Gate46

Privacy policy

What happens to your IP address and to what you type when you use these tools, who else sees it, and the choices you have about advertising.

Template, not yet legal advice. This policy was written to match how this site actually works, but it has not been reviewed by a lawyer. Before launch the operator must fill in every field in [square brackets] and have the text reviewed by their legal adviser.

Gate46 is operated by [Operator name]. This policy applies to this website and takes effect on [effective date].

The short version

  • There are no accounts and no sign-up. We do not ask for your name.
  • Showing you your IP address is the point of the site. To do that, your browser sends it to the detection and lookup services named below.
  • What you type into a tool goes to the public service that answers it, or to our probe server. It is used to run that lookup.
  • The site's own code sets no cookies. It keeps two small items in your browser: your theme, and a short-lived copy of your detected address.
  • This site does not currently show advertising. If that changes, this page will say so before it happens.

Who is responsible

The operator, and the data controller where data protection law uses that term, is:

[Operator name]
[postal address]
[contact email]

Your IP address and the services that see it

Every request a browser makes carries the IP address of the connection it comes from. That is how the reply finds its way back, and it cannot be switched off. Any server your browser contacts while you use this site therefore sees your IP address, along with standard request details such as your browser's user agent.

Most tools here work by having your browser ask a public service directly. We do not sit in the middle of those requests and do not receive their contents. The services are:

PurposeService contacted by your browserWhat it receives
Detecting your IPv4 and IPv6 addressipify (api4.ipify.org, api6.ipify.org, api64.ipify.org), with icanhazip (ipv4.icanhazip.com, ipv6.icanhazip.com) as a fallbackYour IP address. The reply is that same address.
Network owner and approximate locationipwho.is, with GeoJS (get.geojs.io) as a fallbackYour IP address and, in IP lookup, the address you asked about
DNS lookup and reverse DNSGoogle Public DNS (dns.google), with Cloudflare (cloudflare-dns.com) as a fallback, over DNS-over-HTTPSYour IP address and the name or address you looked up
WHOISrdap.org, which redirects your browser to the RDAP server of the registry or registrar that holds the recordYour IP address and the domain or address you looked up
Map outline behind the location markerjsDelivr (cdn.jsdelivr.net)Your IP address. The file is a public outline of the world's land and contains nothing about you.
TypefaceGoogle Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com, fonts.gstatic.com)Your IP address and user agent, when the font is not already in your browser's cache

Each of these services is run by its own operator under its own privacy policy, and may keep its own logs. We do not control how they handle requests.

The location shown for an IP address is approximate. It comes from the geolocation provider's database, is city level at best, and often points to your internet provider's hub. We do not use your device's GPS or ask for location permission.

What you type into the tools

  • IP lookup, DNS lookup, reverse DNS and WHOIS. The address or domain you enter is sent from your browser to the services in the table above. It does not pass through our servers.
  • Subnet calculator and user agent. These run entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
  • Ping, traceroute, port checker, blacklist check and HTTP headers. These need a server to run the test. The target you enter is sent to our probe server, which carries out the test and returns the result. The system being tested sees the probe server's address, not yours. The blacklist check also asks public DNS blocklist operators about the address being checked. When the probe server is not connected, these tools show output labeled as sample and the target you enter does not leave your browser.
  • Links to results. So that a result can be bookmarked or shared, the tools put what you entered into the page address, for example ?q=example.com. If you reload or share that link, the query reaches our web server as part of the page request and may appear in server logs.
  • Contact form. The form on the contact page sends nothing itself. It opens a message in your own mail app. If you send it, we receive your email address and whatever you wrote, and use them only to deal with your request. We delete correspondence after [correspondence retention period].

We do not use what you look up to build a profile of you, and we do not sell it.

Server logs

Like almost every website, the web server that delivers these pages, and the probe server that runs the server-side tools, record each request: IP address, date and time, the page or tool requested with its query string, the referring page, the user agent and the response status. The site is hosted with [hosting provider], which processes these logs on our behalf.

We use logs to keep the service running, to apply rate limits, and to investigate abuse and faults. Logs are kept for [retention period] and then deleted or anonymised, unless a specific entry is needed for longer to investigate abuse or to meet a legal obligation.

What is stored in your browser

The site's own code does not set cookies. It uses your browser's web storage for three items. They stay on your device, are never sent to us, and are not used to track you.

KeyWherePurposeHow long
g46.themelocalStorageRemembers light or dark theme. Only written if you press the theme button.Until you clear site data
g46.addrsessionStorageA copy of your detected IPv4 and IPv6 address, so each page does not have to detect it again. Refreshed after five minutes.Until you close the tab

You can remove both at any time by clearing site data for this site in your browser settings. Neither is a cookie, and neither is used to track you across other sites.

Advertising

This site does not currently show advertising, and no advertising service is contacted when you use it. If that changes, this page will be updated first, and a cookie consent notice will be shown to visitors where the law requires one, before any advertising cookie is set.

Why we are allowed to process this

Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, we rely on the following legal bases:

  • Legitimate interests. Delivering the pages and running the tools you ask for, keeping server logs for security, rate limiting and fault finding, and answering messages you send us. Our interest is in providing a working, safe service, and the processing is limited to what that needs.
  • Legal obligation. Keeping or disclosing data where a law or a valid legal order requires it.

We treat the two items the site keeps in your browser as strictly necessary for features you asked for.

Where data is processed

Several of the services named on this page are based in the United States or run networks of servers around the world, so your IP address may be processed outside your own country. Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies to a transfer we are responsible for, we rely on a recognised safeguard, such as an adequacy decision or standard contractual clauses.

Your rights

In the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland

You have the right to ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to have its use restricted, to object to processing based on legitimate interests, to receive it in a portable form where that applies, and to withdraw consent at any time. You can also complain to your data protection authority. In the United Kingdom that is the Information Commissioner's Office. In the EEA it is the authority in the country where you live or work.

In California

The CCPA, as amended by the CPRA, gives California residents the right to know what personal information is collected, used and disclosed, to have it deleted or corrected, to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, and not to be treated differently for using these rights.

We do not sell personal information for money, and we do not currently share it with any advertising partner. We do not collect sensitive personal information.

How to use your rights

Write to [contact email] or use the contact page with the topic "Privacy request". The site has no accounts, so the only way we can find anything about you in our logs is by IP address and time. Tell us the address you used and roughly when you visited. We may ask for enough information to be confident the request is yours. We answer within the time the law that applies to you allows.

Children

This site is a general technical tool and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, or under the age at which your country requires a parent's consent. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We update this page when the site or the law changes, for example when a tool starts using a different provider. The effective date at the top shows when it last changed. If a change significantly affects how your data is used, we will say so clearly on this page before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy or about your data go to:

[Operator name]
[postal address]
[contact email]

You can also use the contact page. The terms of use and the about page explain the rest of how the site works.