Gift Genius

GiftGenius Privacy Policy

Effective date: 15 February 2023. Last updated: 3 November 2026.

This Privacy Policy explains how GiftGenius (“GiftGenius”, “we”, “us” or “our”) collects, uses and shares information when you visit https://www.giftgenius.io (the “Site”), including our gift guides and our AI gift finder (together, the “Services”). By using the Services, you acknowledge the practices described in this policy.

GiftGenius does not offer accounts, does not sell products, and does not ask for your name, email address, payment details or other contact information to use the Services.

1. Information We Collect

Information you enter into the gift finder

When you use the AI gift finder, we receive the details you choose to enter about the person you are shopping for, such as their relationship to you, the occasion, your budget, their age, their interests and any free-text notes. Please do not include names, contact details, health information or other sensitive personal information about yourself or anyone else in these fields. Your last search and its ideas are saved in your browser’s session storage for that tab, so they are still there if you go back to the page or reload it; we do not receive that saved copy. It is kept only for that tab’s browsing session (your browser may bring it back if it reopens a closed tab), and a saved search older than 24 hours is never shown again.

If you use the gift finder through an AI assistant connected to our MCP server (for example Claude or ChatGPT), the assistant sends us the same kinds of details on your behalf, and we handle them the same way. The assistant provider’s own privacy policy covers what you share with the assistant itself.

Information you enter into the Stocking Stuffer Planner

When you fill a stocking with the Stocking Stuffer Planner, we receive what you entered for that person: what you call them (a first name or a label such as “Mom”), their age, the stocking budget and any free-text details. Please use a first name or a label only, and leave out surnames, contact details, health information or other sensitive personal information. Your list of people and their stockings is saved in your own browser’s local storage so you can come back to it; we do not receive or keep that saved list, and “Start over” or clearing your browser data removes it.

Information collected automatically

  • Usage and device data. Pages you view, how far you scroll, links and buttons you click (including clicks on Amazon links), the referring page and campaign, approximate location derived from your IP address (country, region and city), browser type, operating system, device type and screen size, page load performance, technical error reports, and the date and time of your visit.
  • Gift finder usage. The options you choose in the gift finder (relationship, occasion, budget, an age range and any of our suggested interest tags), how many custom interests you added, whether you added notes, and how many suggestions came back. We do not include the text you type into the gift finder in this analytics data. For requests from AI assistants, we also record which tool was used, the name and version of the assistant app when it provides them, and whether the request succeeded.
  • Automated visitors. When a known AI crawler or assistant (such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot or PerplexityBot) requests a page, we record the crawler’s name, the page and the response status, to understand how AI services use the Site.
  • Identifiers. A randomly generated identifier stored in a cookie or your browser’s local storage, used to recognize repeat visits, and your IP address.
  • Server logs. Our hosting provider records technical information about each request (such as IP address, requested URL, user agent and response status) for security, abuse prevention and debugging.

2. How We Use Information

  • to provide the Services, including generating gift suggestions from your gift finder inputs;
  • to understand how the Site is used and to improve our content, guides and gift finder;
  • to measure clicks to Amazon and other retailers so we can track affiliate performance;
  • to protect the Services, for example by rate-limiting gift finder requests and detecting abuse; and
  • to comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.

We do not use your information to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you.

3. How We Share Information

We share information only with the service providers that help us operate the Services, and as described below:

  • Anthropic (AI provider). Gift finder inputs are sent to Anthropic’s Claude API solely to generate suggestions. Under Anthropic’s commercial terms, API inputs and outputs are not used to train its models.
  • PostHog (product analytics). Usage and device data, gift finder usage and the identifiers described above are processed by PostHog on our behalf to provide analytics.
  • Vercel (hosting). Our Site is hosted by Vercel, which processes server logs on our behalf.
  • Amazon. When you click a product or search link, you leave our Site and go to Amazon.com. Amazon receives the information your browser sends, along with our Associates tracking tag, and its own privacy notice governs what happens next.
  • Other retailers and affiliate networks. Some links may go to other retailers through an affiliate network such as Rakuten Advertising or Impact. The network and the retailer receive the information your browser sends, along with our partner identifier, and their own privacy notices govern what happens next.
  • Legal and business transfers. We may disclose information if required by law, to protect our rights or the safety of others, or in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of all or part of our business.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under California law.

4. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use a small number of first-party cookies and browser local storage entries for analytics (to count visits and recognize returning browsers) and to remember preferences such as light or dark mode and dismissed banners. We do not use advertising cookies on our Site.

When you click through to Amazon or another retailer, that retailer (and, for other retailers, its affiliate network) sets its own cookies so that purchases can be attributed to us. Those cookies are set on their domains and are governed by their cookie notices.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The Site will continue to work if you do.

5. Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track

If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we treat it as a request to opt out of analytics and do not load analytics tracking for that browser. Because there is no common standard for interpreting “Do Not Track” signals, we treat them the same way as GPC.

6. Affiliate Disclosure

GiftGenius is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. We may also earn a commission from other retailers’ affiliate programs when you buy through our links. None of this changes the price you pay or what we recommend.

7. Data Retention

We do not store gift finder or Stocking Stuffer Planner inputs in a database. They are processed to generate your suggestions and may appear in short-lived operational logs kept by us and our providers for security and debugging. Analytics data is kept for as long as it is useful for understanding trends, and no longer than 24 months, after which it is deleted or aggregated so it no longer identifies a browser or device.

8. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children’s Privacy

The Services are intended for adults shopping for gifts and are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

10. International Users

GiftGenius is operated from the United States, and our service providers may process information in the United States and other countries. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses, for these transfers.

11. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live (for example, California and other U.S. states with comprehensive privacy laws, the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom), you may have the right to:

  • know or access the personal information we hold about you;
  • correct inaccurate personal information;
  • delete your personal information;
  • opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (we do neither);
  • object to or restrict certain processing, and withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
  • lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

Because we do not collect names or contact details, we usually hold information only against a random browser identifier. To help us find it, include the approximate date and time of your visit in your request, or clear your browser’s cookies and local storage to disconnect future visits from past ones. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights. You may use an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf; we may ask the agent for proof of authorization.

Where the EU or UK GDPR applies, we process information on the basis of our legitimate interests in operating, securing and improving the Services, and to perform our agreement with you when you ask the gift finder for suggestions.

California Notice at Collection

In the preceding 12 months we have collected the following categories of personal information:

  • Identifiers, such as IP address and a random browser identifier;
  • Internet or other electronic network activity, such as pages viewed and links clicked on our Site;
  • Geolocation data, limited to approximate location inferred from IP address; and
  • Inferences and characteristics about gift recipients that you choose to enter into the gift finder (such as age or interests).

These categories are collected from you and your browser, used for the purposes in Section 2, disclosed only to the service providers in Section 3, and retained as described in Section 7. We do not collect sensitive personal information for the purpose of inferring characteristics about you.

12. Third-Party Sites

The Site links to sites we do not operate, most often Amazon.com. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites. Please review their privacy policies.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date above. If a change materially affects how we use personal information, we will give notice on the Site before it takes effect.

14. Contact Us

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, email privacy@giftgenius.io. California residents may include “California Privacy Request” in the subject line. We respond to verified requests within the time required by applicable law.