Privacy Policy

Version: 2026-08-07 • Last updated: 7 August 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how IQChess (9517-9206 Québec inc., "we", "us", "our") collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information when you use our apps, websites, products, and services ("Services").

1) Summary

2) Controller & Contact

Controller: 9517-9206 Québec inc. (IQChess). privacy@iqchess.org, Mailing: 4736 Saint Jean Blvd., Pierrefonds, QC H9H 4B2, Canada.

3) What we collect

4) How we use data

5) Legal bases & consent

Where applicable (e.g., under PIPEDA and Québec Law 25), we obtain meaningful consent for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information. For users in jurisdictions with GDPR-style regimes, our legal bases include consent, contract performance, legitimate interests (e.g., service security and improvement), and compliance with legal obligations.

6) Sharing & service providers

We share personal information with:

Service providers act on our instructions and are bound by confidentiality and data-protection obligations.

6a) AI-Powered Chess Analysis and Coaching

When you use our AI analysis and coaching features (for example the "Analyze", "AI Coach", or "Play Kai" features in the app), you must provide explicit consent before any data is sent to a third-party AI provider. If you decline, the AI features are unavailable but the rest of the Services continue to work, including the on-device chess engine.

What data is sent:

What is not sent: we do not send your name, email address, account or user ID, authentication tokens, IP address, device identifiers, or payment information to any AI provider. AI requests are pseudonymous: the provider receives chess data and your messages, but not the identity of the account they belong to.

Who receives the data. We use one or more of the following providers as processors on our behalf. Which one handles a given request depends on the feature, your region, and operational factors such as availability and capacity:

ProviderRoleWhere it processesUse of your data for model training
OpenAI, L.L.C. Primary AI provider United States Not permitted. We use OpenAI under API terms that do not allow submitted data to be used to train their models.
OpenRouter, Inc. Routing broker that forwards requests to an upstream model provider United States, plus the location of the selected upstream provider Not permitted. We configure our OpenRouter account to exclude any upstream provider that may train on submitted data.
Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd. ("DeepSeek") Alternative AI provider, where used Mainland China DeepSeek's own published policy states that it stores personal data in the People's Republic of China and may use it to train and improve its technology. Where we use DeepSeek, we do so under settings that direct it not to use our data for training, and only for users outside the regions listed below.

Regional routing rule. We do not route AI analysis or coaching data belonging to users in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland to any AI provider that processes data in mainland China. For those users, AI requests are handled only by providers processing in jurisdictions covered by an adequacy decision or by appropriate safeguards as described in section 7.

Our commitments to you, whichever provider is used:

Purpose: To generate personalized chess move analysis, coaching conversation, and educational explanations tailored to your selected skill level. The AI coach may perform web searches for chess opening theory, endgame techniques, or strategic concepts to enrich its analysis. These searches use only chess-related terms (e.g., opening names) and never include personal information.

Data retention:

Your control:

Third-party privacy policies:

6b) Advertising

IQ Chess displays advertisements through Google AdMob and its mediation partners. We are committed to user privacy and serve non-personalized ads only.

Ad personalization:

Advertising partners:

What data may be collected by ad partners: Our advertising partners may collect limited device information such as device model, operating system version, and IP address for the purposes of serving ads and preventing fraud. This data is not used to track you across apps or websites.

Third-party privacy policies:

Ad choices: You can learn more about ad choices and opt-out options for mobile advertising at the Digital Advertising Alliance's AppChoices page.

7) International transfers

We are established in Canada, and our service providers operate in several countries. Your personal information may therefore be transferred to, stored in, and processed in countries other than your own — principally Canada and the United States, and, for some AI processing outside the regions listed below, mainland China. Laws in those countries may differ from those in your country, and public authorities there may in some circumstances be able to access data held by local providers.

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland. We transfer your personal information out of your region only where one of the following applies:

We do not transfer AI analysis or coaching data from these regions to providers processing in mainland China, as stated in section 6a. We do not rely on the Article 49 derogations for routine AI processing.

If you are in Canada. Under PIPEDA and Québec's Law 25, we remain accountable for personal information transferred to service providers outside Québec and Canada. We conduct a privacy impact assessment before such transfers, and we use contractual measures to ensure a level of protection comparable to that required in Québec.

Everywhere else. Where you are outside the regions above, AI analysis and coaching data may be processed by any of the providers listed in section 6a, including providers processing in mainland China, subject to the consent, minimisation, and no-training commitments described in that section.

You may request a copy of the safeguards we rely on for a given transfer by contacting privacy@iqchess.org.

8) Retention

We retain personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this policy, to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements. When no longer needed, we delete or de-identify information.

Post-deletion retention: When you delete your AI coaching chat history, we retain it in a restricted, non-accessible state for 30 days to comply with applicable legal obligations, resolve disputes, and prevent fraud. After 30 days, the data is permanently and automatically deleted from our systems. During this retention period, the data is not visible to you or used for any purpose other than legal compliance.

9) Your rights

To exercise rights, contact privacy@iqchess.org. We will verify your request and respond within timeframes required by law.

10) Children

The Services are not directed to children under 13. If we learn a child under 13 provided personal information without verifiable parental consent, we will delete it.

11) Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the data (e.g., encryption in transit, access controls, logging). No system is perfectly secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security.

12) Breaches & incidents (Québec Law 25)

We maintain an incident register and will notify the Commission d’accès à l’information (CAI) and affected individuals of confidentiality incidents presenting a risk of serious injury, as required by law.

13) Marketing & CASL

We send marketing emails only with your express consent. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in the email or by contacting us. Service/transactional messages are not marketing and will continue as needed.

14) Cookies

We use strictly necessary cookies/local storage for authentication and preferences, and limited analytics cookies to understand site usage. You can adjust browser settings to limit cookies, but some features may not work.

15) Third-party links

Our Services may contain links to third-party sites or services. Their privacy practices are governed by their policies, not this one.

16) Changes

We may update this Policy. The “Last updated” date indicates the current version. Material changes will be communicated in-app or on our website.

17) Contact

Privacy questions or requests: privacy@iqchess.org • Mailing: 4736 Saint Jean Blvd., Pierrefonds, QC H9H 4B2, Canada