ChessRoller Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 18, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how BitRanch LLC, a California limited liability company ("BitRanch," "we," "us," or "our"), handles personal information in connection with the ChessRoller software application (the "Software"). BitRanch is the controller of the personal information described in this Policy. Our contact details, and those of our representatives in the European Union and the United Kingdom, are in Section 18.

1. Privacy at a Glance

• ChessRoller stores your chess games, databases, analysis, and settings on your device. We do not collect them and have no access to them.
• We do not show advertising, and we do not sell or share your personal information for advertising.
• The limited personal information we handle is mainly what is needed to sell you a license and provide support.
• A licensed copy regularly confirms its license with our validation service. This is required to use a license, does not include your name, and is described in Section 5.
• A free trial is limited to one per device for each major version of the Software. To enforce this, the Software sends us a hashed device ID, which is not linked to your name or email address and is deleted after 12 months (Section 5).
• Crash reports and usage analytics are off unless you turn them on. We ask once, with both switched off, and you can change your answer at any time.

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide:

• Purchase and license information. When you buy the Software, you provide payment and contact details directly to our payment provider and merchant of record, Polar (Polar Software, Inc.; see Polar's privacy policy). We receive limited order and license information from them (such as your name, email address, country, and order/license details) so we can deliver and validate your license and provide support.
• License validation. When you activate a license, the Software sends your license key, an activation identifier, and a device label to a validation service that we operate, and repeats the check regularly (Section 5). If you start a free trial, the Software sends a hashed device ID instead, and repeats that check while the trial runs (Section 5). Apart from checking for updates (Section 15), these checks are the only information the Software sends without first asking you.
• Support communications. If you contact us (for example, by emailing support@chessroller.com), we receive your email address and the contents of your message.

Information stored on your device (not collected by us):

• Your content and settings. Your chess games, databases, analysis, and app settings are stored locally on your device and are not transmitted to BitRanch. We cannot access them.

3. Information We Do Not Collect

The Software does not include advertising, third-party advertising trackers, or cross-application tracking technologies, and we do not collect your chess content (games, databases, or analysis), browsing history, or precise location. Apart from the license and trial checks described in Section 5 and the optional diagnostic and feature-usage data described in Section 4, the Software does not send information to us.

4. Crash Reports and Feature Analytics

To fix problems and understand which features are used, the Software can send limited diagnostic and usage data to two tools that we host ourselves on our own servers located in the European Union. Both are off by default. The Software asks you when you first run it, with both options switched off, and sends nothing to these tools unless you turn them on. The required license check described in Section 5 is separate from these two choices and is not affected by them. We ask again only if what we collect materially changes, never as part of an ordinary update. This data is never shared with any third-party analytics or advertising company.

The two are separate choices, and you may enable either one without the other.

• Crash and error reports (self-hosted GlitchTip). When the Software encounters an error or a process failure (for example, an unhandled error in its main or renderer process), it sends a diagnostic report to our self-hosted GlitchTip error-monitoring service. These reports contain technical information such as the error type and message, a stack trace, the Software version, and basic operating-system and environment details. The Software does not collect or upload native crash dumps (memory snapshots). File paths are stripped of your user name before a report is sent, and the Software does not include your IP address in the report. Reports are designed to leave out your chess games, database names, engine names, player names, search terms, and file names, and the Software removes them before a report is sent. Where an error involves a chess engine, the report may include the command sent to the engine, which contains the board position in chess notation, since that is what we need to reproduce the fault. It does not include the moves, player names, or comments from your game. Because an error can happen anywhere in the Software, a report might still include some of this information by accident. If we find any, we delete it and change the Software so it is not sent again. Our GlitchTip instance records a truncated IP address with the final segment removed (for example, 203.0.113.0), which indicates an approximate network rather than a device. Although it is truncated, we treat this address as personal data. We use it only to gauge how many separate installations an error affects, and we do not combine it with any other information or use it to identify you.
• Feature-usage analytics (self-hosted Aptabase). To understand which features are used and how the Software performs, it sends usage events to our self-hosted Aptabase analytics service – for example, that a particular feature was opened – together with technical details such as the Software version, operating system, language, theme and similar display preferences, approximate window and screen size (rounded), number of displays, which settings you have changed (but not their values), and counts of how many databases, engines and bookmarks you have set up. These are fixed values and counts only: usage analytics does not include your chess games, database names, engine names, player names, search terms, or file names. Aptabase does not use cookies and does not track you across applications or websites. It does not store your IP address: a session identifier is derived server-side from a hash that rotates daily and the address itself is discarded, so sessions cannot be linked from one day to the next. Usage data is pseudonymous rather than anonymous, and we treat it as personal data.
• Retention. Crash and error reports are retained for 90 days, and usage analytics for up to 24 months, after which they are automatically deleted.
• Your choices. You are asked when you first run the Software, and can change your answer at any time using the Send crash reports and Send usage data settings. Turning a setting off stops that data being sent immediately. Where the EU or UK GDPR or Swiss data protection law applies, we rely on your consent for this processing. You may withdraw consent at any time by switching the setting off; withdrawal does not affect data already collected, which you may ask us to delete as described in Section 12.

