Privacy

Who runs Pawnie

Pawnie is a small, independent project based in Belgium. For anything about your data, write to stijnverl31@gmail.com. The person who reads that inbox is responsible for your data under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

What I collect

• Your account. Your email address, and your name if your sign-in provider shares it. If you sign in with Google or Lichess, I receive what that service passes on — I never see your password.
• Your chess usernames. The Chess.com or Lichess username you add, so I can find your games.
• Your public games. Games that are already public on Chess.com or Lichess, fetched from their public services. I don't access anything private on those sites.
• What I work out from them. Your strengths, your weaknesses, what I suggest you work on, and how your practice is going.
• What you create. Your preparation studies, the opponents you add to them, your chosen lines and your practice results.

There are no advertising or analytics trackers on Pawnie. The only cookies are the ones that keep you signed in.

Why

To provide the service you signed up for: analysing your games, coaching you, and keeping your preparation (GDPR article 6(1)(b)). I also use account details to keep the service secure and to contact you about your account if I need to (article 6(1)(f)).

Who helps run it

These services process data on Pawnie's behalf, only to run it:

• Convex — the database, hosted in the EU (Ireland).
• Vercel — hosting of the website.
• Resend — sending sign-in emails.
• Google and Lichess — if you choose to sign in with them.

Some of these companies are based in the United States; where data leaves the EU, it is covered by the safeguards those providers offer (such as the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or standard contractual clauses). I don't sell or rent your data, and I don't share it with anyone else.

Your preparation stays yours

Studies belong to the account that made them. Other players — including the opponents you prepare against — can't see them.

If you are a player someone prepares against

Pawnie helps players prepare for a game against a known or likely opponent, as players have always done with databases and published games. To do that, it may hold the following about you, even if you don't use Pawnie:

• Competition data. Your name, club, rating, federation and FIDE numbers, and which board you played in earlier rounds, from your federation's published results and FIDE's rating lists.
• Your public games. Over-the-board games published in Lichess broadcasts (matched by your FIDE number), and games on a public Lichess or Chess.com account.
• Which online account is yours. Only when your public profile shows your name or federation number, or when a player of the club preparing against you confirms it. A guess from your openings is only ever shown as “possible” to the player, never treated as fact.

I do this on the basis of legitimate interest (GDPR article 6(1)(f)): preparing for an opponent in an official competition. Only the players preparing against you see it, and an account confirmed by one player is shared only with the players of their club. No online account is ever linked to a player under 18. You can object at any time, or ask me to remove the link between you and an online account: write to stijnverl31@gmail.com and I'll remove it everywhere.

How long I keep it

As long as you have an account. If you ask me to delete your account, I delete your data within 30 days, apart from anything the law requires me to keep.

Your rights

You can ask to see the data I hold about you, correct it, take a copy of it, or have it deleted, and you can object to how it is used. Write to stijnverl31@gmail.com. If you're not happy with the answer, you can complain to the Belgian Data Protection Authority (dataprotectionauthority.be) or the authority where you live.

Children

Pawnie is not meant for children under 16 without a parent or guardian's permission.

Changes

If this page changes in a way that matters, I'll say so on the site before it takes effect.