Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

ChessCanvas is operated by Parallax Motion, LLC, a Maryland limited liability company doing business as ChessCanvas (“ChessCanvas”, “we”, “us”). We are responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

Contact for anything in this policy, including privacy requests: support@parallax-motion.com. Postal address: 9012 Shady Pines Dr, Frederick, Maryland 21704, United States.

We have no establishment in the European Union or the United Kingdom and have not appointed a representative there. You can reach us directly at the address above, in English or Spanish.

2. What this policy covers

This policy covers the ChessCanvas website and application at chesscanvas.app (the application’s former address, go.chesscanvas.app, now redirects there), and the sign-in pages at auth.chesscanvas.app (together, the “Service”).

It does not cover other websites you reach from ChessCanvas, such as Lichess or Chess.com when you import your games. Those services have their own policies.

3. The short version

• You can use ChessCanvas as a guest without an account. Guest games, positions and analysis stay in your browser on your device.
• Chess analysis runs on your device. The Stockfish engine runs inside your browser. Your games are not uploaded for analysis.
• An account needs only an e-mail address and a password. What you save to your account (Studies, saved games, your profile) is stored on our servers so you can use it on any device.
• Optional product analytics are off unless you agree. If you allow them, we measure how ChessCanvas is used, never the content of your games or Studies.
• We do not sell your personal information, and we do not show advertising.

4. Information you give us

Account. When you create an account we collect your e-mail address and a password. Your password is handled by our sign-in provider (Amazon Cognito) and is never visible to us. We send a code to your e-mail address to verify it.

Username and profile. After signing in you choose a username. You may also add a display name, a short bio, a country, up to five links and an avatar choice, and decide whether your joined date is shown.

Identity claims. If you ask us to confirm a FIDE identity or title, we collect the FIDE ID, name and title you give and a short note about your evidence. We do not ask you to upload documents.

Your chess content. When signed in, we store what you choose to save: Studies and their chapters, moves, variations and comments; earlier versions of chapters; games you save to My Games (including imported game records with the players’ names and ratings); analysis documents; and your personal database.

Feedback. When you send a report through the Feedback Center we store what you write (category, title, description, steps and expected and actual behaviour) together with technical details collected automatically: the page you were on (without query strings or share links), app version, screen size, language, browser type, theme, whether you were online, and the workspace in use. Feedback is linked to your account.

Messages. If you e-mail us, we keep the message and your address to answer you.

5. Importing games from Lichess and Chess.com

When you import games, your browser contacts Lichess or Chess.com directly. Those services receive your IP address, browser details and the username you searched for, under their own privacy policies.

ChessCanvas remembers the last username you used for each site in your browser only, to fill it in next time. Games you then save to your account are stored as described in section 4.

Deleting an imported game from ChessCanvas does not delete it from Lichess or Chess.com; those services keep their own records under their own policies.

6. What stays on your device

ChessCanvas stores some information in your browser (local storage, session storage and IndexedDB). It is not sent to us unless you save it to your account.

• Guest work: games, positions, analysis documents and training progress you use without an account.
• Sign-in session: the tokens that keep you signed in. They are kept for the current browser tab only and removed when you close it or sign out.
• Unsaved work: drafts of Study chapters, so a lost connection does not lose your edits.
• Preferences: theme, board, sound, layout and similar settings.
• Privacy choices: whether you allowed or declined optional analytics.
• Analytics identifier: only if you allow analytics (section 8).
• Google Analytics cookies (_ga and _ga_…, kept up to 13 months): only if you allow analytics (section 8).

You can export or delete guest data in Settings › Your data, or clear it with your browser’s site-data controls.

7. Information collected automatically

Diagnostics needed to run the Service. To find and fix errors, the ChessCanvas app sends us a small technical report about once a minute while it is open. The report contains a random identifier for that browser tab (not linked to your account), the app version, whether you are signed in, your screen size, counts of pages viewed, and error messages with the part of our code where they happened. Page addresses are reduced to their general shape, with game, Study and share identifiers removed. These reports are kept in our server logs for 30 days. These reports are needed to keep the Service working and are not used for analytics or advertising.

Server and security logs. Our hosting provider processes your IP address and browser details to deliver pages and protect the Service. Our application and database keep operational logs, such as errors, connection events and unusually slow database operations, which can occasionally include data from a request. These logs are kept for 14 to 30 days. We have not switched on web access logs for our content-delivery network or website.

Sign-in activity. We record when your account was created and last used, at most once an hour, and keep a security record of important account actions, such as a username change or closing an account.

8. Optional analytics (PostHog and Google Analytics)

With your permission, we use PostHog (PostHog Inc., United States) to understand how ChessCanvas is used, so we can decide what to improve, and Google Analytics (Google LLC, United States) to understand how people find ChessCanvas: which sites, searches and campaigns bring visitors, which pages and articles they read, and how many create an account. Analytics are off until you choose “Allow” in the privacy choices banner. You can change your choice at any time from “Privacy choices” at the bottom of every page.

If you allow analytics, we record:

• Product events: for example, that you opened a workspace, imported a game (and from which kind of source), ran or finished a Game Review, created or saved a Study, searched the database (which kinds of filters you used and roughly how many results, never what you typed), or opened a master game.
• Pages visited: reduced to their general shape (for example /studio/study/:id), with identifiers, search terms and share links removed.
• Active time: how long the app was actively used in each workspace. Time counts only while the tab is visible and in focus, and stops 90 seconds after your last interaction.
• Device and approximate location: device type (phone, tablet or desktop), browser and operating system, and the country and city PostHog estimates from your IP address. PostHog is set to discard the IP address after estimating the location: the address itself is not stored.
• Where you came from: the website that linked you to ChessCanvas (its address only), and which button on chesscanvas.app brought you to the app.
• Errors: up to ten error reports per session, with personal text removed.

