Privacy policy
Effective October 18, 2026
First Look Chess is a daily chess newsletter published by John Hartmann. We collect as little about you as we can: your email address so we can send the newsletter, and, if you pay, what Stripe needs to take the payment. We don’t sell or rent your information, and we don’t show you ads.
What we collect and why
- Your email address. To send you the newsletter, and the occasional note about your subscription. This is the only thing we need from a free subscriber.
- Payment details, if you subscribe. Entered on Stripe’s checkout page and held by Stripe. We never see or store your card number. We can see your name, billing address, the card’s brand and last four digits, and your subscription’s status and history, as any business that takes card payments can.
- What you send us. If you reply to an edition or email us, we keep that message so we can answer it.
Who handles your information
We use a few services to run the newsletter. Each handles only what it needs, under its own privacy policy.
| Service | What it does | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| Buttondown | Sends the newsletter and manages subscriptions | Your email address, subscription type, sign-up date |
| Stripe | Takes payments for paid subscriptions | Your payment details and billing information |
| Google (Gmail) | Receives replies and messages you send us | Your email address and your message, kept while we need them |
| Google Cloud | Builds each edition and hosts the edition archive pages | No subscriber information; the archive pages carry no analytics or tracking scripts |
The podcast, The Opening, is hosted on Podbean under Podbean’s own policy; listening doesn’t require subscribing to the newsletter, and the podcast app you use has its own policy.
We share your information with no one else, except where the law requires it.
Email tracking and cookies
We don’t track whether you open an edition or which links you click. Our emails carry no tracking pixels, and links go straight to their destination.
firstlookchess.com forwards you to our subscribe page on Buttondown. The service that handles that forwarding and Buttondown’s page set the cookies they need to work, and Stripe’s checkout sets cookies to prevent fraud. None of them are advertising cookies. This website and the edition archive pages load no analytics or tracking scripts, and we run no analytics of our own.
Do Not Track. We don’t respond to Do Not Track signals, because we don’t track you ourselves. Stripe may use its fraud-prevention cookies to recognise a browser across other sites that use Stripe; as far as we know, Buttondown and the forwarding service don’t.
Your choices
- Unsubscribe any time with the link at the bottom of every edition.
- Cancel a paid subscription from the subscription link in any edition. You keep access to the end of the period you paid for.
- See, correct or delete your information. Email firstlookchess@gmail.com and we’ll do it, usually within a few days. Deleting your information also ends your subscription.
How long we keep it
We keep your email address while you’re subscribed. After you unsubscribe, Buttondown keeps a record of the unsubscribe so you aren’t added back by mistake; ask us and we’ll delete your record from our list, though Buttondown may keep the bare minimum it needs to honour the unsubscribe. Stripe keeps payment records for as long as tax and financial law requires.
Readers outside the United States
We use your information to send you what you signed up for and, for paid subscriptions, to fulfil our agreement with you. Our services are in the United States, so your information is stored there.
Children
The newsletter is written for a general adult audience. We don’t knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has subscribed, email us and we’ll remove them.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top. If a change affects how we use your information, we’ll email everyone on the list before it takes effect.
Contact
Questions or requests: firstlookchess@gmail.com. You can also reply to any edition.