Privacy
Privacy Policy
Effective October 11, 2026
Encyclopedia 2000 is a free desktop encyclopedia for Windows. It's built to respect your privacy: it has no accounts, no ads, no analytics, and no tracking, and it doesn't collect or sell any personal information.
What stays on your computer
The app saves a few things so it works the way you left it. They're stored only on your computer and are never sent anywhere:
- Your settings from Tools → Options, such as sound, text size, and startup choices
- Your favorites and your recently viewed articles
- Game progress, such as Star Chart stars and score
- What you enter in activities, such as the birthday in The Day You Were Born and the people in Lifelines
- The window's size and position
The installed version keeps these in your Windows user profile. The portable version keeps them in an "Encyclopedia 2000 Data" folder next to the program.
To remove them, use Tools → Options → Privacy → Clear Recently Viewed or Reset All Settings, uninstall the app, or (for the portable version) delete the "Encyclopedia 2000 Data" folder. Uninstalling may leave your settings folder behind; you can delete it from %APPDATA%\encyclopedia-2000.
What the app connects to
To show you articles and keep itself up to date, the app connects to these services. Like any website you visit, they can see your computer's IP address and the request being made (for example, which article you opened). The app identifies itself to them as Encyclopedia 2000 and its version number. It doesn't send your name, email, or any other personal information.
| Service | Why |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) | Articles, search, featured content, and "On this day" events |
| Wikimedia Commons (upload.wikimedia.org) | Pictures |
| Wikidata (query.wikidata.org) | Facts in World Explorer and Lifelines |
| GitHub (github.com) | Checking for and downloading updates |
These services are covered by their own privacy policies: the Wikimedia Foundation Privacy Policy for Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata, and the GitHub Privacy Statement for GitHub.
You can turn off automatic update checks in Tools → Options → Privacy. The portable version only checks for updates; it never downloads them.
Links that open in your web browser
Some buttons open web pages in your own browser instead of inside the app, such as View on Wikipedia, Support Wikipedia, and Send Feedback. Once you're on those sites, their own privacy policies apply. In particular, Send Feedback offers our Discord server and a Google Form. The form is anonymous unless you choose to enter an email address for a reply. It fills in your app version and Windows version for you; nothing is sent until you press Submit. Google's and Discord's privacy policies apply to what you share there.
This website
encyclopedia2000.com uses no cookies and no advertising or cross-site trackers, and its fonts are served from this site. It uses Cloudflare Web Analytics to count visits: which pages are viewed, which site you came from, and your general country and type of device. It doesn't use cookies, doesn't follow you across other sites, and doesn't collect personal information. The site is hosted on GitHub Pages and served through Cloudflare, which, like any web host, process your IP address to deliver the pages and protect the site. Download links lead to GitHub. These analytics apply only to this website; the Encyclopedia 2000 app itself has none.
Children
Encyclopedia 2000 doesn't collect personal information from anyone, including children.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new effective date, and noted in the release notes.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Ask on our Discord or use the feedback form.