Privacy policy

1. Controller

BTechnology GmbH, Immermannstr. 19, 40210 Düsseldorf, Germany. Email: contact@chesswow.app

2. The app at a glance

ChessWOW works without an account. Games, analyses and settings are stored only on your device, we receive none of it. It uses PostHog for pseudonymous usage statistics and RevenueCat for purchases and subscriptions, see sections 6 to 8. You can turn usage statistics off in the app.

When you delete the app, all locally stored data is deleted with it.

3. Camera and photos

The app uses the camera and your photo library only when you scan a position, and only after you allow it in iOS. Position recognition runs entirely on your device. Images are not sent to us or to third parties.

4. Importing from Lichess and Chess.com

When you import games by username, your device connects directly to lichess.org or api.chess.com. The provider receives technically necessary data such as your IP address and the username you entered. Their privacy policies apply to that processing. Nothing passes through our servers.

5. Endgame tablebases

The optional endgame tablebases are downloaded from tablebase.lichess.ovh when you request them. As with any download, your IP address is sent to that server.

6. Usage statistics with PostHog

To understand which features are used and where the app has problems, the app sends usage events to PostHog. The provider is PostHog Inc., 2261 Market Street #4008, San Francisco, CA 94114, USA. The data is stored in the PostHog EU cloud in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Where PostHog Inc. or its subprocessors access it from the USA, the transfer is covered by PostHog’s certification under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (adequacy decision of the European Commission, Art. 45 GDPR) and additionally by EU Standard Contractual Clauses in the data processing agreement (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR).

What is sent: which screens and features you use (for example game started, report opened, position scanned), onboarding steps, displayed offers, assigned offer variants and purchase-dialog outcomes, rough results such as win or draw, and details the PostHog SDK sends automatically: app name, app version and build number, device manufacturer, device model and device type (for example iPhone), operating system and version, language and region, time zone, screen size, whether the device is currently on Wi-Fi or cellular, whether the app runs from TestFlight or in a simulator, the SDK version, as well as app launches, moves to the background and screens shown. In addition, your IP address, from which PostHog derives an approximate location (country and city). The events are linked to a randomly generated, pseudonymous identifier. Not sent: names, email addresses, games, positions, photos or Lichess and Chess.com usernames. There is no screen recording and no tracking across apps or devices.

The legal basis is our legitimate interest in a working and improving app (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). You can object at any time by turning off Share usage statistics in the app under More or Settings. After that the app sends no more usage events through the PostHog SDK. RevenueCat remains active for purchase handling and access checks. Server-side subscription analytics are described in section 7. We delete event data no later than 12 months after it was collected.

7. App user ID at RevenueCat

The app uses RevenueCat for in-app purchases and subscriptions. The provider is RevenueCat, Inc., 1032 E Brandon Blvd #3003, Brandon, FL 33511, USA. RevenueCat assigns a random app user ID and receives technical data such as app version, device type, operating system, country and IP address. When usage statistics are enabled, we also store the pseudonymous PostHog identifier at RevenueCat to associate purchases and usage.

RevenueCat manages purchases together with the Apple App Store. It processes the product, transaction identifier, price, currency, purchase time and access status. Neither we nor RevenueCat receive full payment details such as credit card numbers. Subscription events including purchases, trials, renewals, cancellations and refunds are sent to PostHog with a pseudonymous identifier. These server-side events can arrive while the app is closed or SDK usage statistics are disabled. RevenueCat is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in working purchase handling (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The data is deleted when you ask us to or when it is no longer needed.

8. Crash and performance data

The app uses Apple MetricKit. If the app crashes, freezes or uses an unusual amount of processor time, iOS gives us a short summary, usually on the next launch. While usage statistics are on, we send only the type of problem, its duration, the app version and the system version via PostHog, without stack traces and without file paths. Section 6 applies.

The app is distributed through the Apple App Store. Apple is responsible for the data processed there. Apple provides us with further crash and usage data only if you have agreed to this in your device settings.

9. This website

This website is hosted by Netlify, Inc., 101 2nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. When you visit, Netlify processes technically necessary data such as IP address, time, page requested and browser type to deliver the site and protect it from abuse. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in secure operation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Netlify is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

This website loads no external fonts and uses no advertising services. It sets cookies only if you agree to website analytics with Google Analytics, see section 10.

10. Website analytics with Google Analytics

With your consent, we use Google Analytics 4 on this website to see how many people visit it and which pages they open. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Without your consent, Google Analytics is not loaded and no data is sent to Google.

After you consent, your browser loads a script from Google and sends information about your visit: pages opened, time, referring website, browser, operating system, device type, screen size, language and your IP address. Google derives an approximate location (country, region, city) from the IP address. According to Google, Google Analytics 4 does not store IP addresses. The information is linked to a random identifier stored in cookies on your device: _ga to distinguish visitors and _ga_LJHL3L69LP to keep the session state. According to Google, both cookies last up to 2 years. Google Signals and advertising features are turned off, and consent for advertising (ad_storage, ad_user_data, ad_personalization) stays denied.

The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and, for storing and reading the cookies, Section 25(1) TDDDG, formerly TTDSG). Google may also process the data in the USA. Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, and the transfer is based on the adequacy decision of the European Commission (Art. 45 GDPR). We set the retention period for analytics data in Google Analytics to 14 months, after which the data is deleted.

You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future using the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page. Google Analytics is then no longer loaded and the Google Analytics cookies of this website are deleted. We store your choice in your browser's local storage (localStorage) so the notice does not appear on every visit. This is strictly necessary for this function (Section 25(2) No. 2 TDDDG).

11. Contact by email

If you write to us, we use your message and email address only to reply. We delete them once the request is resolved, unless legal retention periods apply.

12. Your rights

You have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection. Write to contact@chesswow.app.

You can also lodge a complaint with a data protection authority, for example the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of North Rhine-Westphalia.

13. Changes

If we add new features or services to the app, we update this policy beforehand. The version published here applies.