Phone CheckerPrivacy
What we keep, and what we never keep
Phone Checker checks a phone in its own browser. It is built to keep as little as it can: nothing about who you are, only what the phone's hardware showed.
In short
- No account, no name, no phone number. You don't sign up to check a phone.
- The camera and microphone stay on the phone. The tests use them to show you a picture or play a sound; nothing they see or hear is sent to us.
- A full IMEI is never kept. If you type it in, we keep only its first 8 digits, which say which model the phone was made as.
- No adverts, no tracking across sites, nothing sold.
What is kept, and for how long
| What | What it holds | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware readings | Sent at the end of every check: the phone's model code, graphics chip, RAM, screen, speed and similar readings, the verdict, and the town the internet connection is in (worked out from the address at that moment; the address itself is not kept). Nothing about the person. Used to learn what each genuine model really shows. | Kept, as they identify no one |
| Saved reports | Only if you tap Save: the readings above, your answers (condition, battery, accounts), the tests' results and, if you typed one, the first 8 digits of the IMEI. Anyone with the report's link can open it. | 90 days, then deleted |
| Donations | Only if you buy us a coffee: the number you paid from, its network, the amount, any message you typed, and the payment's status from Lipila, the mobile money company that takes the payment. Used to match the payment and for our accounts. Your PIN goes only to your network. | Kept for our accounts |
| Visit counts | The day, the page, where the visit came from (Google, Facebook, WhatsApp…), phone or computer, and the country, province and town of the internet connection. To count each visitor once a day we keep a code made from the internet address and browser, which changes every midnight and can't be turned back into either. The address itself is not kept. | Kept as daily totals |
| Mistake reports | Only if you send one from "Something wrong? Tell us": what you chose, the name you typed from the phone's Settings, your note, and what the check said. Please don't type names or phone numbers. | Until the mistake is fixed, and at most a year |
| Cookies | Two, both needed for the site to work: one holds your session, one protects forms from being sent by another site. No other cookies. | 2 hours |
| The host's server logs | The company that runs our server keeps the usual web logs (internet address, time, page) for security. We don't use them to identify anyone. | As the host keeps them, usually a few weeks |
Where it is kept
On a server in the United Kingdom, on a server rented from Hostinger. Saved reports and readings are stored in its database; only the people running Phone Checker can sign in to see them.
Why we keep it
To run the check you asked for, to give you a report you can share, to make the check more accurate for everyone, and to know how many people use the site. We don't use any of it to decide anything about you.
Your rights
Under Zambia's Data Protection Act, 2021, you can ask what we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, and object to how it is used. As we keep nothing that names you, the easiest way is to send us a saved report's number: we'll delete that report straight away. You can also complain to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
Contact details: to be added.
Children
Phone Checker is meant for adults buying or selling a phone. It doesn't knowingly keep anything about children.
Changes
If what we keep changes, this page will say so first, with a new date at the top.