Privacy policy
The short version: no account, no cookies, no ads. Your test history stays in your browser. Our code shows you your IP address and does not store it.
This policy explains what happens to information when you use HowFastIsMyInternet.com (the "site"), which is operated by Birchwood Group, LLC ("we", "us"). It describes the site as it works today. If that changes, we will update this page and the date above.
At a glance
| Information | What happens to it |
|---|---|
| Your IP address | Read by our test server to show it to you and to protect the service. Not written to our logs, analytics or any database. |
| Test results | Kept only in your browser, unless you share or export them yourself. |
| Provider and approximate location | Looked up from your IP address at the time of the test and shown to you. Only coarse country and network numbers reach analytics, and only if you turn analytics on. |
| Cookies | None. The site and the test set no cookies. |
| Advertising and cross-site tracking | None. |
| Usage statistics | Off unless you turn them on in Settings. |
What the speed test sends
To measure your connection, your browser downloads test data from our servers and uploads random test data to them. The uploaded data is generated by the page, contains nothing from your device, and is thrown away as soon as it is received. Like any web request, these requests reach our servers with your IP address and standard browser headers.
Your IP address
Our test server reads your IP address while it answers a request, and uses it for three things:
- To show it to you on the Network card.
- To show your provider and approximate location. These come from the request information our hosting network (Cloudflare) attaches to each request, based on your IP address. Location is approximate, at city level at best, and is labelled that way. The site never asks for your browser's location permission. We do not currently use a separate IP-location database.
- To protect the service. Test sessions and rate limits are tied to a keyed one-way hash of your network prefix (the first three parts of an IPv4 address, or the first 48 bits of an IPv6 address), not to your IP address itself. These hashes are held for minutes to an hour and are not stored.
Our code does not write your IP address to logs, analytics or a database. Our server logs record the path requested, the response status, the number of bytes and timings, and nothing that identifies you.
Our hosting provider, Cloudflare, necessarily processes IP addresses to deliver traffic and defend against attacks, under its own privacy policy.
Stored in your browser
These stay on your device. We cannot see them, and clearing your browser data removes them.
- Test history: your last results (up to 200), saved in your browser's IndexedDB storage so you can compare them. You can turn history off, delete single entries or clear it all from the History panel. Your IP address is removed before a result is saved unless you turn on "Remember IP address in history".
- Settings and theme: saved in your browser's local storage.
Sharing and exporting results
- A share link carries the result inside the part of the address after the
#. Browsers do not send that part to servers, so a shared result is never uploaded to us. Anyone you give the link to can read it. - Your IP address is left out of share links and images unless you choose to include it. JSON and CSV exports never include it.
- Share images and exports are created on your device and downloaded by your browser.
Usage statistics (off by default)
If you turn on "Share anonymous usage statistics" in Settings, the site sends a small set of events, such as "test started" and "test completed", to help us understand whether the test works well. Each event contains only coarse values:
- the test mode, the outcome and how long the test took, or the error code and test step if it failed or was cancelled;
- screen size class (mobile, tablet or desktop) and whether this browser had run a test before;
- speed and latency rounded into ranges (for example "100–250 Mbps"), and the bufferbloat grade;
- your country and network number (ASN) on completed tests;
- which panel or explanation you opened, and whether a shared result included the IP address.
Events never contain your IP address, a user ID, a device fingerprint or the address of the page. Our server rejects any event that contains other fields. Events are not sent while a test is running. They are kept as aggregate statistics with our hosting provider for that service's standard retention period.
Third parties
- Cloudflare hosts the site and the test servers, and stores the optional usage statistics.
- The site loads no third-party scripts, fonts, ads or trackers. The fonts are served from our own servers.
- The speed test engine is open-source software from Cloudflare that runs in your browser. We have switched off its result reporting, so it does not send your results to Cloudflare or anyone else.
We do not sell or share personal information for advertising.
Your choices and rights
Because we do not keep information that identifies you, there is usually nothing on our side to access, correct or delete. Everything the site remembers about you is in your own browser, and you can remove it at any time from the History panel, Settings or your browser's site data controls. If you have a question about your data, or want to exercise a right you have under the law where you live, contact us at the address below.
Children
The site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
Changes to this policy
When we change how the site handles information, we update this page and the "Last updated" date before the change takes effect.
Contact
Birchwood Group, LLC
1390 Market Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94102-5404, United States
support@howfastismyinternet.com