5. License Validation

If you use a licensed copy of the Software, it confirms your license with a validation service that we operate at license.chessroller.com. This is not optional: it is how a license key unlocks the Software, and, apart from checking for updates (Section 15), it is the only connection the Software makes without asking you first. Free trials use the same service, as described at the end of this Section.

• What is sent. Your license key; an activation identifier assigned when the key was first used on your device; a short device label made up of your operating system and a random code generated when the Software is installed (for example, "macOS · 7QK4F"); the Software's version, operating system, and processor type (for example, "ChessRoller/27.0.1 (mac; arm64)"), which lets us refuse requests from builds known to be faulty and which we do not store; and, as with any internet request, your IP address. The label contains no user name, computer name, hardware model, or serial number. It exists so that you can tell your devices apart in the license portal (https://chessroller.com/manage-license/), and the same label is shown in the Software's license window so you can match the two.
• Where it goes. The validation service runs on Cloudflare's network and relays the check to Polar, which issued your license. Polar receives the license key, activation identifier, and device label. The service is designed so that Polar receives the service's own IP address, not yours.
• How often. When you activate or deactivate a license, when your computer wakes from sleep, and about once a day while the Software is running and online. If the service cannot be reached, the Software keeps working for 14 days before it asks you to reconnect.
• What is stored. We keep nothing from checks of a purchased license: the validation service stores no license keys or activation records, and we keep no log of requests. Free trials are different and are described below. Polar keeps the activation record for the life of your license so that you can manage your devices. Cloudflare processes each request transiently and keeps its standard server logs, which may include your IP address, for security and operational purposes.
• Why. Validation is necessary to provide the license you purchased (Section 8). Because a licensed copy cannot work without it, it cannot be switched off in the Software, and it is not covered by the crash-report and analytics choices in Section 4. Reading the activation identifier and device label stored by the Software on your device is strictly necessary to provide the licensed Software you have asked to use, so it does not require separate consent.

Free trials. If you start a free trial, the Software reads an identifier that your operating system assigns to your device (the hardware UUID on a Mac, the MachineGuid on Windows) and turns it into a one-way hash on your device. The Software sends the hash, not the identifier. The license window says this next to the button that starts the trial.

• What is sent. When the trial starts, each time the Software starts while online, when your computer wakes from sleep, and about once a day while the trial runs: the hashed device ID, the major version of the Software (for example, 27), a random trial identifier (issued when the trial starts and sent on later checks), a random value that protects the response against replay, the version details described above, and, as with any internet request, your IP address. When the trial starts, the Software also sends whether you use a Mac or Windows.
• What is stored. Our validation service stores a further hash of the hashed device ID and the major version, made with a secret key that only the service holds, together with the trial identifier, the major version, whether you use a Mac or Windows, when the trial started and ends, and when the Software last checked in. The record holds no IP address, name, email address, or license key, and we do not link it to your purchase if you later buy a license. The record is stored by Cloudflare in North America.
• Why. We use this record to limit each device to one trial for each major version of the Software, and to count how many trials are started and still in use. Reading the device identifier is strictly necessary to provide the trial you ask for on the terms we offer it, so it does not require separate consent.
• How long. The record is deleted automatically 12 months after the trial starts, and removed from Cloudflare's database backups within 30 days after that.
• Your Trial device ID. The license window shows the hashed device ID as your Trial device ID, during a trial (Help > License) and, until you activate a license, after it ends. It lets you make a request about your trial record under Section 12 without telling us anything else. Please include the ChessRoller version number (for example, 27) with it.

