This Privacy Policy explains how Shenzhen Caractiv Tech Company Limited ("Caractiv Tech", "we", "us") collects, uses and shares personal data when you use ChessAtlas (国象搭子Atlas), our mobile app for iOS and Android, and this website (together, the "Service"). We are the controller of the personal data described here. Our Terms and Conditions also apply.
The short version
- You can play without an account. Signing in (with Apple, Google or an email code) is optional and lets you keep and sync your progress.
- We use your games and puzzle results to find the mistakes you keep making and to build your training. That is the core of the app.
- When you ask Atlas a question, we send it to our AI provider without your name, email address or account ID.
- Personalised ads are off by default. Where the law requires it, we ask for your consent before ads or tracking use your data.
- We never ask for your password to other chess sites, and we do not sell your personal data for money.
- You can delete your account in the app at any time, or by emailing us.
Information we collect
Information you give us
- Account details. If you sign in, we receive an account ID and your email address (from Apple, Google or the email you enter for a one-time code; Apple may give us a private relay address). If you play as a guest, the app creates a random guest ID.
- Profile. Your nickname and the avatar you choose.
- Games and training. Games you play in the app, moves, puzzle attempts, lesson progress, mistakes, skill scores, your weakness profile, training plans, streaks, XP and settings.
- Games you import. If you link your games from third-party chess sites, the username you enter there and the public games we fetch with it, including opponents' names as they appear in those games. If you link with Lichess sign-in, the access token is used once to read your username and is then revoked. You can also upload PGN files. We never ask for your password, and imported games are visible only to you.
- Questions to Atlas and your thinking. Questions you ask Atlas and text you write when explaining your thinking about a position.
- Feedback and support. Feedback you send in the app (with optional diagnostics: app version, platform, language and time zone) and emails you send us.
Information collected automatically
- Device and app information. Device model, operating system, app version, language, time zone and network type.
- Usage data. Events about how you use the app, for example starting a game or finishing a puzzle. We exclude email addresses, names, game records and free text from these events.
- Identifiers. Your account or guest ID, push notification token, Firebase installation ID, AppsFlyer ID, app set ID and your device's advertising ID (on iOS, only if you allow tracking; on Android, you can reset or delete it in your device settings).
- IP address and approximate location. Our servers receive your IP address, and our ad and attribution partners may derive an approximate location (such as country or city) from it. The app never asks for precise location.
- Crash and performance data. Crash reports and diagnostics, linked to your account ID so that we can fix problems.
- Purchase records. Records of subscriptions and purchases from the App Store or Google Play, received through RevenueCat. We never receive your card details.
- Ad interaction data. Which ads were shown and whether you completed a rewarded ad.
Information from third parties
- Apple and Google, when you sign in with them: an account identifier and, if you share it, your email address.
- Chess sites you link: your public games.
- AppsFlyer: information about the campaign or link that led you to install the app.
How we use information
- To provide the Service: run games, puzzles, lessons and the weekly league, keep your account and sync your progress.
- To personalise your training: identify recurring weaknesses, build your daily training and check whether your new games show improvement. This uses rules and calculations about your chess, not decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.
- To power Atlas explanations (see the next section).
- To process purchases and give you the features you paid for.
- To show ads in the free version and reward you for optional rewarded ads.
- To measure and improve the Service: analytics, crash reports and campaign attribution.
- To send notifications you have allowed.
- To keep the Service safe and fair: prevent fraud and abuse, handle nickname reports and enforce our Terms.
- To comply with the law and respond to lawful requests.
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, our legal bases are: performance of our contract with you (providing the Service and your purchases); our legitimate interests in securing, measuring and improving the Service, balanced against your rights; your consent where required (for example personalised ads, tracking on iOS and push notifications), which you can withdraw at any time; and compliance with legal obligations.
Atlas and AI processing
Atlas's moves and evaluations come from the Stockfish chess engine, which runs on your device and on our servers. To turn those results into sentences, we send our AI provider the information needed for one answer: your question (with nicknames replaced by placeholders and details such as email addresses, links, handles and phone numbers removed), the position, engine results, your playing level, your training goals and a short summary of your skill profile. We do not send your name, email address or account ID.
Our AI provider is currently DeepSeek, which may process this data in the People's Republic of China. We may change or add providers (for example OpenAI or Anthropic), and we will update this policy when we do.
