Privacy Policy for SwissMax & ChessZCam

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Not sold, not rented

We never sell or rent your information. Public pages show approved comments or reviews only — never the sender's email address.

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Payments are not live yet

There is no checkout on this website, so we do not collect card or payment details.

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Your files stay with you

SwissMax processes participant lists on the organizer's PC; ChessZCam reads moves on your phone or PC. Neither uploads them to us.

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One first-party counter

A small script of our own counts page visits. No Google Analytics, no advertising pixels, no cross-site tracking.

What we collect

Only what a form or a page visit needs.

Every form on this site sends its data to our own server on Hostinger. This is exactly what is kept.

Where	What we keep	Why
Waitlist	Email, name (optional), the product you chose (SwissMax, ChessZCam or both) or the page you signed up from, time, hashed IP address	To send the early trial and the product updates you asked for
Contact form (also the ChessZCam order form)	Name, email, topic, which product it is about, your message, time, hashed IP address	To reply to you and help with support, refund or licence questions
Feedback & reviews	Name, email, which product it is about, type (feature request, review or bug report), optional 1–5 rating, message, time, hashed IP address	To improve the apps; reviews appear publicly only after moderation, showing name, rating, message and date
Quick feedback in the ChessZCam apps (Studio, the Android app and ChessZCam Live)	Only when you tap 👍 or 👎, or choose topics and write a short text: your answer, the app version, the platform and device type (for example “Windows 10/11” or “Android 15 · SM-S938B”), the app language, the licence state (for example “Trial, 9 days left”), the screen size, where in the app you were asked, the time and a hashed IP address. No name, email, video, game file or device ID	To improve the apps; never published
Blog comments	The article, name, email, comment, time, hashed IP address	To moderate comments before they appear; only name, comment and date are shown
Visit counter	Page path, referring site, campaign tags, traffic source (and a search term if the search engine passes one), device type, operating system and browser family, approximate country, hashed visitor ID, hashed IP address, time	To see which pages help people and what breaks — details below
SwissMax activation	For a keyless trial or paid activation: device identifier, hashed install identifier, device label, activation dates and hashed network address; paid fulfilment also records a payment reference and hashed payer email	To keep a key to the agreed number of PCs and support the tester — details below
ChessZCam trial & licence (Studio and the Android app)	When Studio or the Android app starts its free trial or activates a licence key: an ID for the device (a one-way code made from the Windows installation ID on a PC, or from Android's ID for this app on a phone — never the ID itself), the platform, a one-time check value, the time of the request, a one-way hash of the licence key, a salted hash of the network address, and a country or region — the one you chose in Studio or the app, otherwise an estimate by our server only where a trusted one is available, otherwise “Unknown”. No name, email, precise location, video or game.	To give one free trial per PC or phone, keep a licence to its devices, limit abuse and count activated devices by country (devices, not people) — details below

A “hashed” IP address or visitor ID is turned into a one-way code before it is saved. We use it to rate-limit forms, spot abuse and avoid counting the same visit twice; raw IP addresses are not stored in these records. Each form also carries a hidden field that catches spam robots.

How we use it

Replies, updates and a better product.

We use your information to

Send the early trial, meaningful product updates, testing invitations and launch news for the products you chose
Reply to support, refund, licence and product questions
Moderate public reviews and blog comments before they appear
Improve the apps and the website: which pages matter, what confuses people, what breaks
Issue and manage keys for SwissMax test builds and ChessZCam licences
Keep the forms free of spam and abuse

We never

Sell, rent or trade your information
Show your email address on a public page
Add you to updates for a product you did not choose
Use advertising pixels or track you across other websites
Collect participant lists, game recordings or PGN files from the apps

SwissMax and ChessZCam

The apps work on your device, not on our server.

Both products are built local-first. Tournament data, game recordings and PGN files are processed on the computer or phone you use.

Processed on the organizer's PC

SwissMax is a Windows companion that runs beside Swiss-Manager. Registration files, player lists, pairings, results, rankings, organizer profiles, certificates and graphics are processed on the organizer's computer, and your original files are never modified.