6. Our Website

Our website is a static site that does not use cookies and does not load resources from third parties. To understand overall site traffic, we use a self-hosted instance of Umami, a privacy-focused, cookie-free analytics tool running on our own servers in the European Union. It records the pages you visit and which links you click (for example, a download or buy button), along with the referring site, your approximate location (country, region, and city), and your browser, operating system, and device type. Visits are grouped under a pseudonymous identifier derived from your IP address and browser that resets every month; it cannot be used to recognize you across months or on other websites, and your IP address itself is never stored. Umami stores nothing on your device and does not track you across other websites. This data is not shared with any third-party analytics or advertising company. Website analytics data is retained for up to 24 months. Our hosting provider (Cloudflare) processes standard server logs, which may include your IP address, for security and operational purposes on our behalf. Purchases made through links on the website are processed by Polar as described in Section 2.

7. How We Use Information

• To deliver, validate, and support your license and the Software;
• To limit free trials to one per device for each major version of the Software, and count how many are used;
• To respond to your inquiries and provide customer support;
• To detect, prevent, and address fraud, security, or technical issues; and
• To comply with our legal and tax obligations.

8. Legal Bases (EEA, UK, and Switzerland)

Where the EU or UK General Data Protection Regulation or the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection applies, we rely on the following legal bases:

Your right to object. Where we rely on legitimate interests, you can object to that processing at any time. We will stop unless we have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests and rights, or we need to continue for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

Required information. You are not required to provide personal information to us. However, a license key and activation information are needed to activate and use a licensed copy of the Software, a hashed device ID is needed to start a free trial, and we cannot sell you a license without your purchase details.

No automated decisions. We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.

9. How We Share Information

• Payment, merchant of record, and licensing. Our merchant of record (Polar) processes your purchase, acts as the seller of record, issues your license key, and holds your activation records (Section 5). Polar is responsible, under its own privacy policy, for the payment details you give it at checkout and for the records it must keep as seller of record; for the customer, order, license, and activation information it holds for us, it acts on our behalf.
• Service providers. Email, including support requests, is handled by Zoho (Zoho Corporation). We may also share limited personal information with other providers that help us operate, who are bound to protect it and use it only on our behalf.
• Hosting. The crash-reporting, analytics, and website-statistics services described in Sections 4 and 6 run on servers we control at Hetzner Online GmbH in the European Union, which provides the underlying infrastructure on our behalf. Our license validation service (Section 5) runs on Cloudflare, which also hosts our website and stores free-trial records. Neither uses this data for its own purposes beyond the security logging described above.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information where required by law or to protect the rights, property, or safety of BitRanch, our users, or others.
• Business transfers. Information may be transferred as part of a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.

10. International Transfers

BitRanch is based in the United States, and we receive and process personal information there. When you buy the Software, contact us (our email is hosted by Zoho in the United States), or use a license or free trial, your information is processed in the United States. Crash reports, usage analytics, and website statistics are stored on servers in the European Union hosted by Hetzner Online GmbH.

Where personal information from the EEA, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland is transferred to our service providers in the United States, we rely on legally recognized safeguards where required: the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, the UK Extension to it, and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified, and otherwise the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, together with the UK Addendum for personal information from the UK and the adaptations required for personal information from Switzerland. These providers include Cloudflare (license validation, free-trial records, and website hosting), which is certified under the Data Privacy Framework, and Polar (payments and licensing), which uses Standard Contractual Clauses. You can ask us at contact@bitranch.co for more information about these safeguards.

11. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Policy – for example, to support your license, provide assistance, and meet legal and tax obligations – after which we delete or anonymize it. Specific retention periods for diagnostic, analytics, and website-statistics data are stated in Sections 4 and 6. We keep no record of checks of a purchased license (Section 5). Free-trial records are deleted 12 months after the trial starts, and from backups within 30 days after that (Section 5). Order and license records (name, email address, license key, and activation records) are kept while your license is active and for seven years after your last purchase or activation, for support, fraud prevention, and tax and accounting purposes. Polar keeps its own payment and tax records under its privacy policy. Support correspondence is deleted two years after the last message.

12. Your Rights

• EEA, UK, and Switzerland. You have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal information, to restrict or object to its processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.
• California. To the extent the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) applies to our processing of your personal information, you have the right to know, delete, and correct it, and to opt out of its "sale" or "sharing." We do not "sell" or "share" personal information as we understand those terms to be defined in the CCPA, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at contact@bitranch.co. For a request about a free-trial record, include your Trial device ID and the ChessRoller version (Section 5), since the record is not linked to your name or email address. Because a trial record exists to enforce the one-trial limit, we normally keep it until it is deleted automatically 12 months after the trial started, and we will tell you that date. We delete it earlier on request if that version of ChessRoller is no longer offered for trial. If you are in the EEA or the UK, you may also contact our representative there (Section 18). We will respond as required by applicable law.

13. Children's Privacy

ChessRoller is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age in your jurisdiction), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. Licenses for players under the age of majority must be purchased by an adult, such as a parent or legal guardian. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

14. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

If a personal data breach occurs, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority where required by law, and where the GDPR applies, within 72 hours of becoming aware of it unless the breach is unlikely to result in a risk to you. If a breach is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will also notify you without undue delay, by email where possible.

15. Third-Party Services

The Software connects directly from your device to the following third parties:

• Software updates. When it starts and about once a day while running, the Software checks GitHub, which hosts our release files, for a newer version and downloads it in the background. An update is installed only when you confirm. You can turn this off in Settings using the Check for updates automatically switch.
• Chess engines. If you ask the Software to download a chess engine, it downloads it from the engine's official source (for Stockfish, its GitHub releases page).
• Online game sources. If you add a Lichess or Chess.com account as a source, the Software sends the username you entered to that service to retrieve its public games. The Software can also download public broadcasts from Lichess and weekly game files from The Week in Chess (TWIC).
• AI assistants (MCP). If you turn on the Software's MCP server, AI assistant software on your computer can connect to it and access your chess data. The server is set up to accept connections only from your own computer. What that software does with your data, including sending it to its provider, is governed by its own terms and privacy policy.

These requests do not pass through BitRanch, and we receive nothing from them. As with any internet request, the third party receives your IP address and handles it under its own terms and privacy policy. We are not responsible for their practices.

16. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date above indicates the latest revision. If we make a material change, we will post a notice on our website before the change takes effect and, where we have your email address from a purchase, may email you about it. If a change materially affects what the Software sends, the Software will also ask you again as described in Section 4.

17. Language

This Policy may be provided in multiple languages for your convenience. The English-language version is authoritative and controlling, and in the event of any conflict the English version governs, except where mandatory local law (such as in France or the Province of Québec, Canada) requires the local-language version to govern for consumers in those jurisdictions.

18. Contact Us and Our Representatives

The controller of your personal information is:

BitRanch LLC
2108 N ST #7885
Sacramento, CA 95816, USA
contact@bitranch.co

BitRanch has no establishment in the European Union or the United Kingdom, so under Article 27 of the EU GDPR and of the UK GDPR we have appointed representatives there. You may contact them about our handling of your personal information, and supervisory authorities may contact them on your behalf. They are in addition to, not instead of, the contact details above.

Our EU GDPR Representative is:

Rickert Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH
– BitRanch LLC –
Colmantstraße 15
53115 Bonn
Germany
art-27-rep-BitRanch@rickert.law

Our UK GDPR Representative is:

Rickert Services UK Ltd
– BitRanch LLC –
PO Box 1487
Peterborough
PE1 9XX
United Kingdom
art-27-rep-BitRanch@rickert-services.uk