Privacy Policy

We may collect the following types of information:

a. Personal Information

• Name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Mailing address (if applicable)
• Payment details (processed securely via third-party payment processors)

Depending on how you use the site, this can also include:

• Account details: your name, email address, username (handle) and password, or the basic profile details shared by the service you sign in with (see section 4).
• Profile details you choose to add: a profile photo, bio, website, your school or shop, whether you are a builder or an educator, and your robot builds and build journey.
• Things you post: community posts, replies, photos, build pages, comments, ratings and reactions, and private messages you send to other members.
• Order details: your shipping address, company or school name, order notes (for example a VAT or EORI number or a school purchase order), the products you order, and your order and payment status.
• Support requests: the questions, details and messages you send us through the support page or by email.
• Awards activity: builds you enter for Build of the Year, and your vote.
• Newsletter sign-ups: your name and email address.

b. Non-Personal Information

• Browser type and version
• IP address
• Pages visited on our site
• Time and date of visit
• Referring website

We also keep a count of the words people type into the site search, without linking them to who searched.

c. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance user experience, analyze trends, and improve our website. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, but some features may not function properly.

Section 12 explains exactly which cookies and browser storage the site uses.

We may use your information for the following purposes:

• To provide and improve our services
• To respond to inquiries and customer support requests
• To process transactions and send order confirmations
• To send promotional emails (you may opt out at any time)
• To monitor and analyze website performance
• To comply with legal obligations

We also use it:

• To create and secure your account, confirm your email address, and keep you signed in
• To show your public profile, posts and builds to the community, and deliver your private messages
• To ship your order and keep a record of your order history
• To run Build of the Year: accept entries, count votes, announce winners and prepare certificates
• To keep the community safe: review reports, remove content that breaks the rules, and stop spam, abuse and fraud
• To block automated traffic that harms the site

We do not sell your information, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.

We do not sell or rent your personal information. However, we may share data with:

• Service Providers: Third parties who assist with website operations, payment processing, or analytics.
• Legal Compliance: If required by law or to protect our rights and safety.
• Business Transfers: In case of a merger, acquisition, or asset sale.

In practice, the service providers we share information with are:

• Payment processors (such as Stripe and PayPal), to take your payment
• Shipping carriers and shipping rate services, to quote and deliver your order
• Our email delivery provider, to send sign-in codes, order emails and support replies
• Our website hosting and database providers, which store the site's data for us
• The sign-in service you choose (Google, GitHub or LinkedIn), only when you choose to sign in with it

These providers may only use your information to do their job for us. Information you make public, such as your profile, posts and builds, can be seen by anyone who visits the site.

You can browse most of the site without an account. You need one to post in the community, send messages, enter or vote in Build of the Year, and see your orders in one place.

• Email and password: we store your email address and a scrambled (hashed) version of your password, never the password itself. You must confirm your email address before you can sign in.
• Google, GitHub or LinkedIn: that service tells us your name, email address and usually your profile picture. We never see your password for that service. You can remove our access in that service's account settings.
• Profiles from our previous community: members of our earlier community have been brought over with their existing username and posts. To claim one of those profiles, you must prove it is yours with a matching confirmed email address, a code sent to the profile's email, or our approval.

What is public

Your name, username, profile photo, bio, website, school or shop, member type, builds, build journey, posts, replies, photos, comments, awards and community points can be seen by anyone, including people who are not signed in, and may be found by search engines. Please don't post anything you want to keep private, such as your email address, phone number or home address. Posts and members from our earlier community have been moved here, and old links now point to the new pages.

Private messages

Direct and group messages are only shown to the people in the conversation. Authorized Annin Robotics staff can access them when needed to investigate a report, prevent abuse, help you with a support request, or comply with the law.

Moderation

Members can report posts and replies. When content is reported, we review it, along with the reporter's account and the account that posted it. We may hide or remove content, mark posts, and limit or ban accounts that break the community rules, and we keep a record of these actions.

When you order, we collect your email address, name, shipping address, optional phone number, optional company or school, any order notes, and the products you buy. You can check out as a guest or while signed in. Signed-in members see their orders in their account, and guests get a private order link by email.

• Payments: you pay on our payment processor's secure payment page (such as Stripe or PayPal). Your full card number is handled by the payment processor and is never stored by us. They tell us whether the payment went through, so we can mark your order paid.
• Your cart: your cart is saved in your browser, and in your account while you are signed in, so it follows you between devices.
• Order emails: we email you an order confirmation and updates about your order, such as when it ships.
• Past orders: we keep order records from our previous online store so we can support your robot and honor warranties and returns.
• Order records: we keep order and payment records for accounting, tax and legal reasons (see section 14).

To show shipping prices and deliver your order, we share your name, shipping address, phone number (if you give one) and the size and weight of your package with shipping rate services and carriers. For international orders, carriers and customs authorities may also receive the contents and value of your package, and any VAT or EORI number you give us.

Our public map of AR4 owners shows how many orders went to each city or country. It never shows names, street addresses, zip codes or order numbers.