Google Analytics receives, if you allow analytics: the pages you visit on chesscanvas.app (inside the Studio reduced to their general shape, as above), the site or campaign that brought you, how long and how far you read, a few actions (opening a position from an article, sharing a link, starting to sign up or sign in, and creating an account), and device, browser and approximate location. Google Analytics does not log or store IP addresses. We switch off Google signals and every advertising feature, and we do not link Google Analytics to your account, your e-mail address or any advertising service. Google keeps this data for 14 months.

PostHog stores a random identifier in your browser to recognise repeat visits; Google Analytics stores its own in the _ga cookies. If you are signed in, PostHog analytics are linked to an internal account number (not your e-mail address or username). Inside ChessCanvas, this lets the owner’s private dashboard show per-account usage summaries, for example which tools an account used and for how long, to understand how people use the product. These summaries are visible only to the owner’s account. They are not used for advertising and do not affect your account.

Never collected by analytics: the moves, PGN or positions of your games; the content of Studies, comments or notes; what you type into search; passwords, tokens or e-mail addresses. Session recordings (“replay”), heatmaps and automatic click capture are switched off.

If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as “Decline” and do not ask. Browsers’ older “Do Not Track” setting has no agreed meaning, so we do not rely on it; analytics stay off unless you allow them.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

ChessCanvas itself does not set cookies, except Google Analytics’ _ga cookies when you allow analytics (section 8); choosing “Decline” later removes them. It uses browser storage as described in sections 6 and 8. Our sign-in pages at auth.chesscanvas.app are run by Amazon Cognito, which sets cookies needed to sign you in and keep that sign-in secure.

Strictly necessary storage (sign-in, your work, your preferences, your privacy choice) does not need your consent. Analytics storage is used only if you allow analytics.

10. How we use information, and our legal bases

Where data-protection law such as the EU or UK GDPR applies, we rely on these legal bases:

We do not use your information for advertising, we do not sell it, and we do not make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects by automated means.

11. Who we share information with

Service providers that process information for us under contract:

• Amazon Web Services (United States, region us-east-1): hosting and content delivery, storage, database, sign-in (Amazon Cognito), e-mail delivery (Amazon SES) and logs.
• PostHog (United States): optional product analytics, only if you allow them.
• Google (Google LLC, United States): optional Google Analytics, only if you allow analytics, under Google’s data-processing terms; not for advertising.

Other ChessCanvas users, as you choose:

• Your profile is private by default. If you make it public in Settings, others can see your username, display name, bio, country, links, verified title or federation, joined date (if shown) and the titles of your public Studies. Accounts created before 21 October 2026 may still have a public profile; you can change it in Settings at any time.
• Studies are private by default. “Unlisted” Studies can be opened by anyone with the link. “Public” Studies can be found and opened by anyone, and may be exported as PGN. Your username is shown as the owner of a shared Study. People you invite to a Study see its content and the members’ usernames.

For legal reasons: if the law requires it, to protect the rights, safety or property of ChessCanvas, our users or others, or to investigate abuse.

If ChessCanvas changes hands: as part of a merger, acquisition or transfer of the Service, with this policy continuing to protect your information.

12. International transfers

We store and process information in the United States. If you use ChessCanvas from elsewhere, including the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, your information is transferred to the United States, where data-protection laws may differ from yours.

Where the law requires a safeguard for these transfers, we rely on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (with the UK Addendum) included in our providers’ data-processing terms with Amazon Web Services, PostHog and Google.

13. How long we keep information

We may keep information longer where the law requires it or to resolve a dispute.

14. Your choices and rights

Everyone can: see and edit your profile and content in the app; export Studies and your personal database as PGN; export guest data from Settings › Your data; change your analytics choice at any time; and close your account yourself in Settings › Account.

Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you and receive a copy in a portable format;
• correct inaccurate information;
• have your information deleted;
• object to or restrict certain uses, including uses based on legitimate interests;
• withdraw consent, without affecting what was done before;
• opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information or of targeted advertising. We do neither.

To make a request, e-mail support@parallax-motion.com from the address on your account, so we can confirm it is you. We answer within one month (45 days where US state law applies), and we will tell you if we need more time. We will not treat you differently for using your rights. You may use an authorised agent where the law allows.

If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, you can complain to your local data-protection authority. We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first.

15. Children

ChessCanvas is a general-audience chess service and is not directed to children under 13. You must be at least 13 years old to create an account, or older if the law where you live requires a higher age to agree to our use of your information without a parent’s consent. If you are under 18, please use ChessCanvas with a parent’s or guardian’s permission.

Anyone can use ChessCanvas as a guest without giving us personal information, and optional analytics stay off unless allowed. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verified parental consent, we will delete it. Parents or guardians can contact support@parallax-motion.com.

16. Security

We protect information with encryption in transit (HTTPS everywhere) and at rest (our database and storage are encrypted), restricted and logged administrative access, and per-account authorisation checks on every request. Optional two-step sign-in with an authenticator app is available.

No service can guarantee perfect security. If a breach affects your personal information, we will tell you and the authorities where the law requires.

17. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when our practices change. The version number and effective date at the top show the latest version. If a change materially affects how we use your information, we will tell you in the app or by e-mail before it takes effect, and ask for your consent again where the law requires it.

18. Contact

Parallax Motion, LLC, a Maryland limited liability company doing business as ChessCanvas
9012 Shady Pines Dr, Frederick, Maryland 21704, United States
E-mail: support@parallax-motion.com