Your documents
Every Altto tool works entirely within your browser. The files you choose are never uploaded, transmitted, or stored on any server operated by us — there is no upload step in any tool. When you close or reload the page, your files and anything made from them are gone unless you saved a copy.
Cookies and similar technologies
This site does not need cookies to perform a conversion. It may use:
- Essential cookies — for example, remembering the choice you make in the consent message.
- Analytics cookies — to understand aggregate usage (for example, how many people visit and which tools they use). We use Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity for this. Clarity’s session recordings show a page’s layout and where people click, but every page is set so they never capture text: nothing from your files, and nothing you type, is recorded. We also count page views with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which doesn’t use cookies.
- Your recent tools — when you open a tool, your browser keeps the addresses of the last few tools you opened in its local storage on your device, so the home page and the All tools page can offer them again. Only page addresses are kept: never files or anything you type. It is never sent to us. Press “Clear” beside the list to remove it.
- Advertising cookies — this site shows ads managed by Mediavine. Mediavine and its advertising partners use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your visits to this site and other sites. See Mediavine’s privacy policy for how it handles data.
Visitors in the UK, EEA and Switzerland are shown a consent message when they first visit, provided by Mediavine’s consent tool. Until you agree in that message, no analytics or advertising cookies are set: Google Analytics runs in Google’s “consent mode” and only sends anonymous, cookie-free signals (for example, that a page was viewed), which Google uses to estimate visitor numbers, and Microsoft Clarity is not loaded. If you agree, Google Analytics can use its cookies and Clarity loads. Advertising follows the choice you make there. Cloudflare Web Analytics sets no cookies and counts page views either way. You can change your choice at any time with the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page.
Visitors elsewhere are not shown a consent message. For them, Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity load normally and may set the analytics cookies described above, and Mediavine and its advertising partners may use cookies as described above. You can control these with the options below, or turn off Google Analytics with Google’s opt-out browser add-on.
You can opt out of personalised advertising from Google by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. You can also opt out of some third-party vendors’ use of cookies for personalised advertising at aboutads.info or, in the UK and EU, youronlinechoices.eu. To learn more about how Google uses data from sites that show its ads, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.
Third-party services
To perform conversions, the tools use code that runs locally in your browser. Some of it is Altto’s own (for example, the code that builds Word documents, .zip files, QR codes and barcodes) and some is open-source code libraries (for example, for reading PDF files). Altto serves all of it itself, from altto.co.uk.
The AI tools also download their AI model the first time you use them: from altto.co.uk or Altto’s own model storage (models.altto.co.uk), or, if that can’t be reached, from Hugging Face, the public site that publishes these models. Like any web request, this may show your IP address to the server sending the file, but no document content is ever sent — the models run locally in your browser.
The AI designer in Altto Layout
Altto Layout (our Publisher alternative) has an optional “Describe it and let AI design it” box. If you use it, the description you type is sent from your browser to altto.co.uk, which passes it to Cloudflare Workers AI, a service run by Cloudflare that writes a short design plan (wording, colours, fonts and layout). Your browser then builds the design on your device. We don’t store or log your description, and none of your files are sent: only the words you type in that box. To limit free use to a few designs a day, our server keeps a daily counter per visitor made from a one-way scramble (hash) of your internet address and the date; your address itself is never stored, and counters are deleted the next day. Don’t type personal or sensitive information into the box. Cloudflare handles the request under its own privacy policy.
The AI Debate
The AI Debate sends the subject you type, and the debate so far, from your browser to altto.co.uk, which passes it to Cloudflare Workers AI to write each AI’s turn, their votes and the verdict. When a debate reaches its verdict, the subject, the AIs’ turns, their votes and the verdict are saved and published at a public link anyone can read, and listed in the debate archive; nothing about you is saved with it. Debates stopped before the verdict aren’t saved. Before publishing, the debate is checked for links, contact details and content unsuitable for all ages, and debates that fail aren’t published. The page tells you this before you start. To limit free use, our server keeps a daily counter per visitor made from a one-way scramble (hash) of your internet address and the date, as for the Layout designer; your address itself is never stored, and counters are deleted the next day. Don’t type personal or sensitive information into the subject box. To have a debate removed, contact us with its link.