We keep your questions to Atlas for 30 days and your thinking text for 90 days so that Atlas can remember context, and conversation transcripts are cleared after 24 hours. Validated explanations may be cached for up to 30 days without information that identifies you. You can view and delete what Atlas remembers in the app. We do not use your questions to train AI models.
Ads, attribution and your choices
- Google AdMob shows interstitial and optional rewarded ads in the free version. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, we show Google's consent message before ads use personal data. Personalised ads are off by default; you can turn them on or off in the app with the Personalized ads switch.
- App Tracking Transparency (iOS). We ask for permission to track only after you finish your first game or puzzle set, never on first launch. If you decline, the app and its partners do not access your device's advertising identifier.
- AppsFlyer measures which campaigns lead to installs and in-app activity, using device identifiers.
- Your controls: the Help improve ChessAtlas switch in the app stops the app's usage analytics and crash reports; the Personalized ads switch controls ad personalisation; and your device settings let you limit tracking and reset or delete your advertising ID.
Notifications
Push notifications are optional. The app asks for permission at a relevant moment, not on first launch. Notifications can include analysis results, your weekly report, league results, the end of a free trial and offers; offers are off by default. Daily reminders are created on your device. You can change these in the app's Settings or in your device settings.
How we share information
We do not sell your personal data for money. We share it only as follows:
- Service providers that process data for us under contract: our server hosting and network provider Cloudflare; Google Firebase (push notifications and crash reports); Google AdMob (ads); AppsFlyer (attribution); RevenueCat (purchases and subscriptions); our AI provider (currently DeepSeek); and an email delivery provider for sign-in codes. Apple and Google also process data when you sign in, buy something or receive push notifications.
- Other players. Your nickname, avatar and XP are shown to the players in your weekly league group.
- Chess sites you link. We request your public games from them using the username you provide.
- Legal reasons. When required by law, or to protect the rights, safety and property of our users, the public or us.
- Business changes. If we are involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.
Some US state laws treat the use of data by advertising and attribution partners as "sharing" or "targeted advertising". You can opt out by keeping personalised ads off, declining tracking on iOS, deleting or resetting your advertising ID, or emailing us.
International transfers
We and our service providers process data in several countries, including the United States, the People's Republic of China and the countries where our servers are located. These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those where you live. Where the law requires it, we use appropriate safeguards for these transfers, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
How long we keep information
- Account data, games and training history: for as long as you keep your account. They are deleted when your account is deleted (see below).
- Atlas: questions 30 days, thinking text 90 days, conversation transcripts 24 hours.
- Notification and offer logs: up to 90 and 180 days.
- Server backups: overwritten within 14 days.
- Purchase records: kept as long as needed for accounting, tax and legal purposes, and no longer linked to your profile after your account is deleted.
- Aggregated or de-identified statistics that no longer identify you may be kept.
Deleting your account
In the app: go to Me › Account & data › Delete account. Deletion takes effect after a 7-day grace period, during which you can cancel it by signing in again.
Without the app: email us at contactus@caractiv.com from the email address linked to your account, or tell us your nickname, with the subject "Delete my account". We will verify the request and delete your account within 30 days.
When your account is deleted, we delete your sign-in identities and email address, devices and tokens, games and imported games, your profile and training history, Atlas's memory, feedback and data exports, and your nickname is replaced with "Deleted". We keep purchase records and de-identified statistics as described above. Deleting your account does not cancel a subscription; cancel it in your Apple Account or Google Play settings. Some service providers keep data under their own retention periods (for example crash reports and attribution data), and we stop sending them data about you.
If you used ChessAtlas only as a guest, you can delete the data on your device in the app's Settings, and you can email us to ask for any data stored with your guest progress to be deleted.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your personal data, to restrict or object to our use of it, to withdraw consent, and to opt out of targeted advertising. You can export your games (PGN) and data (JSON) in the app. To exercise any right, email us at contactus@caractiv.com. We will respond within the time required by law (for example within one month in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom) and will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Children
ChessAtlas is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 (or a higher age where local law requires parental consent). If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
Security
We protect your data with measures such as encryption in transit, access controls and limited data collection. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the new version on this page with a new "Last updated" date and, for significant changes, let you know in the app or by email.
Contact us
- Developer: Shenzhen Caractiv Tech Company Limited, 5/F, Area A, Jiada R&D Building, No.5, Songpingshan road, Songpingshan, Xili, Nanshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
- Email: contactus@caractiv.com