Motivace Studio does not receive tournament data merely because SwissMax is running. For that data, the organizer — not zonChess — decides what is collected and published.

When data leaves the PC

Loading a Chess-Results link fetches that public page
Refreshing a public rating list, such as the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) list, downloads only the public rating file — no participant name or detail is sent (organisers elsewhere can ask for their own federation or club list)
LAN score entry travels between the organizer PC and helper phones on the venue network
Sharing a poster, certificate or file is your own action
The support centre builds a ticket ZIP only when you ask — nothing is sent automatically

Detection runs locally

Moves are read on your Android phone, or in ChessZCam Studio on Windows. Recordings, PGN files and projects stay on your device. No account or login is needed, and your videos and games are never uploaded to us.

Live broadcast stays on your network

Broadcast Live sends the board position from the phone to ChessZCam Live on your PC over your own local network, and from there to vMix, OBS or a browser source. If you publish a video or stream on YouTube or another platform, that platform's privacy terms apply.

Filming games with other people in them — especially juniors — should follow the event's rules and any consent the organizer or parents require.

Trial and licence check

Starting the free Studio trial, or activating a licence key, needs the internet once. Studio sends an ID for the PC (a one-way code made from the Windows installation ID), the platform, a one-time check value and, if you choose one, a country or region — with a key, also the key. Our server answers with a signed licence that Studio keeps on the PC. After that the licence works offline and Studio sends nothing more for it: no heartbeat, no usage tracking, no video, PGN or moves.

The licence server keeps the PC ID, the licence, the first and latest activation request times (not when you last used Studio), a salted hash of the network address for the daily trial limit — the address itself is not stored by the licence server — and the country with its source: chosen by you, estimated by our server where a trusted estimate is available, or “Unknown”. Country is rough activation context, not your current location. Licence keys are stored only as a one-way hash. The owner sees totals only: devices, not people. Like most websites, our hosting provider may keep its own standard access logs.

Licence activation

SwissMax Companion offers a keyless 14-day trial and paid licences issued by zonChess. Starting or recovering a trial sends the app's device and install identifiers and technical activation details. Paid activation also sends the licence key. No tournament or player data is needed for activation.

The Companion service retains the device ID, a hash of the install ID, original trial dates, activation and check times, and a keyed hash of the network address. Paid records include a payment reference, a hashed payer email, and a licence key protected by hashing and an encrypted recovery copy. Trial records prevent a reinstall from adding free days. Legacy pilot records may also contain contact details supplied to us. Ordinary operations work offline while the trial or paid entitlement permits them.

Usage events from test builds

Activated test builds may send small batches of technical usage events: which area was used, whether an action succeeded, how long it took, counts such as rows, boards, pages or the round number, and error codes.

Our server accepts only a fixed list of these technical fields — it has no field for player names, tournament files or certificate content. Events are linked to the key and the installation, so we can help a tester who reports a problem.

Visit counter, cookies and browser storage

One small first-party counter. No advertising cookies.

Each page loads track.js, a short script of our own that reports the visit to /api/visit.php on zonchess.com. Nothing goes to an analytics company.

What the script sends

The page address (path and any query text) and the address of the page that linked you here
Campaign tags (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign) if the link carried them
A random visitor ID kept in this browser
Screen width, browser language and time zone

What our server keeps

The page path and the referring site and path (both without their query text), campaign tags, a traffic-source label such as Search, YouTube or Direct, a search term only if the search engine passes one along, device type and operating-system and browser family worked out from the user agent, approximate country, a hashed visitor ID, a hashed IP address and the time.

The full user-agent string is not stored, and screen width, language and time zone are currently not stored either. The same browser viewing the same page again within 30 minutes is not counted twice; admin pages and known bots are skipped.

