Privacy Policy

🎅 Your privacy matters to Santa! This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, protect, and share information when you use nicelist.net.

1. 🎁 Information We Collect

Information You Provide Directly

When you submit a child to Santa's Nice List, we collect:

• Child's First Name: Only first names—we never ask for last names to protect privacy
• Age: To ensure appropriate content and celebrations
• Location: Country, region (state/province), and city—we use city-level coordinates only, never exact addresses
• Nice Deed: Optional description of why they're on the nice list (up to 100 characters)
• Parent Email: For confirmation emails, certificate delivery, and important updates—never displayed publicly

For premium purchases, we also collect:

• Payment information (processed securely by Stripe—we never store credit card numbers)
• Billing name and address (required by payment processor)

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we automatically collect:

• IP Address: Used for abuse prevention and security (not displayed publicly)
• Browser & Device Info: Browser type, operating system, device type for compatibility and security
• Usage Data: Pages viewed, time spent, clicks, and interactions to improve our service
• Cookies: Small data files to remember your preferences and maintain sessions

Information from Third Parties

We may receive information from:

• Payment Processors: Stripe provides transaction status and payment confirmation
• Email Services: Delivery status for emails we send
• Analytics Services: Aggregated usage statistics (no personally identifiable information)

2. 🔒 How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Operate the Nice List: Display approved submissions on our public list and interactive globe
• Send Confirmations: Email you when submissions are approved, rejected, or require review
• Generate Certificates & Letters: Create personalized content for free and premium features
• Process Payments: Handle premium purchases securely through Stripe
• Prevent Abuse: Track IP addresses to prevent spam, duplicate submissions, and malicious activity
• Moderate Content: Review submissions to ensure appropriate, family-friendly content
• Improve Our Service: Analyze usage patterns to make the website better
• Communicate Updates: Send important service announcements (rarely—we're not spammers!)
• Comply with Law: Respond to legal requests and prevent fraud

3. 🌍 What Information Is Public

When your submission is approved, the following information becomes publicly visible on nicelist.net:

• Child's first name
• Age
• City, region (state/province), and country
• City-level coordinates (approximate location for the globe—not precise enough to identify specific addresses)
• Nice deed description (if provided)
• Submission date

The following information is NEVER displayed publicly:

• Parent email address
• Last names (we never collect them)
• Exact home addresses (we never collect them)
• IP addresses
• Payment information

4. 🎄 How We Share Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share information only in these limited circumstances:

With Service Providers

• Stripe: Payment processing for premium features (subject to Stripe's privacy policy)
• Email Services: Sending confirmation and notification emails
• Hosting Provider: Storing data and serving the website
• Analytics Tools: Understanding website usage (aggregated, anonymized data)

All service providers are bound by confidentiality obligations and may only use your information to provide services to us.

For Legal Reasons

We may disclose information if required by law or if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to:

• Comply with legal obligations, court orders, or government requests
• Protect the rights, property, or safety of nicelist.net, our users, or the public
• Detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues
• Enforce our Terms of Service

Business Transfers

If nicelist.net is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred. We'll notify you via email and/or a prominent notice on our website before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

5. 🍪 Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Remember your preferences and settings
• Keep you logged in (if you create an account)
• Understand how you use our website
• Prevent fraud and abuse
• Display the website correctly

You can control cookies through your browser settings. However, disabling cookies may affect your ability to use certain features of our website. Santa's elves use cookies too—chocolate chip, not tracking ones! 🍪

6. 🛡️ How We Protect Your Information

Security is important to us! We implement reasonable security measures to protect your information, including:

• Encryption of data in transit (HTTPS/SSL)
• Secure password hashing
• Regular security assessments
• Access controls limiting who can view your data
• Secure payment processing through PCI-compliant Stripe

However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. (Even Santa's workshop has security measures—those toys are valuable!)

7. 👶 Children's Privacy

Our service is designed for children but operated by adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13.

• Submissions must be made by a parent, guardian, or responsible adult (18+)
• We collect only minimal information about children (first name, age, city)
• Parents/guardians provide the email address, not children
• We comply with COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act)

If we discover we've collected information directly from a child under 13 without parental consent, we'll delete it immediately. If you believe this has happened, please contact us at support@nicelist.net.

8. 🌎 International Data Transfers

Santa operates worldwide, and so do we! Your information may be transferred to and stored on servers located outside your country of residence. By using our service, you consent to this transfer. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable laws.

9. ✅ Your Rights & Choices

Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your information:

Access & Correction

You can request access to or correction of your information by contacting us. We'll respond within 30 days.

Deletion

You can request deletion of a submission by:

• Clicking the delete button on your submission (if you created an account)
• Emailing us at support@nicelist.net with the certificate token or child's details

Note: We may retain certain information for legal obligations or legitimate business purposes (fraud prevention, analytics).

Email Preferences

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any email. We'll still send transactional emails (submission confirmations, certificate links) as these are necessary for the service.

GDPR Rights (EU Residents)

If you're in the European Union, you have additional rights under GDPR:

• Right to access your personal data
• Right to rectification of inaccurate data
• Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
• Right to restrict processing
• Right to data portability
• Right to object to processing
• Right to withdraw consent
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

CCPA Rights (California Residents)

If you're a California resident, you have rights under CCPA:

• Right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, and sell
• Right to delete personal information (with certain exceptions)
• Right to opt-out of sale of personal information (we don't sell your information!)
• Right to non-discrimination for exercising your rights

10. 📝 Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as necessary to provide the service and fulfill the purposes described in this policy:

• Active Submissions: Retained indefinitely while approved and displayed on the Nice List
• Deleted Submissions: Removed from public display immediately; may be retained in backups for up to 90 days
• Email Addresses: Retained as long as the submission is active; deleted when submission is deleted
• Payment Information: Retained for 7 years for tax and legal compliance
• IP Addresses: Retained for 90 days for abuse prevention
• Analytics Data: Aggregated data retained indefinitely (no personal identifiers)

11. 🔄 Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make significant changes, we'll:

• Update the "Last Updated" date at the bottom of this page
• Post a notice on our website
• Send an email to users with submissions (for material changes)

Your continued use of the service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. We encourage you to review this policy periodically—Santa checks his list twice, and you should check our policy at least once!

12. 🌟 Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites (like social media platforms). We're not responsible for the privacy practices of these sites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any information. Even Santa can't control what happens at other websites!

13. 📧 Contact Us

Questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your information?

Email: support@nicelist.net

We'll respond to all inquiries within 30 days. For data subject access requests, we may need to verify your identity to protect your privacy (we can't just hand out information to anyone claiming to be you—that would defeat the purpose!).

Last Updated: December 9, 2025