Privacy

Privacy policy

Last updated: 21 August 2026. Operator: helen shen's software and service company (“we”). Product: KyuAdvisor. Contact: kyuadvisor@gmail.com.

What we collect

• Account: email, password hash, optional display name, optional OGS username, self-rated rank, notes you type in the profile.
• Usage: questions you ask, game records or board positions you send (SGF or a captured image), games you play against KataGo on the Play page, thinking-stick operations (when you asked for help and how far you opened KataGo), and the answers we return. Thinking traces stay on your account. They are not used to train a model and are not sent to the training catalog.
• Billing: credit balance and a record of Stripe Checkout sessions. Stripe processes the card. We do not store full card numbers.

Why we use it

We use this information to run the coach (sign-in, analysis, credit ledger), to prevent abuse, and to handle refunds. When you use the thinking stick at hint / candidate / variation levels, the position is sent to KataGo only — not to a language model. The older Ask coach, and a later full-analysis level, still send the position and your question to a language model so we can write a short explanation.

Who else sees it

Stripe sees payment details under Stripe’s own privacy policy. For Ask / full analysis, the language-model provider sees the prompt we build from the position and your question, not your card. Stick levels 1–3 do not go to a language model. We do not sell personal information, we do not use your games for advertising, and we do not send thinking traces into any training system.

How long we keep it

We keep the account and credit ledger while the account exists. You may delete the account in the KyuAdvisor side panel (Account → Delete account), or email us. Remaining credits are forfeited. We may retain payment identifiers needed for accounting, refunds, or legal requirements; those records do not keep your email after the account is deleted.

Your requests

Email kyuadvisor@gmail.com to access, correct, or delete your account data. We operate from Canada. If you are in a region with extra privacy rights, write to the same address and we will handle the request under those rules where they apply.

Children

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account and buy credits.