Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 26, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Eloist collects, uses, and shares information when you use our service at eloist.com. Eloist is operated by Starfish Engineering (“we”, “us”). If you have any questions, email us at shaun@starfish.engineering.

Information we collect

Account information. When you sign in with Google or a magic-link email through our authentication provider, we store your email address and authentication identity so we can create and secure your account.

Chess username and public games. You provide your Chess.com or Lichess username. Before we save it, we look the account up on that platform’s public API and show you its public profile details (display name, title, country, join year, and rating) so you can confirm it is yours. We store only the username and which platform it belongs to.

On your behalf, we then fetch your public game history from that platform’s public API (the moves, openings, ratings, time controls, results, timestamps, and your opponents’ usernames) and cache and analyze it to produce analytics, your “chess style profile”, the recurring mistakes costing you rating, insights, and AI coaching. We only access data that Chess.com and Lichess already make publicly available.

Payment information. If you subscribe to Pro or buy a one-time Deep Scan, payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number. Stripe handles all payment data. We retain limited billing metadata (such as your subscription status and renewal date, or the amount and date of a one-time purchase) to operate your subscription or purchase.

Push notifications. If you opt in, we store a browser push subscription token so we can send you post-session alerts. You can revoke this at any time in your browser or device settings.

Usage and device data. We use cookies and analytics tools to keep you signed in and to understand how the product is used. This includes product analytics (PostHog and/or Vercel Analytics) and the Meta Pixel, which supports our advertising.

How we use your information

• To authenticate you and secure your account.
• To fetch, cache, and analyze your public Chess.com or Lichess games.
• To generate analytics, your chess style profile, insights, and AI coaching.
• To process and manage your Pro subscription or Deep Scan purchase.
• To send transactional and product emails, and, if you opt in, push notifications.
• To measure and improve the product and our advertising.

AI analysis

To generate written coaching and analysis, we send summarized statistics derived from your games to a third-party large language model provider (Anthropic and/or OpenAI). We do not send your full personal identity, only game-derived statistics needed to produce the analysis.

How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with the sub-processors that power the service, as listed below, and where required by law.

Eloist is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Chess.com or Lichess. “Chess.com” and “Lichess” are trademarks of their respective owners. We rely on the Chess.com and Lichess public APIs solely as a source of your public game data.

Cookies

We use cookies to keep you signed in (authentication sessions) and for analytics and advertising measurement. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though some features may not work without them.

Data retention

We keep your account data for as long as your account exists, so the product continues to work for you. Deleting your account removes your login and email address, your profile and settings, the games you played on Eloist, your training history and notifications, and your address from every list we mail. It also cancels any active subscription.

Two things outlive it. Stripe’s payment records are retained for tax and chargeback handling, as we are required to do. And the analysis of the chess handle you connected stays: it is built from games Chess.com or Lichess already publish, it is filed under that public handle rather than under your account, and anyone else who has connected the same handle is reading the same rows.

Your rights

You can disconnect the chess account you connected, or delete your Eloist account, at any time from your account page. No email required, and both take effect immediately. You may also request access to or correction of your data by emailing shaun@starfish.engineering. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws such as the GDPR or CCPA.

Children

Eloist is not intended for anyone under 13, or under 16 in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom. We do not knowingly collect data from children below these ages.

International users

We and our sub-processors may process your data in the United States and other countries. By using Eloist, you understand your data may be transferred to and processed in countries with different data-protection laws than your own.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above. Material changes may also be communicated by email or in the product.

Contact

Starfish Engineering · shaun@starfish.engineering