Who we are
We are app developers who love Christmas but hate how complicated and time-consuming it can be to get the right gifts of all those people we love. My Christmas Buddy was created as a way to help us (and you) to make Christmas easier this year and every year from now on!
My Christmas Buddy is created, supported and managed by MyBuzz Technologies Ltd who are experts at creating great mobile apps, web apps and quality software products.
Our app is available for free to download on the App Stores and our website address is: https://my-christmas-buddy.com
Why do we collect data and what do we use it for?
So that our app can work at all, it needs basic information about your device, network settings (so it can talk to our servers) and optionally to other service providers for the purpose of showing adverts and tracking user activity for security and performance reasons.
These are essential items that the app requires in order to work at all, and by agreeing to the Terms and Conditions, Data Use policy and Privacy Policy when you sign up, you are agreeing to let us access this information. Exactly what you’re signing up for will be made clear before you do. None of this will contain personal information.
During use of MyChristmasBuddy, you may choose to enter personal details about yourself, your friends, family and others. This is optional and your choice so that you can manage your own gift lists for those people.
All details entered into the app are securely stored on our servers and used only for the purposes we describe in the section below.
We NEVER ask for more information than we need to provide the experience you’d like, we NEVER share or sell this (or any other) information we store with third parties for marketing purposes, except to the advertising partners who are strictly bound by law and agreements.
Your Login and Account
To access the app, you can optionally create an account with us. For convenience, we offer the option to link your account to your Facebook, Google and for Apple devices, Apple Sign-In. You can also choose to use the app without creating an account as a Guest.
If you choose one of the social options (anything other than Guest access), we ask you to log into that account and provide access to our app. It clearly displays what information we are given access to before you confirm the login. We never request more access than absolutely necessary to create your account.
The information we use from connected Facebook, Google or Apple accounts is:
Your First Name, Your Last Name, Your Email Address, Your user profile URL.
These are used solely to create your account on our servers and never shared with anyone else.
Contacts List Usage
To make it easier to use the app, we provide a feature that allows you to optionally connect our app to your contacts list on your phone. This is used solely to import people’s names and email addresses to make it easier to set up a gift request and send it to them.
Before accessing the contacts, our app may request permissions to do so (depending on the device model and operating system version). In this case it gives you the ability to allow or block our app from accessing your contacts list. You can also choose NOT to use the contact lists feature without impacting the functionality of the app.
When showing the list of contacts from your phone contacts list, the list is stored in memory within the app for as long as the contact list is shown on-screen. Once the list screen is closed, all contact details except the one chosen is removed from memory. The contact list is not used by the app in any other way. Your contacts list is never uploaded to our servers or stored by the app.
If you choose a contact from your contacts list, the information captured and stored in your account is:
Person First Name, Personal Last Name, Person Email Address, Personal profile image URL (if available).
This is stored alongside the gift request within your profile on our servers and within the app for display purposes only and to improve your experience.
Notifications
You may be prompted to approve permission for MyChristmasBuddy to display notifications to you. These notifications allow our app to let you know when someone has sent a gift idea to you. We never use the notifications for any other purpose, and you can choose not to allow these without impacting the functionality of the app.
You can also check and approve or block access to notification for our app from your phone settings.
What we and our Partners Collect
We collect:
* Your name from your login account
* Your email address from your login account as a user name
* Your profile image URL from your login account
* Basic use of the app, including any crashes or errors
* Names of people you ask for gift requests
* Make, model and OS of your device
* Your IP address and country where the app is used
Temporarily, we may also access (but not store):
* Your contacts list (as described above)
Our advertising partners (Google):
* Previous search activity
* Your activity while you were signed in to Google
* Your previous interactions with ads
* Types of websites you visit
* Types of mobile app activity on your device
* Your activity on another device
* The time of day
* Info you gave to an advertiser, like if you signed up for a newsletter with your email address
How your data is used
We use your name within the app to personalise it for you, and in messages
when you send gift idea requests to others so they know who it’s from.
