Keep the good stuff private.

Last updated October 23, 2026

HolidayDraw uses your information to run your gift exchange and deliver the right name to the right inbox.

What we keep

We store organizer account details, group settings, participant names and email addresses, draw assignments, and email sending records. Passwords are hashed by our authentication library. Group contents and assignments and gift-form contents are encrypted in the database.

Who sees the draw

Each participant receives only their assigned person’s name, the group details, and the organizer’s display name. Other participants’ email addresses are not included. The organizer can request a master list revealing every assignment, sent only to the organizer’s verified email.

Private gift forms

Each draw email contains a personal link to edit your gift suggestions, interests, sizes, and product links without an account. Anyone with that link can access your form and your assigned recipient’s wishes, so keep it private. Your submitted wishes and updates are emailed only to the person who drew you. Their identity is kept secret. Product links are supplied by participants and open third-party websites.

Saved and one-time groups

Saved groups remain in the organizer’s account so the original names can be resent. One-time groups and their gift forms expire 90 days after creation or 30 days after the exchange date, whichever is later, and are removed by our daily cleanup. Unfinished groups save automatically to a signed-in organizer’s account, including partially entered names, emails, and pairs. Draft contents are encrypted in the database. A browser copy helps recover interrupted work. Without an account, drafts stay only in this browser’s local storage. Browser copies expire after 30 days without opening or editing that draft and are removed the next time you open the draw builder. Creating the draw or clearing site storage removes them sooner. This does not delete saved account drafts or completed groups. Verification codes expire after 10 minutes.

Cookies and browser storage

We use cookies and browser storage to keep you signed in, verify guest access, recover your work, and let you return to support conversations. These are used for the features you request, not advertising or cross-site tracking.

• Account sign-in: a secure, HttpOnly session cookie keeps you signed in for up to 30 days and may renew while you use your account. Signing out removes the sign-in cookie.
• Guest draw access: the HttpOnly guest cookie lasts 24 hours after email verification and authorizes your one-time draw.
• Guest support access: an HttpOnly cookie remembers your support requests for 30 days from your last use of Support. Visiting other pages does not extend it. Expiry removes the browser shortcut, not the conversations; your private return links still work.
• Draft recovery: local storage holds unfinished group details, including names, email addresses, and pairs, for 30 days without use. It stays on this browser; signed-in drafts also save to your account. Cleanup runs when the draw builder opens, so expired copies can remain on a device while the site is closed.

Older browser drafts without an expiry get a full 30-day period when first encountered by this update. Previously issued support cookies could last one year; using Support updates them to the shorter period. You can remove either immediately in your browser’s site-data settings.

HttpOnly means page scripts cannot read the cookie. Drafts in local storage are not protected that way: avoid saving sensitive information on a shared device. Clearing site data signs you out and removes guest access and browser-only drafts. Save private support links first. Your saved account groups remain available when you sign in again. Blocking all cookies can prevent sign-in and guest features from working.

In-app support

Support requests and replies stay inside HolidayDraw and are visible to the requester and authorized support staff. Request details and messages are encrypted in the database. Signed-in requests belong to your account. Guest requests use a private browser cookie and a private return link; anyone with that link can read and reply to that conversation. Keep it private. Clearing this site’s storage removes the browser shortcut, as does the cookie expiring after 30 days without using Support, so save the link if you need to return. We do not email support conversations.

Email and service providers

Vercel hosts this website. Our configured PostgreSQL database stores account and group records. Resend processes email addresses and message contents to deliver emails. Participant messages include a link to create a new draw; receiving a draw does not subscribe anyone to marketing emails.

Website analytics

When optional analytics is available, it starts only after you choose Accept optional. Reject optional keeps it off. You can use Analytics preferences at the bottom of any page to change your choice or stop future collection. Your choice is stored in this browser for 180 days; it contains only your choice and its expiry, with no personal identifier. Clearing site data removes it. If browser storage is unavailable, or your browser sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, we do not start analytics.

With your permission, Vercel Web Analytics counts page views on our homepage, privacy page, and three gift-exchange guides. We exclude the draw builder, signup, sign-in, account groups, gift forms, support, password recovery, and all other pages. Query strings, URL fragments, participant names, email addresses, group identifiers, private-link tokens, wishes, and assignments are not included in analytics events. We do not record custom events, replay sessions, use advertising pixels, or attach account identities or profiles to analytics.

Vercel receives the clean public page address, event time, and analytics software version. It processes ordinary network request information to derive approximate location, device type, browser, and operating system. Vercel uses a request-based hash to estimate visitors; that visitor identifier lasts up to 24 hours. We do not enable analytics cookies. Requests use this website’s address, so your browser can also send existing site cookies with them; we do not put those cookies into analytics events or use them to identify you in analytics. These estimates are not unique people across days, registered organizers, or completed exchanges.

To avoid forwarding private referral links, we also skip collection when a page has a referrer, or when optional identity or feature-flag data is present. These safeguards, your privacy choices, and content blockers mean analytics will undercount visits. Withdrawing permission stops future collection; it does not remove counts already aggregated.

Help with your information

If you received an unexpected draw, contact the organizer who invited you. Do not forward a master list or another person’s private draw. You can clear browser copies by clearing this site’s storage. Closing a tab does not erase a draft. Account drafts remain available in My groups.

For help or a request about your information, open a private support request.