Bled Chess Festival

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 3 October 2026

This policy explains how personal data is used when you visit chess-festival.com, contact us, subscribe to festival news or book a festival package.

1. Who is responsible for your data?

Brainiac64, Šahovsko izobraževanje in organizacija dogodkov, d.o.o. (Brainiac64 d.o.o.), the organiser of Bled Chess Festival, is the controller of the personal data described in this policy.

Registered address: Litostrojska cesta 58C, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, contact us at bled@chess-festival.com or +386 69 337 911.

2. What information do we collect?

• Enquiries: your name, email address, telephone number and any information you include in a message.
• Bookings: your name, contact and billing details, selected package, accommodation and optional services, registration status, and information needed to organise your participation. This can include a FIDE ID, booking notes and details of other participants included in your booking.
• Payments: the amount, currency, payment status and transaction or payment reference. Card details are entered through Stripe's payment service; our website does not store your full card number or card security code.
• Newsletter: your email address and subscription or consent information.
• Website use: technical information such as IP address, browser and device information, pages and booking steps visited, timestamps, referring sources and campaign parameters. Cookies or similar identifiers can be used by the services described below.

If you book for someone else, provide only the information needed for that booking and make this policy available to them. A parent or guardian should assist where this is necessary for a child's booking.

3. Why do we use your information?

Information marked as required in the booking form is needed to process your registration or provide the selected services. Without it, we may be unable to complete the booking. Optional notes and newsletter subscription are not required to participate.

4. Who can receive your information?

Information is shared where needed for the purposes above with authorised festival staff and service providers, including:

• tournament organisers, arbiters and relevant chess organisations for entries, pairings, results and rating administration;
• accommodation providers when your package includes a hotel stay;
• payment providers, including Stripe, and banks handling payments or refunds;
• website hosting, IT support, email and newsletter service providers;
• accounting advisers, authorities or other recipients where disclosure is required by law or necessary for legal claims.

We share information relevant to the service or legal requirement. Some recipients, such as payment providers and chess organisations, may also process data as independent controllers under their own privacy policies.

5. Tournament results, photographs and video

Tournament participation can involve publication of player names and chess-related information in entry lists, pairings, standings, results and rating records. This supports tournament administration and reporting and may be required by the applicable chess rules.

Photographs and video from the festival may appear in festival reports and promotional material. The applicable basis depends on the use: legitimate interests in reporting the event, or consent where required. Contact us if you have concerns about an identifiable photograph or video of you so that we can consider your request.

6. Cookies and external services

Functional cookies support website preferences, security and the booking process. Statistics and marketing technologies can measure visits and campaigns. You can review the available choices in the consent settings on our Cookie Policy page. Browser settings can also restrict or delete cookies; blocking necessary cookies may affect booking functionality.

Embedded YouTube video, Google services such as reCAPTCHA and web fonts, and other external content can send technical information to their providers when loaded. reCAPTCHA helps protect forms from automated abuse. Facebook and Instagram links take you to external services whose own privacy policies apply.

Provider information is available in the Google Privacy Policy and Stripe Privacy Policy.

7. Processing outside the European Economic Area

Some external providers operate internationally and may process information outside the European Economic Area. For such transfers, the GDPR requires an applicable transfer basis, such as an adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards including standard contractual clauses. The relevant provider's privacy information describes its processing and transfer arrangements. You can contact us for information about safeguards applicable to data we share.

8. How long do we keep information?

Retention depends on the purpose and the record:

• Booking and correspondence records: for organising and completing your participation, and afterwards where needed to resolve enquiries, disputes or legal claims.
• Invoices and payment records: for the retention periods required by applicable accounting and tax law.
• Newsletter information: while you remain subscribed. Limited withdrawal or suppression records may be kept to respect an unsubscribe request and demonstrate compliance.
• Technical records: for the period needed for operation, security and troubleshooting. Cookie and provider-specific durations depend on the service and settings; see the Cookie Policy and provider information.
• Published tournament records: may remain available as part of the festival's and chess organisations' historical and rating records.

We assess whether information remains necessary for its purpose and whether a legal obligation or claim requires continued retention.

9. Your rights

Depending on the applicable legal basis and circumstances, you have the right to request access to your personal data, correction, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests and to direct marketing.

Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing carried out lawfully before withdrawal.

Send requests to bled@chess-festival.com. We may need information to verify your identity before responding. We will respond within the time limits set by the GDPR.

You also have the right to complain to a supervisory authority, including the Slovenian Information Commissioner (Informacijski pooblaščenec).

10. Security

We use technical and organisational measures appropriate to the processing and restrict access to information to people who need it for their work. Please avoid sending unnecessary sensitive information through forms or email.

11. Updates and related information

This policy may be updated when festival services, providers or processing change. The date above identifies the current version.

For information about bookings and cancellations, see the Terms and Conditions and Refund Policy. Cookie information and consent settings are available in the Cookie Policy.