Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Gift Ideas App collects information to provide you with a personalized gift-giving experience. We collect information you provide directly and some information automatically when you use the app.

Information You Provide:

• Account Information: Name, email address, username, phone number (optional), birthday, country, and profile photo
• Profile Details: Your interests, preferences, and important dates you want to remember
• Wishlist Data: Items you add to your wishlist including names, links, and descriptions
• Friend Connections: Information about friends you add, including their names, birthdays, and events
• Celebration Information: Details about celebrations you create or join, including participant names, dates, budgets, and event types
• Communications: Messages and information you share when sending friend requests or celebration invites

Information Collected Automatically:

• Device Information: Device type, operating system, app version, and device identifiers
• Usage Data: How you interact with the app, features you use, and time spent in the app
• Location Data: Country/region based on your device settings (not precise location)
• Log Data: Error logs and performance data to help us fix issues and improve the app

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to provide, maintain, and improve Gift Ideas App:

• Provide Core Features: Enable you to create profiles, manage wishlists, organize celebrations, and connect with friends
• Facilitate Connections: Help you find friends by username, send and receive friend requests, and share celebrations
• Send Notifications: Deliver reminders about upcoming birthdays, celebrations, and friend requests (only if you opt in)
• Personalize Experience: Surface relevant gift ideas based on your interests and friend preferences
• Process Reservations: Track which gifts are reserved or purchased to coordinate group gifting
• Improve the App: Analyze usage patterns, fix bugs, develop new features, and enhance performance
• Communicate with You: Send important updates about the app, respond to your questions, and provide customer support
• Ensure Security: Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents
• Comply with Laws: Meet legal obligations and enforce our terms of service

3. How We Share Your Information

Your privacy is important to us. We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We share information only in the following circumstances:

With Other Users:

• Friends: When you connect with someone, they can see your profile information, wishlist, birthdays, and celebrations you share
• Celebration Participants: Information you share within a celebration (like your name and wishlist) is visible to other participants
• Public Profile: Your username and display name are searchable by other users to help friends find you

With Service Providers:

• Cloud Services: We use Firebase (Google) for authentication, database, storage, and analytics
• Hosting: We use cloud hosting services to store and process data securely
• Analytics: We use analytics tools to understand how the app is used and improve it

For Legal Reasons:

• To comply with applicable laws, regulations, or legal processes
• To protect the rights, property, and safety of Gift Ideas App, our users, and the public
• In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (with notice to users)

4. Your Privacy Controls

You have control over your information:

• Profile Settings: Update your name, email, phone number, birthday, interests, and other profile details anytime
• Wishlist Privacy: Only accepted friends can view your wishlist
• Friend Management: Accept, decline, or remove friend connections at any time
• Celebration Control: Leave celebrations or delete celebrations you created
• Notifications: Control what notifications you receive in app settings
• Account Deletion: Request deletion of your account, which will be completed after a 30-day recovery period

5. Data Storage and Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information:

• Encryption: Data is encrypted in transit using HTTPS/TLS and at rest in our databases
• Authentication: Secure authentication through Firebase with support for email, Google, Apple, and Facebook sign-in
• Access Controls: Strict access controls ensure only authorized personnel can access user data
• Regular Audits: We regularly review our security practices and update them as needed
• Data Backups: Your data is regularly backed up to prevent loss

While we strive to protect your information, no method of transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security but continuously work to maintain the security of your data.

6. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as necessary to provide our services:

• Active Accounts: Information is retained while your account is active
• Deleted Accounts: After deletion request, you have 30 days to recover your account. After this period, your data is permanently deleted
• Legal Requirements: Some data may be retained longer if required by law or to resolve disputes
• Anonymized Data: We may retain anonymized usage data for analytics and improvement purposes

7. Children's Privacy

Gift Ideas App is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@giftideasapp.com, and we will take steps to delete such information.

8. International Data Transfers

Gift Ideas App uses cloud services that may store data in multiple countries. By using the app, you consent to the transfer of your information to countries outside your country of residence, which may have different data protection laws. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information regardless of where it is processed.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for legal, operational, or regulatory reasons. We will notify you of any material changes by:

• Updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this policy
• Providing an in-app notification for significant changes
• Sending an email to the address associated with your account

Your continued use of Gift Ideas App after changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy.

10. Your Legal Rights

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

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information (right to be forgotten)
• Portability: Request a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Objection: Object to processing of your personal information in certain circumstances
• Restriction: Request restriction of processing your personal information

To exercise these rights, please contact us at privacy@giftideasapp.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

11. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@giftideasapp.com

Subject Line: Privacy Inquiry - Gift Ideas App

We will do our best to respond to your inquiry within 48 hours.