The weekly leaderboards (IQ test, typing test, reaction time test and brain training): when you finish one of these, your score is added automatically under the nickname you used before or a made-up one (such as “Swift Otter 42”), and you can change the name or take your score off straight away on the results screen. We store the nickname you type, the age group you pick (if any), your score, the date, and a random number your browser makes so that your device keeps one line per week; the nickname, age group and score are shown publicly on the leaderboard. Please use a nickname, not your real name. When a test starts, your browser asks our server for a one-off code so that only real runs can be added. To stop spam, our server keeps a daily counter per visitor made from a one-way scramble (hash) of your internet address and the date; your address itself is never stored, and counters are deleted the next day. Your nickname and age group are also remembered on your device to fill in the box next time. Leaderboard entries are kept so past weeks can be shown; to have an entry removed, contact us with the nickname, test and week.
When you finish the IQ test, your score, the test type, the date and your country (worked out by our network provider from your connection; not your address) are added to an anonymous pool so the results page can say how you compare with other Altto test-takers. No name, address or device ID is stored with it; each test is counted once using a one-way scramble of the test and your connection, and a daily scramble of your address (cleared after the day) limits spam. Your own score history stays in your browser only.
IQ test certificates and PDF reports come with an ID and QR code so anyone can check them. When you download one (the report itself is made on your device), we store the name you typed (if any), your score, likely range, percentile, number correct, test type and the date, under a random ID; anyone with the ID can see those details at altto.co.uk/verify. To stop spam, the same kind of daily counter as the leaderboards is used (a one-way scramble of your internet address and the date, deleted the next day; your address itself is never stored). To have a certificate removed, contact us with its ID.
Private leagues are also optional. If you make or join one, we store the league’s name, the name you choose to show in it, the date you joined and the random number your browser makes, so your scores can appear on that league. If you add a score to your leagues only, we store the score, the date and that random number, without a nickname, and it isn’t shown on the public leaderboard. Only people with the league’s link can see its board. Leaving a league removes your name from it straight away. Your progress, badges and streaks are kept in your browser, and are only uploaded if you sign in to an account (below).
Accounts are optional too: you never need one to play. If you make one so your scores follow you to other devices, we store the username you choose, a scrambled version of your password (a one-way PBKDF2 hash with a random salt, so we can’t see or recover the password itself), the date, and the random number your browser makes, which then links your scores, badges and leagues. We don’t ask for an email address. While you’re signed in, your My progress history (test results with their dates, best scores, the days you played, brain training scores, flashcard review dates and badges) is also saved to your account so it appears on all your devices; signing out stops this, and what’s already in your browser stays there. When you sign in on another device, that device’s scores, badges and leagues are moved onto your account, and we keep a note of which device number joined which, so a mistake can be put right. To stop password guessing, we count sign-in attempts per day using a one-way scramble of your connection address and the date, deleted the next day. Your files never touch your account: being signed in doesn’t change how any file or document tool works, and nothing you open in them is saved to it or linked to it. Account details are kept in Altto’s database on Cloudflare, our host, for as long as the account exists. Your sign-in is remembered by the random number your browser makes, kept in your browser’s local storage; there is no sign-in cookie, and session recordings on the account pages capture no text. To delete your account, choose “Delete my account” on the account card (on My progress) and type your password: your username, password hash, saved progress and the device notes are deleted straight away. Your scores, nickname and leagues aren’t part of the account (they work without one), so they stay until you remove them as described above, or contact us.
Daily game reminders are optional and off unless you turn them on. If you tap “Remind me” on a test result and allow notifications, your browser gives us a push address (made by your browser’s own notification service, such as Google, Mozilla, Microsoft or Apple) and two keys that let us encrypt each message so only your browser can read it. We store those, which daily games you asked about, your clock’s offset from UK time (so the reminder comes in the daytime where you are), the date you turned them on and the date of the last reminder. We send at most one a day. Tap “Turn off” on any test result and the address is deleted straight away; if you block notifications for altto.co.uk in your browser instead, it stops working and is deleted the next time a reminder would go out.
