Privacy Policy

Binder 93 (“we”, “us”) is a trading card game collection-tracking service (Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece and Digimon) run by Niall Baum, a sole trader based in the UK, trading as Binder 93. We are the “controller” of your personal data, which means we decide how it’s used and we’re responsible for looking after it.

This page explains what data we collect, why, who helps us handle it and how to control it. Questions or requests? Email support@binder93.com or use our contact form.

What we collect

• Account data: your email address and password (stored as a salted hash, never in plain text), plus the date and time you confirmed you’re 16 or over when you signed up.
• Sign in with Google: if you choose Continue with Google, you sign in on Google’s own page and Google tells us your email address, whether Google has confirmed it, and an ID number for your Google account, which is how we recognise you next time. We only ask Google for your email address: not your name, photo, contacts or anything else in your Google account. Google also gives us access keys for your Google account, which we throw away straight away, since we never use them. If your Google email matches an existing Binder 93 account that has confirmed its email, that account is used.
• Sign-in sessions: each time you sign in we keep a session record so you stay signed in, noting the browser and device it’s from and sometimes your IP address, to keep your account secure. A session is deleted when you sign out, and expires on its own after 90 days. To stop password guessing, we also count failed sign-ins against a one-way scrambled version of the email address used, for 15 minutes.
• Collection data: the cards, wishlist items, sealed products, and sold records you add, along with any notes, tags, prices and alerts you set. This is the core of the service. We also keep a few weekly backups of your cards and wishlist so they can be restored if something goes wrong.
• Photos you upload: condition photos you deliberately attach to a card for trading purposes are stored so they can be shown on your trade/showcase links.
• Card scan photos: a photo you take to identify a card or a sealed product is sent to our AI provider (Anthropic) to process and is not separately stored by us once the scan completes, unless you go on to attach it as a trade photo above. Reading a barcode happens on your device.
• AI features: when you use an AI tool (such as Ask, smart search or your Year in Review story), the details of the cards involved (names, sets, conditions, quantities and prices) are sent to Anthropic to produce the answer. If you’ve used the app in the last 30 days, once a week we also send it a summary of how your collection’s value changed (the total, the change and the cards that moved most) to write your weekly summary. We never send your email address, display name, notes or photos with these.
• Voice input: if you use the microphone button, speech is turned into text by your browser’s own speech recognition, which may send your audio to the browser’s maker to process (Google for Chrome, Apple for Safari). We only ever receive the resulting text, and never your audio.
• Push notifications: if you switch them on for a device, we store that device’s push address so we can send you price alerts, deals, set progress and a weekly summary. They’re delivered through your browser’s push service (for example Apple, Google or Mozilla), encrypted so that service can’t read them. Switch them off any time in Settings or your device settings.
• Share links and your public profile: if you switch on a trade binder, showcase or public profile link, anyone with that link can see what that page shows (cards marked for trade, your collection, or your card counts and the games you collect). Values only appear if you switch them on. You can turn each link off, or replace it with a new one, at any time in Settings.
• Display name and leaderboards: you can choose a display name. It stays private unless you join the leaderboards, where other signed-in collectors see your name, avatar, sets completed and Illustration Dex progress, plus a link to your public profile only if you choose to add one. We keep a history of the display names you’ve used, with dates, so a report about a name can still be looked into after it changes.
• Reports and moderation: if you report a collector or a shared page, we store your report (who or what you reported, the reason and any details you add) and who sent it: your account if you’re signed in, otherwise a one-way scrambled version of your IP address, used only to stop repeat reports. The person you report is never told who reported them. We also keep a record of the moderation actions we take, such as hiding an entry, removing a photo or notes (the record keeps the photo’s address and what the notes said) or suspending an account, so we can show how reports were handled.
• Price reports: if you report a card’s price as wrong, we store your report (the card, the price you were shown and where it came from, the reason, and any figure or note you add) with your account, so we can check the price and stop repeat reports. Only we see it, never other collectors.
• Messages and feedback: what you send through the contact or feedback forms or by email, the email address you give (or your account email if you’re signed in), any screenshot you attach (emailed to us, not stored in our database), your browser and device type, and a one-way scrambled version of your IP address used only to stop spam.
• Usage data: how many AI-powered scans/tools you’ve used, to enforce free/paid usage allowances, and which days you used the app, so we can see how many people use Binder 93 day to day.
• Collection imports: when you import a file from another app, it’s read on your device and only each card’s details (name, set, number and the like) are sent to us to find it in the card catalogue. Apart from the cards you choose to add, we keep a short record of each import: which app it came from, the file’s column names and how many rows were matched, so we can support more apps’ files.
• Pack opener: each time a pack is opened we count it towards that day’s totals (how many packs and cards, how many were hits, which set, and whether it was opened on the homepage, a pack opener page or in the app). Those totals aren’t linked to anyone. If you’re signed in, we also keep your own running totals: how many packs and cards you’ve opened, how many hits, when you first and last opened one, and your most valuable pull. They’re there so we can show you your own pack stats, are kept with your account and deleted with it.
• How you found us: when you create an account, we note where that visit came from: a tag in the link you followed (such as ?ref=reddit) or the name of the website that linked to us, otherwise nothing. We also note the first time you open the Upgrade page and the first time you start a checkout, which Plus features you tap to find out about (and how often), and, if you subscribe, which one led you there. Together with whether you went on to add cards or subscribe, this shows us which places we mention Binder 93 are worth our time and which features people value. It’s kept with your account, deleted with it, and nothing is stored on your device to do it.
• Site analytics: anonymous page-view and page-speed measurements (which page was viewed, the site you came from, your rough location by country, and your browser and device type), so we can see which pages people use and keep them fast. These don’t use cookies and aren’t linked to your account. Private share-link addresses are masked before they’re recorded.
• Payment data: if you subscribe to Binder 93 Plus, Paddle sells the subscription to you as our reseller and collects your payment details itself. We never see or store your card details. Paddle tells us your subscription status, plan and renewal dates, and the customer and subscription references we need to manage your plan. We also keep the start and end dates of your free Plus trial, so it’s only given once, and when you dismissed the notice that it had ended, so it isn’t shown again.
• Why you cancelled: if you cancel Plus, Settings asks once why, and you can choose not to say. Your answer (and anything you add in the optional note) is kept with your account to decide what to improve. Only we see it, never with your name or email beside it; it is never shared, and it is deleted with your account.