What is stored in your browser

Name	Type	Purpose	How long
`zc_vid`	Local storage	Random visitor ID, so repeat views of a page are not double-counted	Until you clear this site's data
`zc_utm_source`, `zc_utm_medium`, `zc_utm_campaign`	Session storage	Remembers campaign tags while you browse	Until the browsing session ends
Admin session	Cookie (HttpOnly, SameSite Strict)	Keeps the developer signed in to the admin area; set only when the admin area is opened	Until the browser closes

Public pages set no cookies of their own. You can clear this site's data at any time to reset the visitor ID, or block track.js with a content blocker — the rest of the site works without it. Embedded YouTube players are covered under Sharing.

Sharing and other services

Who else is involved — and why.

We do not sell or rent your information. A few services help run the site, and we may disclose information where the law requires it.

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Hostinger

Hosts the website and its database, where form entries, visit records and licence records are stored. Like any web host, its servers may keep standard technical logs, such as IP address and requested page, for security and operation.

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Telegram and email

When a form is submitted, a copy of the entry — for example name, email and message — may be relayed to the developer's private Telegram chat or email inbox so it can be answered quickly.

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ipwho.is

If the hosting provider does not supply a country header, our server may ask ipwho.is to resolve an approximate country from the visitor's IP address. Only the country is kept, cached against a one-way IP hash.

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YouTube

Videos are embedded in privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com). When a player loads, YouTube (Google) receives your IP address and browser details, and once you press play it may set cookies or similar storage. Google's privacy policy applies.

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Google Fonts

Pages load the Inter and Orbitron typefaces from Google Fonts, so your browser contacts Google's font servers, which receive your IP address.

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Other websites

Links to Chess-Results, YouTube and other external sites lead to services with their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for how they handle data.

Payments are not live yet. There is no checkout on this website, so we do not collect card or payment details. ChessZCam package prices are published, but sales are not open yet.

Before any sale opens, this policy will be updated to name the payment provider or merchant of record, and to explain the order and licence records we must keep — such as purchaser name, email, country, order and product identifiers, payment status, licence and activation records, eligible app version and support history — and the order and payment-status data shared with that provider, for payment, tax, fraud prevention, fulfilment, receipts, licence access and refunds. The payment provider processes card or payment credentials; Motivace Studio does not need to receive your full card number.

Retention, your rights and children

How long we keep it, and how to change your mind.

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Retention

Waitlist entries and messages (contact, feedback and comments) are kept while the project is active, or until you ask us to delete them. Visit records may be pruned periodically. Licence and activation records are kept while a key is in use and as long as needed to support and secure it. Once sales open, order, tax, fraud-prevention and licence records may need to be kept for legal, accounting, security and dispute-resolution periods.

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Your rights

You can ask to see what we hold about you, correct it, delete eligible records, or stop product-update emails at any time — just use the contact form. Motivace Studio will verify requests where necessary to protect you, usually by replying to the email address on record. We handle personal data in line with Malaysia's Personal Data Protection Act 2010.

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Children and photos

The site is aimed at parents, organizers, coaches and creators. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13 for marketing; if a child has sent us details, tell us and we will delete them. Tournament photos on this site are blurred to protect the children in them. If you or your child appear in a photo or video here and want it removed, let us know.

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Security

Entries are stored in a password-protected database. The admin area needs a login and uses a secure, HttpOnly session cookie. Forms are rate-limited and trap spam robots, and IP addresses and visitor IDs are stored as one-way hashes. No system is perfectly secure, so we collect as little as we can.

When this policy changes, the “last updated” date at the top changes with it.

Contact

Questions about your data?

Privacy questions or data requests: use the contact form. It goes straight to the developer, and we usually reply within 24–48 hours.

This policy is issued by Motivace Studio (MA0350336-V), 13500 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia, the business behind the zonChess product brand. See also the Terms and the Refund policy.

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Make a request

Choose the topic “General question or feedback” or “Other”, tell us which email address you used, and what you would like us to do — show, correct or delete your records, or stop updates.

Open the contact form

Privacy Policy, in plain words.