Privacy policy

Last updated: 28 July 2026

This policy describes which personal data is processed when you play Fleet Chess and when you visit this website. It is deliberately specific: it names every place where something is stored and how long it stays there.

1. Controller

Mike Fröse
Berliner Str. 12
58566 Kierspe
Germany
Email: info@fleetchess.com

2. Principle: offline means no processing

Fleet Chess runs in three modes. Two of them need no connection at all:

• Against the computer: the opponent is computed on the device.
• Two players on one device: both fleets exist only in the device's memory.
• Online across two devices: only here is a server involved (section 5).

In the first two cases no data leaves the device, and no connection is opened "just to check".

3. Storage on your device

The app stores the following in the local storage of the device or browser (localStorage):

This data stays on your device. You can change and delete it inside the game; uninstalling the app or clearing browser data removes it. The profile can be saved as an encrypted .fsb file and carried to another device. You pass that file on yourself, it is never uploaded.

What needs consent and what does not

The local storage described above is strictly necessary for the service you explicitly requested: without it there would be no profile, no settings and no resumable match. The exception in § 25 (2) no. 2 TDDDG therefore applies and no consent is required.

Advertising is different. It is not a necessary function. Storing and reading information on your device for advertising purposes requires your consent under § 25 (1) TDDDG, and the processing itself additionally requires a legal basis under Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR. That is why the game asks on first launch. Details in section 6.

This website is not affected. It contains no advertising, no analytics and no third-party scripts, so there is no consent banner here.

4. No tracking, no analytics

There is no web tracking by the provider, no analytics or statistics services and no profiling for our own purposes. The provider builds no usage profiles and no automated decision-making takes place.

This website embeds no third-party content: no external fonts, no maps, no embedded videos, no advertising. Advertising inside the game is a separate matter and is described in section 6.

5. Online mode: processing on the server

For matches across two devices a database hosted by Supabase is used. The server location is the EU region eu-central-1 (Frankfurt am Main, Germany). Supabase acts as a processor pursuant to Article 28 GDPR.

Anonymous sign-in

For an online match the device signs in anonymously. This creates a random identifier (UUID) and a timestamp. No name, no email address, no password. The identifier is tied to the device; reinstalling the app creates a new one.

What is stored during a match

The call sign is freely chosen and limited to six characters. It is visible to your opponent and appears in the lobby list for public matches. Please do not use your real name or anything that identifies you.

Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR. The processing is necessary to deliver the online match you requested.

Server logs

Accessing the database produces technical log data at the processor (including IP address, time, endpoint called). It serves operation and abuse prevention. Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest in a secure, functioning service).

6. Advertising in the game

The game is funded by advertising. Ads appear between matches, never during a battle. This website carries no advertising.

Who serves the ads

The ads come from Google: through Google AdSense in the web app at app.fleetchess.com, and through Google AdMob in the Android and iOS versions. Responsible for serving them is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Google also processes data as an independent controller and is not our processor in that respect.

What data is involved

To serve and account for ads, Google processes among other things: IP address, device type and operating system, language setting, approximate location, the device advertising identifier, and records of which ad was shown when and whether it was tapped. Personalised advertising adds interest categories that Google derives from behaviour across services.

You decide, and you can change your mind

On first launch the game asks through a consent dialogue whether personalised advertising may be shown. You may decline. Only non-personalised ads appear then, which work without an interest profile. Those also involve access to your device, which is why consent is requested for them too.

You can change the decision at any time. The route is described in the game's settings. Withdrawal takes effect for the future and does not affect processing that was lawful up to that point.

Legal basis: § 25 (1) TDDDG for access to your device and Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR for the processing that follows, in both cases on the basis of your consent.

Transfers to the United States

Google may process this data outside the EU, in particular in the United States. The basis is the European Commission's adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where Google is certified, and otherwise the EU standard contractual clauses. A level of protection equivalent to European law cannot be guaranteed for third countries in every case.

Without advertising

Anyone using the ad-free version for 1.69 € a month sees no ads. No data is then transmitted to Google for advertising purposes and no advertising identifier is read. On payment handling see section 7.

7. Ad-free subscription

The subscription is handled by the store you obtained the game from: Google Play or the App Store. The provider receives no payment data, neither card number nor bank details nor billing address. All the provider learns is that an active subscription exists for a device.

The store processes payment data as an independent controller and its own privacy terms apply. Cancelling and managing the subscription also happens through the store.

Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (performance of the contract for ad-free use).

8. Feedback from within the app

Under Settings → Feedback you can send us a message. What is transmitted is only: the subject and text you typed, the app and database version, the time, and your anonymous identifier. No images, no email address, no name.

Please do not enter personal data into those fields. Whatever you write is stored.

Retention: until processed, at most 24 months. Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interest in improving the game).

9. Invitation links

When you invite a friend, the app composes a message containing your join code and opens the app you choose (WhatsApp, mail client) or places it on the clipboard. The app never sends anything itself, does not access your address book and knows no phone numbers. It is your own message in your own app. The privacy policy of that provider applies to it.

10. This website

This website is purely informational. It contains no forms, no accounts, no comments and no third-party scripts. When you visit, the hosting provider processes technically necessary log data (IP address, time, requested address, volume transferred, browser type). Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

11. Distribution via the Google Play Store

If you obtain the app from the Google Play Store, Google processes data as an independent controller as part of the store transaction (account, installation). We have no influence over this; Google's privacy policy applies. We receive no personal data about individual users from the store.

12. Recipients and transfers to third countries

There are exactly three recipients:

Data is never sold. Online-mode processing takes place in the EU. Where access from a third country cannot be ruled out during maintenance or support, it happens on the basis of the EU standard contractual clauses. On transfers to Google see section 6.

13. Retention at a glance

Deletion of match data runs automatically. It is part of the database, not a housekeeping task somebody has to remember.

14. Your rights

Subject to the statutory conditions you have the right to:

• access the data processed (Article 15 GDPR),
• rectification of inaccurate data (Article 16 GDPR),
• erasure (Article 17 GDPR),
• restriction of processing (Article 18 GDPR),
• data portability (Article 20 GDPR),
• object to processing based on legitimate interest (Article 21 GDPR).

A practical note on access requests: since there are no accounts, we can only match a request if you supply your anonymous identifier. Without it, attribution is technically impossible (Article 11 GDPR). The fastest and most complete way to delete your local data is to uninstall the app or clear your browser data; server-side match data expires within 24 hours in any case.

15. Right to lodge a complaint

You may lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Article 77 GDPR). The competent authority for the provider is:

Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen (LDI NRW)
Kavalleriestraße 2 to 4
40213 Düsseldorf, Germany

16. Children and young people

The game targets a general audience and contains no content aimed specifically at children.

Processing in online mode rests on delivering the requested match rather than on consent, so Article 8 GDPR does not apply to it.

Advertising is different, because it rests on consent. Under Article 8 GDPR together with § 25 TDDDG, consent in Germany is only valid from the age of 16; below that a parent or guardian must agree. Younger players should therefore not give consent without their parents. Without consent, only non-personalised ads are shown.

17. Data security

All transmission is encrypted (HTTPS/WSS). Database access is restricted row by row: a device can read only its own fleet, never the opponent's. All decisive calculations run on the server, so the client cannot invent hits. The locally stored profile is encrypted; securing the device itself (lock screen, disk encryption) is your responsibility.

18. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when processing changes, for instance when a new feature is added. The version published here, bearing the date above, is the applicable one.

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