1. Introduction
Ultimate Chess Atelier (“Ultimate Chess”, “we”, “us” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you entrust to us. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect when you visit our website, place an order, subscribe to our newsletter or contact the atelier, how that information is used, and the rights you hold over it.
By using this website you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, please discontinue use of the site. This policy applies to all services offered through ultimatechess.com and does not extend to third-party websites we may link to.
2. Information We Collect
We collect only the information needed to fulfil your order, support you afterwards and improve the service. This falls into three broad categories:
- Information you give us — name, billing and delivery address, email address, telephone number, order details, engraving instructions, account credentials and any message you send to our team.
- Information collected automatically — IP address, browser type and version, device and operating system, referring pages, time zone, and the pages and products you view on the site.
- Information from third parties — order and fraud-screening data from our payment processors, delivery status from our couriers, and aggregated audience data from our analytics providers.
We do not collect special category data such as health, biometric or political information, and we never ask you to provide it.
3. How We Use Your Information
Your information is used for clearly defined purposes, each with a lawful basis under applicable data protection law:
- Processing, packing and delivering your order
- Handling returns, repairs and warranty claims
- Sending order confirmations and shipping updates
- Responding to enquiries sent to the atelier
- Sending marketing emails where you have consented
- Preventing fraud and securing the website
- Improving our products, catalogue and user experience
- Meeting our accounting and legal obligations
We never sell your personal information, and we do not use it for automated decision-making that produces legal effects concerning you.
4. Cookies & Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies to keep the site working correctly and to understand how it is used. The cookies we set fall into the following groups:
Essential
Required for the basket, checkout, secure sign-in and fraud prevention. These cannot be switched off without breaking core functionality.
Preference
Remember choices such as currency, language and recently viewed pieces so the site behaves consistently between visits.
Analytics
Give us aggregated, non-identifying insight into which pages and collections are visited, so we can improve navigation and catalogue quality.
Marketing
Set only with your consent, these help us measure campaign performance and show relevant products on partner platforms.
You can accept, refuse or delete cookies at any time through your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies may prevent checkout from completing.
5. Third-Party Services
We work with carefully selected partners who process data on our behalf, including payment gateways, shipping and courier services, email and newsletter platforms, analytics providers and hosting and security services. Each partner receives only the minimum data required to perform its role.
These providers are bound by contract to keep your information confidential, to use it solely for the agreed purpose, and to apply appropriate security measures. Where data is transferred outside your region, we rely on recognised safeguards such as standard contractual clauses.
6. Payment Information
All payments are handled by PCI-DSS compliant payment processors. Card numbers, CVV codes and full banking details are entered directly into the processor's encrypted environment and are never stored on our servers.
We retain only what is needed to identify a transaction — an order reference, the payment method type, the last four digits of the card and the authorisation status — so that we can process refunds, resolve disputes and keep accurate accounting records.
7. Data Security
We apply technical and organisational safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the data we hold: encrypted connections (SSL/TLS) across the entire site, encrypted storage of customer records, strict role-based access limited to staff who need it, regular software patching, and monitored backups.
No method of transmission or storage is entirely without risk. While we work continuously to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a breach affecting your personal data occurs, we will notify you and the relevant authority as required by law.
8. User Rights
Depending on where you live, you may exercise the following rights over the information we hold about you:
- Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification — have inaccurate or incomplete details corrected.
- Erasure — ask us to delete your data where we have no overriding legal reason to keep it.
- Restriction & objection — limit or object to certain processing, including direct marketing.
- Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Withdraw consent — unsubscribe from marketing at any time using the link in any email.
To exercise any of these rights, write to us using the details below. We respond within thirty days and may ask for proof of identity before releasing information.
9. Data Retention
We keep personal data only for as long as it serves the purpose for which it was collected. Order and invoice records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law. Account details are held while your account remains active. Newsletter data is kept until you unsubscribe, and enquiry correspondence is kept for a reasonable period after the matter is resolved.
When data is no longer needed it is securely deleted or irreversibly anonymised for statistical use.
10. Children's Privacy
Our website and services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16. Purchases made for younger players should be completed by a parent or guardian.
If we become aware that a child has provided personal information without parental consent, we will delete it promptly. Parents or guardians who believe this has occurred should contact us using the details below.
11. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, our technology or the law. The revised version takes effect from the date it is published on this page, and the “last updated” date above will always show when the most recent revision was made.
Where changes are significant, we will give additional notice by email or through a notice on the website. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
12. Contact Information
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please get in touch:
- atelier@ultimatechess.com
- +44 113 496 0000
- Ultimate Chess Atelier, 12 Bench Row, Leeds LS1 4AP, United Kingdom