privacy

the short version

• A birthday site is unlisted: it isn't in search engines, but anyone with its link can see every card that's showing.
• Friends don't make accounts. A card is a name, a message and whatever photos, doodles or video the friend adds.
• No ads, no ad trackers, and we never sell personal information.
• Delete a card or a site and it's gone from the site at once; the rest of our copies follow within the times below.

what we collect

From hosts

Your sign-in details (your email address, and your name if you give it), handled by our sign-in provider. What you put on the site: the birthday person's name, pronouns, birthday, timezone and age if you add it, their photos, and the site's look and address. For paid sites, a record of each order: the plan, the amount, the date and Stripe's reference numbers. Stripe handles the card itself; we never see the number.

From friends leaving a card

The card: the name you sign with, your message, and any doodles, photos, video or selfie you add. Your browser also keeps a private key that proves the card is yours, so you can edit it later; we store only a scrambled fingerprint of that key, never the key itself.

From everyone

Like every website, our servers see your IP address and browser type with each request. We use the IP address in memory to slow down spam and abuse. When you report a card, we store a scrambled, keyed fingerprint of your IP address so one person can't report the same card twice; the address itself isn't stored. Our hosting provider keeps short-lived server logs.

About the birthday person

Whatever the host and friends put on the site. If you're the birthday person and want something removed, ask the host or email us.

cookies and your device

Birthday sites set no cookies for friends. A few things live only in your own browser: an unsent card draft, the private key for your card, your island and festival progress, and whether you muted the music. On the main site, signing in uses our sign-in provider's cookies, and previewing a site uses one small cookie that remembers which site you're previewing. We don't use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

how we use it

• to run each birthday site and show its cards to the people with its link;
• to let hosts sign in, set up and moderate their sites, and to process their payments;
• to keep Birthdayland safe: limiting spam, handling reports, removing content that breaks the terms, and answering lawful requests;
• to email hosts about their site or purchase (not marketing, unless you ask for it).

We don't sell personal information, share it for advertising, or use your cards or photos to train AI models.

who can see what

Anyone with a birthday site's link can see every card that's showing on it, along with the birthday person's name and photos. The host can also see cards that are hidden. Photos and videos are stored at long, random addresses that can't be guessed, but anyone who has a file's exact address can open it. A small number of people who run Birthdayland can see what's needed to keep it working and to review reports.

who processes it for us

• Vercel: hosting, and storage for photos, doodles and video;
• Neon: our database (sites, cards, orders);
• Clerk: sign-in for hosts;
• Stripe: payments.

Each of them handles data only to provide their service to us. Our servers and data are in the United States.

how long we keep it

• Sketch: takes cards until 30 days after the birthday, then turns read-only. The free plan doesn't promise to keep a site forever: before we ever remove a read-only free site we email its host first, with time to download what's on it or upgrade.
• Party: takes cards until one year after the birthday, then stays up read-only as an archive. We keep it until the host deletes it.
• Milestone: takes cards until 2 years after the birthday, then stays up read-only as an archive. We keep it until the host deletes it.

• A card deleted by its friend or the host leaves the site at once, with its photos and video. Copies people already downloaded, or that a browser saved, are outside our reach.
• A deleted site can be restored for 30 days; then we remove it, its cards and its files.
• Backups of our database are kept for 30 days, so a deleted thing can linger there that long.
• Reports are kept while they're open and for a year after, so repeat problems can be spotted.
• Order records are kept as long as tax and accounting law requires.

your choices

You can edit or delete your own card from the device you made it on, ask the host to remove it, or ask us at k.bowen.liu@gmail.com. The one exception: while we're reviewing a card after a report, it stays exactly as it is, hidden, until we decide. Hosts can change or delete their site from their dashboard. You can ask us for a copy of what we hold about you, to correct it, or to delete it; we'll answer within 30 days. Depending on where you live (for example California, the UK or the EU) you may have further rights, and you can complain to your local data protection authority.

children

Birthdayland is for people 13 and older. We ask everyone's age before they make a site or leave a card, and we don't knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you think a child under 13 has left a card or made a site, email k.bowen.liu@gmail.com and we'll delete it.

keeping it safe

Everything travels over HTTPS. Card keys and reporter fingerprints are stored scrambled, payment details stay with Stripe, and only the people who run Birthdayland can reach the database. No system is perfect: if something goes wrong that affects your information, we'll tell you.

changes and contact

If we change this notice in a way that matters, we'll say so here and email hosts first. Questions, requests or worries: k.bowen.liu@gmail.com.