The information we store about those you send messages to is kept solely for that purpose so
you can manage these requests within the app. We never use this data for anything else.
If you opt into Analytics we collect details about your phone and use of the app to
monitor how the app is being used for security and performance purposes, to identify and fix errors
and to improve your experience of the app.
We do NOT use the data you provide for marketing purposes nor do we sell or share this data with third parties.
Our technology and advertising partners collect their own data from your device and use of the app (but not any of the data
you enter into the app itself). They act as Data Processors and are under strict terms related to how they can use it.
They will use the data they collect to personalize ads shown to you within the app. You can opt out of this personalisation of ads at any time within the Settings of your phone.To find out more, tap below to view the full Privacy Policy.
To find out more about what Google and our advertising partners collect and how they use your data, please see this link:
https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
What you can’t do
Advertising
To fund the development, support and running of the app, we show adverts at certain points. These adverts are provided through Google Admob. Google source adverts from partner companies who wish to advertise, but are filtered so as not to show anything that would not suit the audience this app is intended for. Without showing ads, we would not be able to provide the app to you.
The above section details exactly what information is collected by Google and shared with its partners in order to provide ads suitable to you.
On your phone is a special token called an IDFA (Advertising ID) which is used by advertisers to track what you’re interested in so that more interesting and appropriate ads can be shown to you. This is done automatically through the Ad provider (Google). If you’ve ever looked at a product online then seen the same item be advertised in a different app, that’s due to the IDFA token.
If you prefer not to see personalised adverts in the apps, you can turn off Advertising Tracking in the Settings app of your phone.
This won’t remove ads from the app, it’ll simply make them less relevant to you.
Apple:
*Settings > Privacy > Advertising > Limit Ad Tracking (turn this on)*
Contact and Feedback Forms
The app provides a convenient contact form through which you can contact us. This may be done via a form on our website but the same policies apply.
The information entered into this form is used to form an email which is sent to our customer care team, but is then immediately discarded from the app.
The information you provide will be kept in our email or help desk system for the duration of our contact with you. We will use this information in order to service your query, question or request which may include responses by email to you. Your personal details will never be used for marketing purposes, such as mailing lists unless you explicitly opt into doing so.
Who we share your data with
We treat your data with respect and will never share your details with any third parties except the advertising partners mentioned earlier.
For full details of those advertising partners and how they use your data, see this page:
https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
How long we retain your data
Once sign up to our app, your data will be stored indefinitely so you can come back at any time.
If you choose to, you can Delete your account using the option in the User Profile screen, which is available from the app menu.
This will delete all your requests, any ideas sent to you from those you send requests to, your account and all related information. This has also been provided as part of our compliance with the *right to be forgotten* requirements.
What rights you have over your data
Your data is yours and we will store it in order to provide the services of our app to you and those you interact with. At any time you can choose to delete your account which will remove your account and your personal data from our servers unless we are required to retain it to comply with government or legal authorities.
You can also make a direct request to us by email or in writing to erase your personal data and account, which we will action within 1 working day for you.
You also have the right to request a document showing what data we store about you. This is referred to as a Subject Access Request and must be done in writing by email or letter. All subject access requests will be responded to within 7 working days and may incur a small administration fee of £10 (or the equivalent in your country’s currency).
If you wish to have your data exported or removed, please contact our customer care team at: privacy@my-christmas-buddy.com who will be happy to assist.
Where we store your data
All data is currently stored on Google’s servers in UK data centres. If you are using the app in a different country, your data will be sent into the UK and stored in those servers.
Security and things to be aware of
Updates to the app
Product Support
Contact information
The data controller is:
Chris Pimlott
MyBuzz Technologies Ltd
Beehive Lofts
Beehive Mill
Manchester
M4 6JG
United Kingdom
If you would like to contact us, please do so in writing or by email to:
privacy@mybuzztechnologies.co.uk