Privacy Policy

Effective July 10, 2026

This policy explains how BoardGameBrain, a service operated by SpecialGlasses, handles information across the BoardGameBrain website, iOS app, accounts, chat, support, and related services.

1. Scope

This policy applies when you browse our public game catalog, create or use an account, save games, ask BoardGameBrain questions, submit a board photo, purchase or manage access, contact support, or otherwise use BoardGameBrain. Public catalog browsing does not require an account. Web chat requires a signed-in account with an active paid subscription.

2. Information we collect

Account and profile information

When you create, save, or upgrade an account, we process an account identifier, email address, authentication provider, authentication status, and security information needed to maintain the session. The iOS app may create an anonymous account before you add a sign-in method.

Game activity and saved content

We process catalog searches and filters, and we store the games you select or bookmark, list and shelf changes, chat sessions, questions, responses, citations, session titles, feedback, and related timestamps so the service can work across sessions and devices.

Chat and photo content

Questions, game context, available rulebook excerpts, generated responses, and photos you choose to submit are processed to provide rules and strategy features. Photos may contain information visible in the image. Do not submit sensitive personal information or images you do not have permission to share. BoardGameBrain does not intentionally store submitted photo bytes in chat history; for web photo analysis, the associated question and generated answer are stored, and access-restricted operational or accounting records may include technical metadata such as image type, file size, and a one-way content hash. Chat history is retained with your account until you delete the chat or delete your account. Image payloads are not included in our content-free product analytics, but service providers may process and temporarily retain them to complete your request and for limited security or operational purposes under their terms.

Purchases, subscriptions, and usage

We process product identifiers, subscription status, entitlement state, purchase and refund events, usage allowances, transaction references, and the account email sent to web checkout. Apple or the configured web billing and payment providers process payment-card, billing-address, tax-location, or App Store payment details; BoardGameBrain does not receive your full payment-card number.

Product analytics and technical data

We collect first-party events about catalog search, account flows, paywalls, purchases, feedback, chat status, and feature use. Some events are linked to a pseudonymous or account-derived identifier. We also receive standard request and diagnostic data such as IP address, browser or device type, operating-system and app version, timestamps, error details, security signals, and request metadata. We do not include raw catalog search text, chat prompts, answers, or images in product-analytics event payloads.

Support and launch communications

If you contact us, we process your message, email address, diagnostic details you provide, and our replies. If you previously joined the launch-notification list, we processed your email address and submission time to send the requested launch notice.

Cookies and local storage

The website uses essential cookies or browser storage for secure authentication sessions, CSRF and recovery state, theme and interface preferences, abuse prevention, RevenueCat purchase state, and Cloudflare Turnstile security checks. Turnstile processes browser and device signals to distinguish people from automated traffic. We do not currently use nonessential advertising cookies on the website. If that changes, we will update this policy and provide controls required by applicable law.

3. How we use information

Provide, authenticate, personalize, and synchronize BoardGameBrain.
Answer questions, analyze submitted board states, preserve chat history, and display citations.
Manage subscriptions, entitlements, usage allowances, purchases, refunds, and customer support.
Protect accounts, enforce rate and usage limits, detect abuse, and maintain service reliability.
Measure product performance and improve quality using operational and content-free analytics.
Comply with legal, tax, accounting, fraud-prevention, and dispute-resolution obligations.

Depending on where you live, these activities may rely on performing our agreement with you, your consent, our legitimate interests in operating and securing the service, and compliance with legal obligations.

4. Service providers and disclosure

We disclose information only as needed to operate the service, complete transactions, follow your direction, protect BoardGameBrain and its users, or comply with law. Current provider categories include:

Supabase for authentication, database, and account data.
Cloudflare for website and API delivery, security, rate limiting, logs, and AI Gateway metadata. AI payload logging is disabled where configured, but operational metadata may remain.
OpenAI for generating and evaluating rules or strategy responses, hosted web research, and analyzing submitted images. API data is not used to train OpenAI's general models by default, but abuse-monitoring logs and application state for some endpoint features may be retained under OpenAI's API data controls.
RevenueCat for subscription, entitlement, customer, and usage-pack lifecycle management.
Apple for App Store distribution, purchases, subscription management, and Apple authentication when used.
Google for Google authentication when that sign-in option is enabled.
RevenueCat Web Billing and its connected payment provider for web checkout, tax, payment, and customer-portal functions when web billing is available.
Google Workspace for support communication and the earlier launch-notification list.

BoardGameGeek supplies public game data and artwork. We may send game identifiers and bounded catalog or research search terms to BoardGameGeek services. Catalog artwork can load from BoardGameGeek or Geekdo image hosts, which receive ordinary web request data such as IP address, browser information, and referrer. We do not intentionally send those services your BoardGameBrain account identifier or full chat transcript. We may disclose information in a business transfer or when reasonably necessary to comply with law or protect rights and safety. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

5. Retention and account deletion

We keep account and user content while your account is active and as needed to provide the service. Operational logs and analytics are retained for bounded periods based on security, reliability, and product needs. Support records may be kept while a request is open and afterward as needed to document its resolution.

Authenticated account deletion removes the authentication account, stored chats, saved games, and active entitlement records from the user-facing service. Account-bound usage and purchased balances become inaccessible. Some records are retained, restricted, severed, redacted, or de-identified where reasonably necessary for payment, model-cost and usage accounting, refunds, tax, security, abuse prevention, legal, and audit obligations. These may include a one-way deletion tombstone, account-derived operational references, redacted provider events, transaction and allowance ledger records, severed feedback, and processor-side logs, application state, or customer records. Backups and provider systems may take additional time to rotate.

Deleting a BoardGameBrain account does not cancel an App Store or web subscription. Cancel through the platform where you subscribed before deleting. Purchased unused usage may become inaccessible after deletion.

See the account deletion page for the current process and consequences.

6. Your choices and rights

Browse the public catalog without creating an account.
Review and delete individual chats or saved games through available account controls.
Cancel a subscription through Apple or the originating web billing portal.
Request access, correction, export, or deletion by contacting support. Applicable law may provide additional rights to object, restrict processing, or appeal a decision.
Choose not to submit a photo and remove browser cookies by signing out and clearing site data.

7. Security and international processing

We use technical and organizational safeguards intended to protect information, including access controls, encrypted transport, signed sessions, row-level access policies, and abuse controls. No service can guarantee absolute security. BoardGameBrain and its providers may process information in the United States and other countries where they operate, subject to applicable transfer safeguards.

8. Children

BoardGameBrain is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. A person below the age of legal majority must have permission from a parent or guardian, and only an adult or otherwise legally authorized person may make a purchase.

9. Changes

We may update this policy. We will post the revised version and effective date here and, for material changes, provide an additional notice through the website, app, or account email when appropriate.

10. Contact

For privacy questions or requests, email support@boardgamebrain.app. We may need to verify your identity before completing an account-specific request.