Hidden in π is a small hobby site. People type phone numbers and birthdays into it, so we built it to keep as little as possible. This page says exactly what happens to your information.
What you search stays yours
We don’t store what you search. The number, date or word you type travels to our server inside the request, never in the web address, is looked up, and is forgotten as soon as the answer is sent back. It is never written to a log, a database or analytics, and neither is the place in π where it was found (that place would give the number away).
The digits shown around your result are fetched by our server, so your browser doesn’t ask anyone else about them. Share cards and π fingerprints are drawn on your device and only leave it if you share them.
Request logs
Like every website, our hosting writes a short technical note for each request: your IP address, the path asked for (such as /api/v1/search, never what you searched), the time, the response status, your browser’s user-agent and the page you came from. These Google Cloud Run request logs are kept for 30 days and then deleted automatically. We use them only to keep the site running and to stop abuse.
To limit how often one connection can search, our server keeps a keyed scramble (an HMAC) of your IP address in memory for a few minutes. It is never written down.
No accounts
There are no accounts, logins or passwords, and we never ask for your name, email or age. Daily games remember your streak with a random device id that your browser makes. Our server keeps only a keyed scramble of that id, never linked to a person, and game records expire after 90 days.
Kept on your device
Your browser’s local storage holds your device id, streaks, today’s game boards, your Memory Trainer progress, your best Higher or Lower score and the delete token for a board entry. Clearing this site’s data in your browser removes all of it.
Things you choose to share
- Hall of Finds: the word you hang and how deep it is (“deeper than 40 billion”), never its exact place and never who added it.
- Memory board: your nickname and best score, with a scramble of a delete token that only your device has. “Remove me” takes the entry down at any time.
- Love Hunts live only in their link. When a hunt is opened or reported, the server receives a fingerprint (a SHA-256 hash) of the link, never the message; reports are counted once per device and expire after 90 days.
- Name Fight links carry the two names after the # sign, a part of the address browsers never send to any server.
Ads and cookies
On a few pages (the home page, the Pi League and the learn pages) we show ads from Google AdSense. Google and its partners use cookies to show and measure ads and may personalise them. If you are in the European Economic Area, the UK or Switzerland, Google’s consent message asks you first, and if you say no, the ad code isn’t loaded at all. To be asked again, clear this site’s cookies.
Ads never appear on the Love Hunt pages, on checkout or on these policy pages, and they can’t see what you search, because searches are never in a web address. We run no analytics or tracking of our own.
Read how Google uses information from sites that use its services, and turn personalised ads off in Google’s ad settings.
Payments
Paid extras are sold by Paddle, our reseller and merchant of record; in the apps, purchases go through Apple or Google and RevenueCat. They handle your card details; we never see them. For an order we keep the email address Paddle gives us, only to deliver what you bought and to handle refunds. Tips go through Ko-fi.
Affiliate links
Some π notes may end with an “On the bookshelf” box: links to a book on Amazon, each marked “affiliate link”. If you buy something after following one, Amazon may pay us a small commission, at no extra cost to you. These are plain links: we set no cookie and load no Amazon script, image or widget, so Amazon learns nothing about your visit unless you click. A link carries only the book’s number and our Amazon Associates tag, never anything you searched. Once you are on Amazon’s site, Amazon’s own privacy notice and cookies apply.
Other services
The Dial page asks pi.delivery, Google Cloud’s π service, for the digits at the place you dial, straight from your browser. Our fonts are served from this site, so no font service sees your visit. The site runs on Google Cloud and Firebase in the United States.
Children
Hidden in π is made for a general audience and is not directed at children. We don’t collect names, emails or ages from anyone.
Thanks and credits
π digits computed by Google Cloud (100 trillion digits, 2022).
Inspired by The Rest Is Science. Hidden in π is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by The Rest Is Science or its hosts.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it.
Our contact address is being set up and will be listed here before the site launches.