The Internet Chess Club (ICC) handles a variety of different forms of
information from its members and guests. Some of this information is
entered manually by the users of the ICC while they are logged in,
or during the registration process. Some of this information is
collected automatically by our software without the explicit knowledge of
the user. This document describes what information we do and do not
collect, who has access to the information that is collected, how to
change or delete this information, and a number of related issues.
We try to ensure that the flow of information is strictly limited in
accordance with the policies below. But remember that there are
unusual circumstances under which they might be violated, and
information might be revealed to people in violation of these
policies. Some examples include: a subpoena, a break-in to
the ICC's computers (either physical or electronic), or an
employee or Administrator who breaks the rules.
In the rest of this document the term "Admin" refers to the set of
ICC administrators, the list of which can be seen by typing
help admins.
Registration Information
The following information (which you may have specified when you
registered) can be seen only by Admins: Your name, your email address,
your password, your postal address, your phone number, your previous
ICC handle, your USCF ID, expiration, and PIN number.
Of course you are free to publicize your personal information.
Your registration in ICC will also give you a subscription to our periodic
email newsletter. Each newsletter will contain a link at the bottom to
allow you to unsubscribe at any time.
The ICC may use your email address to sporadically send you
important announcements. (In the past such announcements have been
sent fewer than once per year. For example, such a bulk mailing was
once used to tell all of our members an alternative way to connect to
our server when the server machine was under attack.) If you do not
wish to ever get such announcements, send email to news@chessclub.com
stating this fact.
The ICC may use your postal address (if you checked the box to
allow its use) to mail you information about products and services
available from 3rd parties. The ICC will not give your address
to these 3rd parties.
Naturally your Handle, your rating and title (after verification)
are all publically visible. Your country is also public information.
If you want to know the identity, email address, or other information
on an ICC member, please do not ask an Admin. Ask the member
directly. It is his or her decision to tell you.
Authorized Mailings
On occasion, the ICC may offer you a free prize, product or other mailing
that is to be provided by a 3rd party. If you accept this offer explicitly
(by responding to the offer) or implicitly (e.g., by playing in a tournament
offering the prize), then the ICC may release your personal information to
such 3rd party, with the restriction that it is only to be used for such
mailing.
Credit Card Information
Credit card numbers are only stored on the ICC servers in
encrypted form. They are not visible to anybody except ICC
employees (a small subset of the Admins) involved in the processing of
payments. Credit cards are processed by Cybercash. Cybercash sends
credit card numbers over the Internet in encrypted form. (For more
information see http://www.cybercash.com .) The name, address, and
phone number that is entered when a credit card is used is visible to
the Admins. The card number is not.
Private Communication
The ICC does not explicitly log tell-type (that is, "tell" and "say")
communication between a pair of users. Any such conversation you have
with another member is normally completely private. Nobody, including
Admins, can listen in on any such conversation that takes place on an
ICC server. Administrators are only privy to conversations between a
pair of ICC members when one member complains about the other party
using the "complain user" command (help complain), or if a member
relays the conversation. However, there is a debugging log that on
rare instances contains such a tell message, and it is possible that
an Admin could inadvertently see such a message. Such occurrences are
rare, and are not under the control of the Admins.
Public Communication
Many modes of communication on an ICC server give the user an
opportunity to reveal personal information to many other people. This
includes shouts, channels, and kibitzes. Please remember that any
information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public
information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose
your personal information.
Implicitly Collected Information
For each session on an ICC server, an entry is made in a
permanent connection log. The following information is recorded in
that log:
- The time of the connection and disconnection
- The name of the interface that was used
- The IP number of the connection
- The Handle name
- The Machine ID of the computer from which the connection was made
The Machine ID is a string which uniquely identifies the computer on
which this connection was made. This allows us to very reliably
determine if two different sessions used the same computer.
In addition, while you're playing on an ICC server, several
other pieces of information are made available to the server. The
ICC client program notes when you switch from the client
program to some other program and vice versa. The ICC
client and server are also able to determine whether or not you
currently have a chess program running on your computer. This
information is used for the sole purpose of identifying people who are
cheating by using a chess engine. The Admins and a few other people
who help catch computer cheaters are the only ones who have access to
this information. (Read help computers for more information on
the ICC's computer policies.)
The ICC's software does not monitor any activity nor access any
data beyond what is listed above, or what is obviously needed for the
functioning of the software. For example, it does access the profiles
and PGN files it needs, but it does not access your email file.
Security
While you're connected to an ICC server using a "timestamped"
client (such as Blitzin), all communication between you and the server
is encrypted. All ICC servers are located in secure co-location
facilities. Backups of user records are made on a regular basis.
Viewing Removing or Changing Your Personal Information
You can see your personal information by issuing the "personal-info"
command while on an ICC server.
You can modify this information by using the "set" command. (Read
help set for more details.) For example, "set telephone 412-521-5553",
will set your telephone number.
You can also contact the ICC business office to request that
this information be changed or removed. Here is the contact
information:
Email: icc@chessclub.com
Phone: 412-521-5553
Fax: 412-521-5575
Postal: Internet Chess Club
5820 Forbes Avenue, Suite 1
Pittsburgh, PA 15217 USA
Contact Information
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of
this site, or your dealings with this site, you can contact the ICC
at the above phone numbers or postal address.