We don’t collect your precise location, your contacts, or anything from other apps on your device.

Why we use it, and our lawful bases

UK data protection law says we need a lawful reason for each use of your data. Ours are:

• To provide the service you signed up for (performance of a contract): your account, collection, backups, prices and alerts, scans and AI tools, share links you switch on, the leaderboards if you join, usage allowances, your Plus subscription, and emails about your account (confirming your email, password resets, subscription notices).
• To keep Binder 93 safe and working (our legitimate interests in running a secure, lawful service): sign-in session records, rate limits and scrambled IP addresses that stop abuse, name history, reports and moderation records, price reports, handling your messages, and making sure accounts belong to people aged 16 or over.
• To understand and improve Binder 93 (our legitimate interests): anonymous site analytics, which days the app is used, how you found us, import records, and pack opener totals, including your own so we can show you them. These use as little data as possible, are never used to advertise to you, and you can object to them (see Your rights).
• Because you’ve asked for it (consent): push notifications on a device. You can withdraw consent at any time by switching them off.
• Because the law requires it (legal obligation): keeping records of how we handled reports of illegal content under the Online Safety Act, and answering lawful requests from the police or regulators.

We don’t make decisions about you by purely automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects. AI answers and price estimates are suggestions to help you, nothing more.

Who we share it with

We use a small number of third-party services to run Binder 93. Each only receives what it needs to do its job, and may only use it to provide that service to us:

