Privacy policy
Last updated 29 October 2026
The Luft (theluft.org) is a chess news and results site run from Australia. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, who else handles it and what you can do about it. We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
The short version: you can read everything on The Luft without an account. If you sign in, we keep your name, email address and photo from Google, plus the players and topics you follow. We only email you if you ask us to, and we never sell your information.
If you just read the site
You don't need an account to read articles, results or player pages, and we don't set advertising or tracking cookies. Some information is still handled when your browser loads a page:
- Cloudflare hosts the site. Like any web host, it handles your IP address and basic request details (such as your browser type and the page you asked for) to deliver pages and protect the site from abuse.
- Visitor counts come from Cloudflare Web Analytics, which counts page views without cookies and without identifying or following you around the web. We see totals, such as how many people read an article and which country or website they came from.
- Google Fonts supplies the site's typefaces, so your browser asks Google's servers for them. Google receives your IP address when it does.
- Player photos are loaded from Lichess's servers, which receive your IP address when your browser fetches them.
If you create an account
Accounts are optional and use Google sign-in only. When you sign in, we receive and store:
- your name, email address and profile photo from your Google account
- whether you asked for our newsletter
- when you agreed to our Terms and this policy, and when your account was created
- the players and topics you choose to follow
We use this to sign you in, show your account page and highlight the players and topics you follow. We don't receive your Google password.
To keep you signed in, the site stores a sign-in token in your browser's local storage. Signing out removes it.
The newsletter
We only add you to our email list if you tick the newsletter box when you sign up, or turn it on from your account page. If you follow players or topics, we also email you when there is a new story about them; you can turn that off on your Profile page. Every email we send has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes effect straight away. We follow the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).
Who else handles your information
We use a few services to run the site. Each one only gets what it needs to do its job:
- Google handles sign-in and serves our fonts.
- Supabase stores account details and follows in its database.
- Amazon Web Services (Amazon SES) delivers our emails, so it handles the email address each one is sent to.
- Cloudflare hosts the site.
These companies may store information outside Australia, including in the United States. We choose providers with strong security and privacy practices, but overseas privacy laws may differ from Australia's.
We don't sell or rent your personal information. We only share it beyond these services if the law requires us to.
Information about chess players
Our player pages and results use publicly available chess information, such as names, titles, ratings, federations, games and photos. It comes from FIDE, Lichess and tournament organisers. If you're a player and something about you is wrong, or you want a photo removed, email us and we'll look into it.
How long we keep it
We keep your account information until you delete your account. Newsletter subscribers stay on the list until they unsubscribe. Unfollowing a player or topic deletes that follow straight away.
Your choices and rights
- See or correct your information: your account page shows what we hold. Email us to correct anything.
- Delete your account: use Delete my account on your account page. Your account, profile and follows are deleted straight away, and the newsletter stops with them.
- Stop emails: use the unsubscribe link in any newsletter.
Security
Our database only lets a signed-in reader see and change their own account and follows, and all traffic to the site is encrypted. No system is perfectly secure. If a data breach is likely to cause you serious harm, we'll tell you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Children
You need to be at least 13 to create an account, because Google requires it. Anyone can read the site without one.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle your information, we'll update this page and the date at the top. For example, this could happen if we add advertising or a paid subscription. If the change is significant, we'll tell signed-in readers by email or on the site before it takes effect.
Contact and complaints
For questions, requests or complaints about privacy, email hello@theluft.org. We'll reply within 30 days. If you're not happy with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.