✦ Privacy

Privacy and company details

Festive Countdown has no accounts, no adverts and no cookies. We never ask for names or anything about your children. The only personal detail we ever ask for is an email address, and only if you choose to join our list. Last updated 4 November 2026.

What stays on your device

A few small notes are saved in your browser's own storage so the site works the way you'd expect. They never leave your device, and clearing your browser's site data removes them.

• Whether you've already seen the frosty welcome, so it isn't shown every visit.
• Which Advent doors you've marked “We did it”, so your village lanterns stay lit.
• Your choice about visitor counting (below).
• The first and most recent day you visited, used only to count return visits (below).

The “Our Christmas” picture you can make once every lantern is lit is drawn by your own browser. Nothing in it, including any family name you add, is uploaded or saved.

What we count

We use Vercel Web Analytics to count visits anonymously: which pages are viewed, how often Advent doors are opened, “We did it” taps, use of the week-ahead planner, how often the Christmas picture is shared or saved, how many people sign up for next Christmas (never who), and whether visitors come back on another day. It uses no cookies and collects no personal information; Vercel recognises a visit for one day only, without storing anything that identifies you. We use these counts only to see what's working and improve the site.

Switching counting off stops everything above from being sent from this browser, including page views, and deletes the visit dates kept on your device.

If you join the email list

Joining is optional and only for grown-ups (18 or over). Here is exactly what happens:

• We send one email asking you to confirm. Nothing is added to the list unless you tap the button in it, and the link stops working after 7 days. Until you confirm, your address isn't added to anything; the only trace is our email provider's record of sending that one email (below).
• Once you confirm, we keep your email address and when you joined, and use them only to email you about Festive Countdown: when next year's village opens, what's new, and the Family Edition, our paid version. We do this because you asked us to (your consent).
• Every email has an unsubscribe link, or you can email us. If you unsubscribe, we keep a note of your address marked “unsubscribed” so you're never emailed again. Ask us and we'll delete it completely.
• We never sell or share your address, and we never ask for your name or anything about your children.

The emails are sent, and the list is kept, by our email provider Resend, Inc. in the United States. Resend is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension, which UK law recognises as protecting personal data sent there. Resend keeps records of the emails it sends for up to 30 days.

To stop the sign-up form being misused, it checks how often your network address and email address have been used recently. Neither is stored: both are only held for a short time in the server's memory, the email address in scrambled form.

Hosting

The site is hosted by Vercel. Like any web host, Vercel's servers briefly process technical details such as IP addresses to deliver pages and keep the service secure.

Who runs Festive Countdown

Questions and complaints

Email us at richard@irisfutures.com with any question about your data. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.