Kingside Privacy Policy

Effective October 17, 2026 · Kingside is made and published by Paul Allan Manacap, who is responsible for the data described here.

Kingside is a chess game. It has no ads, analytics or tracking, and it never sells or shares personal data. Everything except online play works without an account and keeps your data on your device. Online play is optional; if you use it, the Kingside server keeps the small amount of information described below.

Data stored on your device

Your name, settings, bot and puzzle ratings, puzzle progress, lessons and finished games are saved only on your own device so the app can remember them. They never leave your device, and you can erase them at any time by deleting the app (in the web version, by clearing this site’s data in your browser).

Online play (optional)

To play online you create a player profile. The Kingside server then stores only what online play needs:

• a random player ID, a secret key for your device and your 16-character account key for signing in elsewhere (the server keeps only a scrambled hash of each key, so they can’t be read back);
• the name you choose (unique within your country) and a random 6-character player code that friends use to invite you;
• the country you pick for your flag;
• your Bullet, Blitz and Rapid ratings, which the server works out after every rated game, and your number of wins, losses and draws in each;
• a short record of each finished online game: the two players, the time control, the result, how it ended, the rating change and the date.

The server does not store your email, a password, your real name, your device, your location or your IP address. The moves of a game are kept only while it is being played, so both players can reconnect, and are deleted automatically within a day. In-game chat is a short list of preset phrases such as “Good game!”; messages are passed to your opponent and never stored. Your full game moves stay on your own device for Game Review.

Computer players: so that there is always someone to play, some online opponents are computer players run by Kingside. Games against them are rated and recorded in exactly the same way; nothing extra is collected.

What other players see: your username, flag, Bullet, Blitz and Rapid ratings and online game results appear on the board, on your profile and on the leaderboard.

Reports and blocking: if you report a player, the server keeps your player ID, theirs, the reason you chose and the date, so the report can be reviewed. Players you block are listed only on your device.

Deleting your account: in the iPhone, iPad and Mac app, go to Settings → Online account → Delete account. On Android or the web, email us at the address under Contact below from any address and give your username and country; we delete the profile within 30 days and confirm by reply. Either way we permanently remove your player ID, account keys, username, country and ratings from the server, together with any reports made by you or about you. Your past opponents keep their own results, with you shown as “Deleted player”.

Where it runs: the Kingside server runs on Cloudflare, which carries the connection between your device and the server. Like any web host, Cloudflare handles your IP address to deliver that connection; Kingside does not record it. The connection is encrypted.

Network use

Apart from online play and the videos in Inspirations, the game runs fully offline. The iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android apps use your device’s own fonts. On other computers, the web version may download its typefaces from Google Fonts; that request contains no personal information from Kingside.

Inspirations (videos)

The Inspirations pages (under More) show previews of free YouTube videos about famous games. The previews are loaded from YouTube when you open a player’s page, and a video plays from YouTube’s privacy-enhanced player (youtube-nocookie.com) only when you tap it; on some devices it opens in the YouTube app or your browser instead. YouTube’s own privacy policy applies to what you watch there. To keep the pages of players who still compete up to date, the app asks the Kingside server for their newest videos and ratings; that request contains no information about you, and the server collects those public details itself from YouTube and Chess.com.

Purchases

Kingside is free for 30 days, then a one-time purchase unlocks it. In the iPhone, iPad and Mac app, the purchase is handled by Apple’s App Store; in the Android app, by Google Play. Kingside never sees your payment details. The app only asks the store whether the unlock has been bought, and that answer stays on your device. You confirm the payment on Apple’s or Google’s own payment screen with your Apple Account or Google account. The web version links to the App Store and Google Play instead of taking payments.

Voice

The coach’s voice uses your device’s built-in text-to-speech. No audio is recorded and the microphone is never used.

Children

Kingside is suitable for all ages. Online play asks only for a username and a country, and players can talk only through preset phrases. If you believe a child has created an online profile and want it removed, contact us and we will delete it.

Your choices and rights

You can play without an online profile at all. You can change your username and country in Settings, block or report any player, and delete your profile as described above, which removes everything the server holds about you. Because the server stores no email or other contact details, we cannot identify you except through the username and country you give us. If the law where you live gives you rights to access, correct or delete personal data, write to us and we will help within 30 days.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version is published at this address with a new effective date; the app always links to the current version.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request to remove an online profile: support@jpam.studio (Paul Allan Manacap).