Privacy Policy

1. Overview

PaperTrade Arena is a paper trading simulator and educational platform. This policy describes what information we collect, how we use it, and what choices you have.

We do not sell your personal data. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking networks.

2. Information We Collect

Account and Profile Data

When you create an account, we store:

• Email address (used for authentication)
• Display name and avatar URL (if provided)
• Account role and status
• Authentication provider identifier (e.g. Clerk user ID in Clerk mode)

Activity Data

We store data about your use of the platform, including:

• Simulated paper trades, orders, and portfolio positions
• Watchlist symbols
• Price alerts you have set
• Quiz results and lesson progress
• XP, levels, streaks, reward credits, and virtual wallet balances
• Community posts, comments, and reactions you have made
• User preferences (theme, chart settings, notification preferences)
• Subscription plan selection (demo/mock plan only; no real payment data)

Local Storage

PaperTrade Arena uses your browser's localStorage for:

• Theme preference fast-restore cache (prevents flash of unstyled content)
• Authentication session state in demo mode
• Short-lived UI state (selected tabs, filters)

localStorage data stays on your device. It is not transmitted to our servers separately.

Diagnostic and Error Data (Optional)

If the Sentry error monitoring integration is enabled (requires SENTRY_DSN to be configured), anonymized error reports and stack traces may be sent to Sentry when application errors occur. This is used solely for diagnosing software bugs.

Sentry is not enabled in all deployment environments. Check your deployment's configuration for details.

3. Authentication Modes

Demo Mode

In demo mode (AUTH_MODE=demo), a single shared demo user (ani@xyz.com / demo123) is used. No real personal data is collected. All data belongs to the demo user account.

Clerk Mode

When AUTH_MODE=clerk is enabled, authentication is handled by Clerk (clerk.com), a third-party identity provider. Clerk processes your sign-up/sign-in and issues a JWT. PaperTrade Arena stores a mapping of your Clerk user ID to an internal user record.

Clerk's own privacy policy governs how Clerk handles your authentication data. Review Clerk's privacy policy at clerk.com/privacy.

4. Payment and Billing Data

No payment card data is collected or stored. PaperTrade Arena does not have a live payment processor integrated at this time. Paddle has been selected as the future billing provider but is not yet active. The checkout flow is a demonstration only. No real financial transactions occur, and no card numbers, bank account details, or payment credentials are collected in any form.

5. Cookies and Tracking

PaperTrade Arena does not use advertising cookies, analytics tracking cookies, or third-party tracking pixels. We do not use Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, or similar services.

Authentication in Clerk mode may use session cookies issued by Clerk for your sign-in session. These are functional cookies required for the service to operate.

6. How We Use Your Data

We use the data we collect solely to:

• Provide and operate the paper trading simulation platform
• Store your trading history, portfolio, and preferences
• Award XP, track levels, and calculate streaks
• Display community posts and activity
• Diagnose software errors (if Sentry is enabled)

We do not use your data to train AI models, sell to third parties, or for advertising.

7. Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing or commercial purposes.

Data may be shared with:

• Clerk — authentication provider (Clerk mode only)
• Sentry — error monitoring (if enabled; error/diagnostic data only)
• Neon / database hosting provider — your data is stored in a hosted database in production
• Law enforcement — if required by valid legal process

8. Data Retention

Account and activity data is retained for as long as your account is active. In demo mode, data persists for the life of the demo deployment.

We do not have automated data expiration in the current version.

9. Data Deletion and Export

You can download a CSV export of your own wallet, XP/progression, trading summary, badges, and community activity at any time from Settings → Account.

You can self-serve delete your account at any time from Settings → Account (available when signed in with a real account). This anonymizes personally identifying information on your account (email, display name, avatar) and deactivates it immediately; you are signed out and can no longer sign back in. Underlying activity data (trades, posts, badges) is retained in de-identified form rather than hard-deleted, to preserve the integrity of shared content (such as community threads) other users may still be viewing.

Demo-mode accounts cannot be self-deleted, since demo mode uses a single shared demo identity. To request deletion in demo mode, or to request full hard deletion beyond anonymization, please contact us using the Help or feedback features within the platform.

10. Security

We implement reasonable technical measures to protect data, including HTTPS/TLS transport encryption, security headers, rate limiting, and CORS controls.

Data is not encrypted at rest in the current version. We do not guarantee perfect security and are not liable for unauthorized access beyond our reasonable control.

11. Children's Privacy

PaperTrade Arena requires users to be at least 13 years old. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a child under 13, please contact us for deletion.

Formal COPPA compliance review is required before public production launch if users under 13 might access the platform.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy as the platform evolves. Significant changes will be communicated within the platform. Continued use after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

13. Contact

For privacy questions or data deletion requests, please use the Help Center or feedback features within the platform.