Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 2026

Thank you for playing Chess Mates. This Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit or use the Chess Mates platform (chessmatesclub.com). We are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about our data practices.

1. Personal Information We Collect

Google Account Data

When you sign in to Chess Mates, we use Firebase Authentication to authenticate you via your Google account. We securely receive the following information:

• Display name — Used to identify you to other players in the lobby, chat, and leaderboard.
• Email address — Used to uniquely identify your account and for support communications.
• Profile picture — Displayed as your avatar in the lobby, game screens, and social feed.

This data is used strictly to provide our service and is never sold to third parties.

Game and Social Data

When you use Chess Mates, we store the following data in our Firebase Realtime Database:

• Game history — Your match results, ELO rating changes, and moves played.
• Social content — Posts, comments, and reactions you publish on the global feed.
• Friend connections — Your friends list and friend requests.
• Chat messages — Messages sent in public lobby chat and private direct messages.

2. Device Permissions (Camera & Microphone)

Chess Mates features integrated voice and video chat functionality utilizing WebRTC technologies. To enable this, the application will request permissions to access your device's camera and microphone.

• Microphone: Used solely to transmit your voice to your opponent during active peer-to-peer calls.
• Camera: Used solely to transmit video to your opponent during active peer-to-peer calls.

3. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Chess Mates uses the following cookies and similar technologies:

• Essential cookies — Required for authentication (Firebase session tokens) and basic site functionality. These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics cookies — Google Analytics (via Firebase) helps us understand how users interact with the platform, which features are most popular, and where we can improve the experience.
• Advertising cookies — Google AdSense uses cookies to serve personalized ads based on your browsing history. You can opt out of personalized advertising at any time.
• Preference cookies — We use localStorage to remember your board theme, cookie consent choice, and other preferences locally on your device.

4. Advertising

We use Google AdSense to serve advertisements on Chess Mates. This helps keep the platform completely free for all users. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our application or other websites.

• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve personalized ads to you based on your visit to our application and/or other sites on the Internet.
• You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings or by navigating to www.aboutads.info.

5. Data Security

All sensitive information, including authentication tokens and multiplayer state data, is processed securely using Google Firebase infrastructure. Firebase provides enterprise-grade security including encrypted data transmission (TLS/SSL), secure authentication tokens, and access-controlled database rules.

We implement Firebase Realtime Database security rules to ensure users can only read and write data they are authorized to access. Administrative operations are restricted to verified admin accounts.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active. Game history and social posts are retained indefinitely unless you request account deletion. Chat messages in the public lobby are automatically cleaned after 200 messages by our server-side cleanup process. Stale game rooms and temporary data are automatically removed within 24 hours of completion.

7. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access: You can view your profile data, game history, and posts at any time through your profile page.
• Correction: You can update your display name and avatar at any time through your profile settings.
• Deletion: You can request complete account deletion by visiting our Account Deletion page or emailing support@chessmatesclub.com. All your data will be permanently removed within 48 hours.
• Opt-out: You can reject non-essential cookies via our cookie consent banner and opt out of personalized ads via Google's settings.

8. Children's Privacy

Chess Mates is intended for a general audience. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will take steps to delete such information promptly. If you believe a child under 13 has shared information with us, please contact us immediately.

9. Third-Party Services

Chess Mates integrates the following third-party services, each with their own privacy policies:

• Google Firebase — Authentication, database, hosting, and analytics.
• Google AdSense — Advertising.
• Tenor (Google) — GIF search in chat.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page when changes are made. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

11. Contact Us

For more information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us:

• Email: support@chessmatesclub.com
• Contact page: chessmatesclub.com/contact