Privacy Policy for Chess Mela

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how VeeiQ (“we”, “us”, or “our”) handles user privacy in relation to our mobile application Chess Mela (the “App”) for Android devices. We believe privacy is a fundamental human right. Chess Mela is intentionally designed to be completely offline and self-contained, ensuring that your gameplay and personal information remain entirely private.

2. Complete Offline Operation & Zero Data Collection

Chess Mela is built with privacy-by-design:

• No Internet Permission: The App does not declare or request the Android android.permission.INTERNET permission in its application manifest. It is technically impossible for the App to transmit data over the internet or communicate with any remote servers.
• No Personal Information Collected: We do not ask for, collect, process, or store your name, email address, phone number, location, contacts, photos, or any other personal details.
• No User Accounts or Registration: You do not need to create an account, log in, or provide credentials to use Chess Mela.
• No Device Identifiers: We do not collect or access advertising IDs (AAID), IMEI, MAC addresses, Android IDs, or hardware identifiers.
• No Analytics or Telemetry: We do not track what you tap, how long you play, which chess difficulties you choose, or any in-app behaviors.

3. Device Permissions

Chess Mela requests zero sensitive permissions. The App does not access:

• Location (fine or coarse)
• Camera or Microphone
• Contacts, SMS, or Call logs
• Shared External Storage or Media Library

The App only uses standard local capabilities (such as vibration for optional haptic feedback when making a chess move), which operate entirely on-device without data logging.

4. On-Device Local Data Storage

To provide a functional chess game experience, Chess Mela stores certain game state information locally on your device’s internal private sandbox storage:

• Game History: When you play or complete a game, chess move notations (SAN/algebraic notation), board positions, move counts, timestamps, and game outcomes are saved to a local file in your app’s private internal storage directory.
• Settings & Preferences: Your chosen board visual theme, sound effects toggle, haptic feedback toggle, and coordinate display preferences are stored locally in Android’s private SharedPreferences storage.

This data is exclusively stored on your device and is never uploaded, synced to a remote cloud server, or accessible to other applications.

5. Android System Backups

Depending on your personal Android device settings, Android’s built-in OS backup service (Auto Backup) may back up your device’s local app storage to your personal Google Drive account to allow restoring your game history if you change devices. This is an operating-system-level mechanism managed entirely between you and Google; VeeiQ has no access to your backup archives.

6. Third-Party SDKs and Services

Chess Mela does not integrate or use any third-party SDKs, libraries, or APIs that collect data. Specifically:

• No advertising networks (e.g., Google AdMob, Unity Ads)
• No analytics SDKs (e.g., Google Analytics for Firebase, Flurry, Mixpanel)
• No crash-reporting SDKs (e.g., Firebase Crashlytics, Sentry)
• No social media integrations (e.g., Facebook SDK)

All chess AI logic is calculated locally on your device by our standalone, embedded chess engine without any network calls.

7. Data Retention and Deletion

Because all data resides exclusively in your device’s internal storage, you have complete control over its retention and deletion:

• In-App Deletion: You can delete any saved game individually from the History screen inside the App.
• Clear App Data: You can purge all local game history and reset settings at any time via Android Settings > Apps > Chess Mela > Storage > Clear Storage / Clear Data.
• Uninstalling the App: Uninstalling Chess Mela permanently removes all associated local game files and settings from your device.

Because VeeiQ does not possess or store your data on any server, we retain zero residual copies once you clear data or uninstall the App.

8. Children’s Privacy (COPPA & Families Compliance)

Chess Mela is designed as a family-friendly strategy game for a general audience. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in the European Economic Area / UK), nor do we collect personal information from any user regardless of age. If a parent or guardian believes their child has provided us with personal information via a direct customer support inquiry, please contact us immediately, and we will promptly delete that communication.

9. Compliance with Global Privacy Regulations

European Economic Area (GDPR) & UK GDPR

• Data Controller: VeeiQ is the developer of Chess Mela. However, VeeiQ does not act as a processor or controller of server-side data, as all operations are local to your device.
• Legal Basis: Local processing of moves and preferences is based on Performance of a Contract (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)) to provide the requested game features, and strictly necessary under the ePrivacy Directive (Art. 5(3)).
• Your Rights: Under GDPR Articles 15–22, you have rights to access, rectification, portability, and erasure. These rights are fulfilled directly on your device through the App’s History screen and Android OS storage settings.

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA / CPRA)

We do not collect personal information, and we do not “sell” or “share” personal information as defined by California privacy laws. We do not engage in cross-context behavioral advertising.

10. Customer Support Communications

If you voluntarily contact us via email for customer support or feedback, we will process your email address and message contents solely to address your question and provide technical support. This information is never shared with third parties or used for marketing, and is deleted once the inquiry is resolved.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements or app features. Any updates will be published at https://veeiq.com/apps/chess-mela/privacy-policy.html with an updated “Last Updated” date.

12. Contact Information

If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or Chess Mela, please contact us:

• Developer / Company: VeeiQ
• Website: https://veeiq.com/
• Support Email: [email protected]