LEGAL

Privacy Policy.

Last updated: April 8, 2026

By creating an account or using debatezone ("the platform", "we", "us"), you agree to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the platform.

1. Who We Are

debatezone is an online debate platform where users compete in real-time text debates judged by AI. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, and your rights over it.

For questions about this policy, contact us at support@debatezone.app.

2. Data We Collect

Account data

Email address (for account creation and verification)
Username (publicly visible on the platform)
Password (stored as a bcrypt hash — we never see your plain-text password)

Activity data

Debate transcripts (messages sent during debates)
Match history, results, and Elo ratings
Queue entries and matchmaking preferences
Achievement records

Technical data

IP address (used for rate limiting and abuse prevention; not stored long-term)
Browser type and device information (collected by Google Analytics)
Pages visited and time spent on the site (Google Analytics)
Session tokens stored in httpOnly cookies

AI moderation data

Debate messages may be analysed to detect AI-generated content. If flagged, a record is stored on your account (suspension status and offense count).

3. How We Use Your Data

Purpose	Legal basis
Provide the debate platform and matchmaking	Contract performance
Verify your email and authenticate your account	Contract performance
Calculate and display Elo ratings and match history	Contract performance
Detect and prevent cheating (AI usage detection)	Legitimate interest
Rate limiting and abuse prevention	Legitimate interest
Improve the platform (via anonymised analytics)	Legitimate interest
Comply with legal obligations	Legal obligation

4. Third Parties We Share Data With

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use the site. Google may collect your IP address and browsing behaviour through cookies. You can opt out via Google Analytics Opt-out.

Google Gemini AI

Debate messages are sent to Google's Gemini API to power the AI opponent, judge debate outcomes, and optionally detect AI-assisted cheating. We do not send your email, username, or any account identifiers to Gemini.

Hosting

The platform is hosted on Railway. Your data is stored on servers they provide.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to any third party.

5. Cookies

We use the following cookies:

Cookie	Purpose	Duration
debate_zone_token	Authentication session token	7 days
_ga, _gid	Google Analytics tracking	Up to 2 years

6. Data Retention

Account data is retained for as long as your account is active.
Debate transcripts and match history are retained indefinitely to maintain leaderboard integrity.
IP address data used for rate limiting is kept in memory only and is not persisted to disk.
AI suspension records are retained on your account until manually cleared by an administrator.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you
Correct inaccurate data (username and email via account settings)
Delete your account and associated personal data
Object to processing based on legitimate interest
Data portability — request a copy of your data in a readable format

To exercise any of these rights, use the account settings page or email us at support@debatezone.app. We will respond within 30 days.

Download your data

Get a copy of everything debatezone holds about you — profile, match history, messages, and daily opinions — as a JSON file.

↓ Download my data

8. Children

debatezone is not intended for users under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child has created an account, please email support@debatezone.app and we will delete it promptly.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. Continued use of the platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.