct, and opt out of certain uses of personal data, subject to exceptions.

Where applicable, users may also have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising privacy rights.

12.2 EU/EEA/UK Rights

Users in the EEA/UK may have rights under the GDPR or UK GDPR, including rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection, portability, and complaint.

12.3 India Rights

Users in India may have rights under applicable Indian data protection law, including rights related to access, correction, updating, erasure, grievance redressal, and withdrawal of consent, subject to legal exceptions.

13. How to Exercise Your Rights

To submit a privacy request, contact us at privacy@tinkersim.com.

We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request. We may also deny or limit requests where permitted by law.

If you use TinkerSim through an organization, we may direct certain requests to your organization administrator where appropriate.

14. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for essential operations and, where enabled, for analytics, preferences, security, and communications.

Where legally required, we will provide:

  • a cookie banner or consent mechanism;
  • the ability to manage cookie preferences;
  • disclosures about categories and purposes of cookies.

You can also adjust browser settings to manage cookies, though some features may not function properly if essential cookies are disabled.

15. Security

We use reasonable technical, organizational, and administrative measures designed to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, and disclosure.

However, no system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

16. Automated Decision-Making

TinkerSim does not currently use fully automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects about users. If that changes, we will provide additional disclosures where required.

17. Do Not Track and Similar Signals

Some browsers offer “Do Not Track” settings. Because there is no universally accepted standard for responding to these signals, we may not respond to them unless required by applicable law. If we support legally recognized opt-out preference signals in the future, we will disclose that here.

18. Third-Party Services

TinkerSim may rely on third-party providers such as authentication, hosting, analytics, support, and payment vendors. Their handling of data is subject to their own privacy notices and contractual commitments.

Typical provider categories may include:

  • identity/authentication providers;
  • cloud hosting and database providers;
  • analytics and monitoring providers;
  • email providers;
  • payment processors.

Our current providers include authentication and user management (Clerk), cloud hosting and analytics (Vercel), database and project storage (Firebase/Firestore), and error monitoring services.

19. Education and Minor Users

If TinkerSim is offered to schools, institutes, or educational organizations:

  • the organization may configure accounts and control certain workspace data;
  • we expect the organization to obtain any required consents or authorizations;
  • we process only the data reasonably necessary to provide the service;
  • requests relating to student accounts may in some cases need to be coordinated through the organization.

20. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the “Last updated” date and, where required, provide additional notice.

Your continued use of the Service after an update becomes effective means the updated Privacy Policy will apply, except where applicable law requires additional consent.

21. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, contact us at:

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