Privacy, plainly

Hollyhush is built to know as little about you as possible. Here is everything it stores, and what it doesn't.

What we store

• The draw: the title, names the organiser typed, budget, dates, optional message, theme and exclusion rules.
• The result: who draws whom. Only each person can see their own giftee. The organiser can't see the result unless they choose "I'm also organising, show me everything".
• Wishlists and questions: items people add, and the anonymous questions and replies between a giver and their giftee.
• White elephant games: player names and the moves in the game.

What we don't store

• No email addresses. No phone numbers. No accounts or passwords.
• No IP addresses. To rate-limit abuse we compute a salted one-way hash of your IP that changes every day, and keep only the counter for up to a day.
• No advertising or tracking cookies, no third-party analytics, no fingerprinting.

Cookies and analytics

When you first open a private link, Hollyhush sets one functional cookie that locks that link to your device, so someone who obtains your link can't read it. It holds a random value and nothing about you. It expires after 120 days and is never used for tracking.

We count anonymous events (for example "a draw was created" or "a reveal was opened") in our own database, with the event name, the page path with private tokens removed, and the day. They carry no identifier and can't be tied to you.

How long we keep things

A draw, including its names, results, wishlists and messages, is deleted automatically 60 days after the exchange date. The organiser can delete it earlier at any time from their dashboard, which removes it for everyone immediately. White elephant games without a draw are deleted after 30 days.

How private links work

Each person's link contains a long random code (130 bits) derived with a secret key that is not stored in the database. Guessing one is not feasible. Links are never indexed by search engines and are served with a no-referrer policy. If you share your link, whoever opens it first claims it, and you'll see a warning if you get locked out.

Affiliate disclosure

As an Amazon Associate Hollyhush earns from qualifying purchases. Gift links are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

Gift suggestion links go to online shops. When they include our affiliate tag and you make a qualifying purchase, we may earn a small commission. This never changes the price you pay and never influences who draws whom. Links are marked rel="sponsored nofollow". Suggestions are curated by us and prices shown are typical, not guaranteed.

Your rights

Because we hold no personal identifiers beyond the names organisers type, the simplest way to remove data is to delete the draw from the organiser dashboard. If you were named in a draw and want it gone, ask the organiser, who can delete it in one tap.

Last updated 4 October 2026.