Using your camera
The Passport Photo Checker can use your camera, but only if you press “Live camera with checklist” and your browser asks you to allow it. The camera picture is checked on your device and is never recorded, uploaded or sent anywhere; the camera turns off when you close it. Photos you take stay on your device until you choose to save them.
Tool use counts and visits from AI assistants
To see which tools people actually use, which ones go wrong, what people look for, and whether AI assistants recommend the site, each page sends a few short notes to Altto’s own counter (a small service we run on our host, Cloudflare):
- each page you open (which page, so we know how many times each page is viewed), and when you leave it, how long it was on your screen and roughly how far down you scrolled (in quarters);
- if you arrived on a link someone shared from Altto, which app it was shared through (for example WhatsApp); shared links carry a short tag such as “ref=share-wa” for this;
- when you choose a file, and when a tool gives you a result (a download, a copy, or a finished calculation): which tool, the type of file (for example PDF or JPG), a rough size band (for example 1–5 MB), how many files, how long it took, and the options you picked on the tool (for example “Recommended” compression);
- when a tool shows an error, a script on the page fails, or you leave before getting a result: the error message, with any file names and numbers removed;
- your answer, if you give one, to “Was this result good?”;
- on the tests (IQ, typing, reaction time, personality and brain training): how far you got and a rough score band; and, when you finish the IQ test, which type of puzzle you had for each question and whether you got it right, so we can check how hard each puzzle really is and how accurate the scores are;
- what you type into the search box on the All Tools page, and whether anything matched; the address of any page that wasn’t found; and which tool you open from a guide;
- with each note: roughly where you came from (for example Google, an AI assistant such as ChatGPT or Perplexity, a social site, another website, another Altto page, or typing the address), how long the page took to load, whether you’re on a phone, tablet or computer, and the browser and system family (for example “Safari on iPhone”, not the version or anything more detailed).
Our host adds the country. These notes set no cookies, store nothing on your device, and never include your IP address, your file names, or anything inside your files — your files still never leave your device. The notes carry no ID, so they can’t be linked to you or to each other.
The suggestion box
If you send a suggestion with the “Suggest an improvement” box, we store what you wrote, the kind of suggestion, the page you were on, your device type (phone, tablet or computer, and browser family), the date and, only if you choose to give it, your email address so we can reply. We use it only to improve Altto and to answer you, and never share it or add you to a mailing list. To stop spam, the same kind of daily counter as the leaderboards is used (a one-way scramble of your internet address and the date, deleted the next day). To have a suggestion or your email removed, contact us.
Information we do collect
Like most websites, our hosting provider and any analytics or advertising service in use may automatically log standard technical information such as your approximate location (from IP address), browser type, device type, and pages visited. We don't combine this with anything that identifies you personally.
Your rights
If you're in the UK or EEA, you have rights under GDPR/UK GDPR relating to any personal data processed about you, including the right to object to advertising cookies (via the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page, or your browser settings) and to ask what data is held. This site never collects your documents, and the optional game account holds only a username, a scrambled (hashed) password, your nickname and your scores, so there is generally very little to request.
For the optional game account, we use your data because you asked for the account and it’s needed to run it (contract, UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b)); the daily attempt counters that stop password guessing and spam rely on our legitimate interest in keeping the site and your account safe (Article 6(1)(f)). You can ask for a copy of the data we hold about you, or for it to be corrected or deleted, at the address below.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy occasionally to reflect changes in the tools or services this site uses. The "last updated" date above will change when we do.
Who runs Altto
Altto is run by an independent sole trader in the UK, who is responsible for this site and for any personal data it handles (the “data controller”). You can reach the data controller at contact@altto.co.uk.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or requests about your data, can be sent to contact@altto.co.uk.