If you sign up for our newsletter, we keep your name and email address to send you Annin Robotics news and updates. Only our team can see the sign-up list. To stop receiving it, email info@anninrobotics.com and we will remove you.

Some emails are part of using the site and are not marketing, such as email confirmations, sign-in codes, order emails and support replies. We send these even if you are not on the newsletter.

• Entries: when you enter a build, its title, photos and description are shown on the awards page with your name and username, after we approve it.
• Voting: each account can vote once a year. The total number of votes for each build is shown publicly. Who voted for which build is not shown to other members.
• Winners: winning builds, with the builder's name, username, place and vote total, are listed on the awards page as past winners.
• Certificates: award and builder certificates show your name, your build's title and your place, if any. Anyone you share a certificate with can see those details.
• Plaques: if you order a plaque, we use your order and shipping details as described in sections 6 and 7.

Our school pages show which schools use the AR4, with the number of robots purchased and their robotics classes. They do not show who bought the robots.

• If you sign up with a school email address, or you bought robots for a school, we may add you to that school's group. Your name, username, profile photo and member type can then appear in the school's member list. To be taken off a school's list, email info@anninrobotics.com.
• If you are recognized as an educator, your name, school and the school's city may appear on our map of educators.

When you contact support, through the support page or by email, we keep your name, email address, your messages and any details you send, so we can help you and follow up.

If a solved question could help other builders, we may share the question and answer in the community. We post it without your name or contact details.

We only use cookies and browser storage that the site needs to work or to remember your choices:

• Sign-in cookies: keep you signed in and protect your account.
• Cart: remembers what is in your cart.
• Recent orders: lets you find orders you placed from this browser.
• Preferences: remember your light or dark mode, posts you saved, posts you have already seen, your community layout, and whether you dismissed the school prompt.

We do not use advertising cookies or cross-site tracking. Embedded videos, maps and fonts are loaded from the services that provide them, which may set their own cookies (see section 18). Clearing your browser's cookies and site data removes these items, but you will be signed out and your cart may be emptied.

We use our own simple traffic records, not a third-party analytics service. For each visit we record the page, the time, your browser type and a scrambled (hashed) form of your IP address, so we can count visits, see popular pages, and spot and block harmful bots. We do not use these records to identify you. We also count how many times community posts are viewed.

If you are signed in while watching our tutorial videos, we save how far you got so you can pick up where you left off. Our team can see which videos members have watched, to understand which tutorials help most.

We keep information only as long as we need it:

• Account and profile information: while your account is open. If you ask us to close your account, we delete or anonymize it, except as noted below.
• Community posts and replies: while they are published. When an account is closed, its posts may stay on the site without the person's name, so threads still make sense to others.
• Orders and payment records: as long as needed for tax, accounting, warranty and legal reasons.
• Support requests: as long as needed to help you and keep a record of the support we gave.
• Newsletter sign-ups: until you unsubscribe.
• Awards entries, votes, winners and certificates: kept so past results stay accurate.
• Moderation and security records: as long as needed to keep the community and site safe.

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data. However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

For example, the site uses encrypted connections (HTTPS), passwords are stored only in hashed form, card details stay with our payment processors, and only authorized staff can reach admin tools and private customer information.

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

• Access, correct, or delete your personal data
• Opt out of marketing communications
• Restrict or object to data processing
• Request data portability

To exercise these rights, contact us at info@anninrobotics.com.

You can change most of your profile yourself in your account settings. For anything else, including a copy of your information or closing your account, email us from the address on your account so we can confirm it is you. We will not treat you differently for using your rights.

Europe and the United Kingdom

If you are in the European Economic Area or the UK, we use your information because we need it to provide what you ask for (such as your account or order), to meet legal requirements (such as tax records), for our legitimate interests (such as keeping the site safe and improving it), or with your consent (such as the newsletter). You can withdraw consent at any time. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

California and other US states

If you live in California or another US state with a privacy law, you can ask to know what personal information we collect, use and share, and ask us to correct or delete it. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not use sensitive personal information beyond what is needed to provide our services. You can use an authorized agent to make a request for you.

Annin Robotics is based in the United States, and our service providers may store and process information in the United States and other countries. Privacy laws there may differ from those where you live. When we move personal information out of Europe or the UK, we rely on the safeguards the law requires for those transfers.

Our website may contain links to external sites. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, so we encourage you to review their policies.

Some pages include content from other services, such as YouTube videos, map images and web fonts. Your browser loads that content directly from those services, which receive your IP address and may use their own cookies, under their own privacy policies.

Our services are not intended for users under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If we become aware of such data, we will take steps to delete it.

In the European Economic Area and the UK, you must be at least 16 (or the age your country sets) to create an account without a parent's or guardian's permission. Students under these ages can still use the AR4 in class with their educator, without a community account. If you believe a child has given us information, please contact info@anninrobotics.com.

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. The revised version will be posted on our website with an updated "Last Updated" date. If we make a significant change, we will also let members know on the site or by email.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: info@anninrobotics.com

Thank you for trusting Annin Robotics with your information!