• MongoDB Atlas: hosts our database (your account and collection data), in Ireland.
• Vercel: hosts the app and runs its servers, stores uploaded trade photos, and provides our cookieless site analytics.
• Anthropic (Claude): processes card scan photos and the card details used by the AI features. Under its commercial terms, Anthropic doesn’t use what we send it to train its models.
• Resend: delivers our emails (email confirmation, password resets, subscription notices).
• Cloudflare: provides our domain’s DNS, forwards email sent to binder93.com addresses, and stores and serves the Pokémon card images the app shows, so it sees your device’s IP address when one loads.
• Proton: hosts the mailbox where your emails and contact-form messages to us arrive, in Switzerland.
• Google: only if you choose Continue with Google. You sign in on Google’s page, so Google knows you’ve signed in to Binder 93. Google is a controller of your Google account in its own right, and its privacy policy applies. You can remove Binder 93’s access in your Google Account settings at any time.
• Paddle: sells Binder 93 Plus as the merchant of record. For payments, tax and fraud checks Paddle is a controller in its own right, and its privacy notice applies.
• eBay, pokemontcg.io, Scryfall, YGOPRODeck, OPTCG API & TCGCSV (TCGplayer data): provide card catalog and pricing data; at most we send them card names or search terms, never your personal data. When a card in your collection or wishlist has no recent sales, we look up its current eBay UK listings (by card name, set and number only) to estimate its value. Links out to eBay UK may carry an eBay Partner Network tracking code (our account id and which part of the app the link was in), so eBay can credit us if you buy something. eBay reports clicks and sales to us as totals; it never tells us who you are or what you bought.

We never sell your data, and never share it for advertising purposes. We’d only share it with anyone else if the law requires it (for example a valid request from the police), to protect someone from serious harm, or if Binder 93 were ever sold, in which case we’d tell you first.

Where your data is stored

Our database is in Ireland, which the UK recognises as giving equivalent protection. Some of the services above (Vercel, Anthropic, Resend and Cloudflare) are based in, or process data in, the United States. Where that happens, the transfer is protected by the UK’s adequacy regulations for companies certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, or by the ICO’s International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses, which those companies include in their data processing terms. Proton is in Switzerland, which the UK also recognises as giving equivalent protection. Ask us if you’d like more detail.

Cookies and storage on your device

We use one essential session cookie to keep you signed in. The app also saves a few preferences on your device (such as sort order, hidden values, sound, recently viewed cards and which tips you’ve already seen) so they stick between visits. These stay on your device and aren’t sent to us. We don’t use advertising or third-party tracking cookies, and our site analytics don’t use cookies at all, so there’s nothing to accept or reject.

How long we keep it

• Your account and collection, including your Google sign-in link if you use one, photos, name history, push addresses and your pack opener totals: until you delete your account. If you don’t sign in for 2 years, we’ll email you, and delete the account 30 days later unless you sign in again (this never happens while you’re paying for Plus).
• Usage records (AI allowance counts and which days you used the app): 2 years.
• Import summaries: 1 year.
• Backups: the 8 most recent (about 2 months of weekly backups); older ones are deleted automatically.
• Sign-in sessions: until you sign out, or 90 days at most.
• Email confirmation and password reset links: they stop working after 24 hours and 1 hour.
• Feedback: 3 years, to help us improve Binder 93. If you delete your account, your email address and account are removed from it straight away. Emails and contact-form messages stay in our support mailbox for as long as we need them to help you.
• Price reports: 1 year, or until you delete your account, whichever comes first.
• Reports and moderation records: 3 years after a report is closed, as the record of how it was handled, which the Online Safety Act expects. If you delete your account, reports you sent are kept without anything identifying you.
• Payment records: Paddle keeps these for as long as tax law requires.

Deleting your account (available any time in Settings) permanently removes your collection data, uploaded photos, backups, usage history, display name and name history, and takes you off the leaderboards. This cannot be undone.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• See your data: ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct it: most of it you can edit yourself in the app; ask us about anything else.
• Delete it: delete your account yourself in Settings, or ask us to.
• Take it with you: download your collection as a CSV file in Settings, or ask us for your data in a machine-readable format.
• Object or restrict: object to the uses based on our legitimate interests, or ask us to pause using your data while a concern is sorted out.
• Withdraw consent: switch push notifications off at any time.

To use any of these, email support@binder93.com. We’ll reply within one month, and it’s free. We may need to check it’s really you first, usually by replying from your account email.

If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your data, please tell us so we can put it right. You can also complain to the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113.

Children

You must be 16 or over to create an account, and everyone confirms this when they sign up. We don’t knowingly collect data from children under 16. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 16, we’ll close it and delete its data. If you think a child has signed up, please let us know.

If you’re 16 or 17, the same protections apply to you as to everyone: your collection is private unless you choose to share it, nothing is shared for advertising, and you can delete everything whenever you like. If something on Binder 93 worries you, tell a parent, carer or another adult you trust, and report it to us.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how we use your data, we’ll also tell you by email or in the app before it takes effect.