Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

To administer official tournaments, verify competitive age categories, maintain FIDE compliance, and dispatch pairing communications, we collect the following categories of information:

• Player Identity Data: Full legal name, date of birth, gender, father’s/guardian’s name, club or district affiliation, and state of residence.
• Contact Data: Primary telephone/mobile number, active WhatsApp number (specifically utilized for round pairings, board allotments, and urgent schedule alerts), and electronic mail address.
• Chess Federation Credentials: FIDE Identification Number (FIDE ID), All India Chess Federation Registration Number (AICF ID), active Elo rating (Classical, Rapid, Blitz), and tournament history.
• Government Identity Proof: Type of government-issued photo identity document (e.g., Aadhaar Card, Passport, Voter ID, School Photo ID, or Municipal Birth Certificate) and the corresponding ID number. This information is strictly collected to verify eligibility for age-bracketed prizes and state junior quotas.
• Technical & Device Data: IP address, browser type, device information, and page interaction timestamps recorded automatically when accessing birsachess.com for operational diagnostics.

2. Third-Party Payment Processing & Zero Financial Storage

All electronic entry fee transactions are conducted directly through Reserve Bank of India (RBI) authorized, PCI-DSS compliant payment aggregators (e.g., Razorpay and PhonePe). When you submit your tournament registration, your payment data is encrypted and securely transmitted via 256-bit SSL encryption directly to the payment gateway.

Birsa Chess Foundation only receives transaction reference tokens (such as Order ID, Payment ID, amount paid, and timestamp) to confirm the validity of your tournament entry pass.

3. Purpose & Legal Basis of Data Utilization

Your information is utilized solely for legitimate sporting, administrative, and compliance functions:

• Tournament Operations: Conducting Swiss pairings, arbiters' seating allotments, and round scheduling.
• Age & Category Verification: Preventing age falsification in junior and cadet championships (Under-9 through Under-15).
• Official Reporting: Submitting official tournament cross-tables, norm certificates, and rating calculation files to the All India Chess Federation (AICF) and the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
• Participant Communications: Dispatching confirmation passes, tax receipts, venue directions, and real-time round pairings via WhatsApp and email.
• Foundation Membership Management: Maintaining the Birsa Chess Foundation lifetime membership register for fee concessions and academy coaching.

4. Information Sharing & Third-Party Disclosures

We uphold a strict policy regarding the confidentiality of your data:

• No Commercial Sale: We never sell, lease, or rent your personal contact numbers, email addresses, or player profiles to third-party marketing companies, advertisers, or lead brokers.
• Regulatory Sports Bodies: Player names, FIDE IDs, ratings, and match outcomes are shared with AICF and FIDE as mandated by global chess regulations. Cross-tables and pairings are routinely published on international platforms such as Chess-Results.com in accordance with customary chess tournament standards.
• Legal Compliance: We may disclose information if required by court order, law enforcement authorities, or tax regulatory directives (e.g., PAN details under Section 194B of the Income Tax Act for prize winners).

5. Data Security & Storage Standards

Birsa Chess Foundation implements technical, organizational, and physical safeguards to prevent unauthorized access, alteration, or disclosure of player data. These include:

• HTTPS / TLS 1.3 encryption across all website pages and APIs.
• Restricted administrative role-based access control (RBAC) to participant rosters.
• Automated periodic security audits and database backups on encrypted infrastructure.

6. Protection of Minor Players

A substantial portion of our participants are scholastic and youth competitors under 18 years of age. We are committed to safeguarding minors:

• Registration of minors requires the express consent of a parent or legal guardian.
• Minor contact details are utilized strictly for tournament logistics and emergency notifications.
• We do not publicly disclose residential addresses or personal contact numbers of minor participants. Only sporting metrics (Player Name, Age Category, Rating, State, Pairing Results) are published on official rosters.

7. Your Privacy Rights & Access

Under applicable Indian data protection principles, participants and guardians possess the right to:

• Request a copy of the personal information stored in our membership and tournament records.
• Request the correction or update of inaccurate contact details, chess rating data, or spelling of player names.
• Opt-out of promotional communications or voluntary WhatsApp community broadcasts at any time (official round pairing notifications for active tournaments will still be provided).

8. Cookies & Analytics

birsachess.com utilizes minimal, essential session cookies and performance telemetry to preserve security, maintain navigation state during registration, and evaluate website performance. We do not deploy intrusive third-party cross-site advertising trackers.