Privacy Policy

The short version

• There are no accounts or logins, and we don't keep a database of names.
• Turning a name into DNA happens in your browser. Generating, shuffling, changing the artwork theme, viewing the helix, DNA Card, or TCG Card, and downloading the helix or Story image do not send the name to our server.
• Sharing, comparing, Mutation Lab, and DNA Card or TCG Card downloads need to send a name to our server. They only do that when you use them.

What stays in your browser

• Names you enter on the home page and the DNA made from them. The current result is kept in the page address after the # so reloading and the back button still work. Browsers don't send that part of an address to websites.
• Helix, DNA Card, and TCG Card previews, and Helix and Story downloads, are drawn in your browser. Fonts and pictures for them load from our site without your name.
• Preferences (light or dark mode, and Helix, DNA Card, or TCG Card view) are saved in your browser's localStorage.

When a name is sent

These features send a name to our server, which uses it to build the page or image you asked for:

• Share links include the name or names. Anyone who opens a link can see them. When a link is opened, our server builds the shared page and its preview image. If you post a link to a social app or messaging service, that service will see it and may load the preview too.
• Compare sends both names so our server can calculate and show the G.E.N.E Index. The “Download DNA Cards” image on a comparison is also drawn on our server.
• Mutation Lab sends the name so our server can build the lab page.
• DNA Card and TCG Card downloads send the name or names, codon variants, artwork theme, and light or dark mode only after you click Download. They travel in the body of the request, not in a page address, and our server uses them to draw the PNG. The image comes back marked private, no-store so it isn't cached, and we don't write the names to a database or intentionally log them.
• Older links made before this update put the name in the home page address (for example /?n=Name). Opening one sends that name once; the page then moves it after the #.

We don't save these names in a database. Pages that show a name are marked so search engines don't list them.

Analytics

We use Umami to count page visits and how features are used (for example “download clicked,” the view mode, or how many names were entered). Before anything is sent, we remove everything after the ? or # in the page address, replace the title of pages that show a result, and only allow a fixed list of details that can't hold a name. Names are never sent to analytics. Umami doesn't use cookies.

Cookies

We don't set cookies. Your preferences are stored in localStorage, which stays on your device.

Third-party services

• Vercel — our hosting provider. It runs our server code, so it processes the requests described above, including card downloads. It keeps standard server logs (IP address, page address, and time) and may briefly cache pages and images. For share links, Compare, Mutation Lab, and older links, the page address can include a name. See Vercel's privacy policy.
• Umami Cloud — privacy-friendly analytics, as described above. See Umami's privacy policy for how they handle request data such as IP addresses.
• Social and messaging apps — only if you choose to share a link there.

Children

DNA My Name is designed for classroom use. We don't ask for accounts and don't store names. Making DNA stays in the browser; if students share, compare, use Mutation Lab, or download a DNA Card or TCG Card, those names are sent as described above. Using a first name or a nickname works just as well.

Contact

Questions? Email us at feedback@dnamyname.com