Privacy Policy
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Personalized gifts come with personal details: your bestie’s name, the date you met, the street where Grandma lives. We need some of that information to make and deliver your order, and we take looking after it seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what Yay Bestie collects when you visit yaybestie.com or buy from us, why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to the website, our emails and our customer support.
Yay Bestie, 6230 Belmont Trail Ct, San Diego, CA 92130, United States, is responsible for the personal information described here. You can reach us about anything privacy-related at support@yaybestie.com.
Privacy in plain English
- We collect what we need to take your order, make your gift, ship it and help you: contact details, addresses, the personalization you type and order history.
- Card and wallet details are handled by the payment provider at checkout, never stored on our site.
- We do not sell your personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
- We use essential cookies to run the cart and checkout. We do not currently use advertising or analytics cookies.
- You can ask to see, correct, download or delete your information at any time by emailing us.
1. Information you give us
Most of what we hold, you typed in yourself:
- Order details: your name, email address, billing address and, if different, the shipping name and address. If you ship a gift to someone else, that includes their name and address too.
- Personalization: the names, dates, messages, pet names, nicknames and design choices you enter so we can make your item. Sometimes this reveals something personal, like a memorial date or a relationship. We use it only to make, check and support your order.
- Account details: if you create an account, your email, a password (stored in hashed form, never readable by us) and any saved addresses.
- Messages to us: what you write in emails and support tickets, plus any photos you send, such as a picture of a parcel that arrived damaged.
- Phone number: only if you choose to give one at checkout, so the carrier can contact the recipient about delivery.
Please only give us details about other people, such as a gift recipient, when you have a reasonable expectation that they would be happy for you to do so, which is normally the case when you are sending them a present.
2. Information collected automatically
When you browse the site, some technical information is created automatically:
- Device and connection data: your IP address, browser type, device type, operating system and the pages you request, recorded in standard server and security logs.
- Cart and session data: what is in your cart and where you are in checkout, kept in a session so your cart does not empty itself between pages.
- Security signals: our content delivery and security provider looks at request patterns to block attacks and abusive bots before they reach the site.
We do not currently run third-party analytics, advertising pixels or session-recording tools on yaybestie.com. If that changes, we will update this policy first and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent before those tools load.
3. Cookies and similar technologies
A cookie is a small text file your browser stores for a website. We use only cookies that are needed for the shop to work:
| Cookie (or prefix) | Set by | Purpose | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| woocommerce_cart_hash, woocommerce_items_in_cart | Our store software | Remembers that your cart has items and keeps it in sync | Your browsing session |
| wp_woocommerce_session_* | Our store software | Links your browser to your cart and checkout progress | Up to 2 days |
| wordpress_logged_in_*, wordpress_sec_* | Our site software | Keeps you signed in if you use an account | Session, or up to 14 days if you tick “remember me” |
| Security cookies from our content delivery provider | Cloudflare | Tells genuine visitors apart from malicious traffic | Short-lived, usually up to 30 minutes |
Because these cookies are essential, the site cannot work properly without them. You can still block or delete cookies in your browser settings; you will be able to read the site, but the cart and checkout may not work.
4. How we use your information
We use personal information only for purposes that make sense for a gift shop:
- to take payment, make your personalized item and ship it to the address you chose;
- to send transactional emails such as order confirmations, shipping notices, refund confirmations and replies to your questions;
- to handle returns, exchanges, damage claims and carrier investigations;
- to keep the site secure, prevent fraud and fix technical problems;
- to keep records we must keep for accounting, tax and legal reasons;
- to improve our products and pages using what customers tell us, for example adding a size people keep asking for.
We do not send marketing emails today. If we start a newsletter, it will be strictly opt-in, every email will include an unsubscribe link, and signing up will never be a condition of buying.
5. Legal bases (for visitors where these apply)
Where privacy laws require a legal basis for using personal information, we rely on: performance of a contract when we process your order; legal obligation when we keep records for tax and accounting; legitimate interests when we protect the site, prevent fraud and improve our service, balanced against your rights; and consent for anything optional, which you can withdraw at any time.
6. Who we share information with
We share only what each partner needs to do its job for us, and we expect each of them to protect it:
- Payment processor: the provider shown at checkout receives your payment details directly and handles them under its own security standards and privacy policy. We receive confirmation of payment and limited details such as the last digits of a card, never the full number.
- Carriers and postal services: the recipient’s name, address and, if provided, phone number, so the parcel can be delivered and tracked.
- Hosting and infrastructure: our web server provider stores the site and its database; Cloudflare delivers pages quickly and protects the site from attacks; our email provider sends and receives our messages.
- Production partners: if a specific product is made with the help of a partner workshop, that partner receives only the personalization and shipping details needed for that item.
- Professional advisers and authorities: accountants or lawyers when needed, and law enforcement or courts when the law requires it or to protect people from harm or fraud.
- A future owner: if Yay Bestie is ever sold or merged, customer information may transfer to the new owner, who must keep honouring this policy.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not “share” it for cross-context behavioural advertising as that term is used in California law.
7. Where your information is stored
Yay Bestie is based in the United States, and our website and records are hosted on servers that may be located in the United States or other countries where our providers operate. If you are in Canada, Australia or New Zealand, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those at home. We take reasonable steps, including choosing reputable providers, to make sure your information receives a comparable level of protection wherever it is processed.
8. How long we keep it
| Information | How long | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Orders, invoices and payment records | 7 years after the order | Tax and accounting requirements |
| Personalization text and design choices | Up to 2 years after delivery | Remakes, exchanges and damage claims |
| Support emails and photos | Up to 2 years after the conversation ends | Following up on claims and improving help pages |
| Accounts | Until you ask us to delete the account, or after 3 years without a sign-in | Faster checkout and order history |
| Server and security logs | Up to 90 days | Security and troubleshooting |
When information is no longer needed, we delete it or make it anonymous.
9. Keeping it safe
The whole site runs over an encrypted HTTPS connection. Payment details go straight to the payment provider. Access to order information is limited to the people who need it to make and ship orders and answer support requests, and admin accounts are protected by strong passwords. No method of storing or sending information is completely secure, so we cannot promise perfect security, but if we ever learn of a breach that affects you, we will tell you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.
10. Your choices and rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
- correct anything that is inaccurate or out of date;
- delete your information, unless we must keep it, for example for tax records or an open claim;
- stop using your information for any optional purpose, or withdraw consent you gave;
- delete your account.
Email support@yaybestie.com with “Privacy request” in the subject. To protect you, we confirm your identity first, usually by asking you to reply from the email address on your orders. We answer within 30 days, and within the shorter or longer period your local law sets where that applies. We will never treat you differently for exercising your privacy rights.
11. Extra information for California residents
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended, California residents have the right to know the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect, use and disclose; to request deletion and correction; to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information; and to limit the use of sensitive personal information. In the past 12 months we have collected identifiers (name, email, address, IP address), commercial information (orders and personalization), internet activity (pages requested, in server logs) and the content of messages you send us, from the sources described in sections 1 and 2, for the purposes in section 4. We disclosed these categories for business purposes to the service providers listed in section 6. We have not sold or shared personal information, and we do not knowingly collect information from consumers under 16. You may use an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf; we will ask the agent for proof of authority.
12. Extra information for Canada, Australia and New Zealand
We handle personal information of customers in Canada in line with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, in Australia in line with the Australian Privacy Principles, and in New Zealand in line with the Privacy Act 2020. You can access and correct your information as described in section 10. If you are unhappy with how we handled a privacy request, please tell us first so we can try to fix it; you also have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, or the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner.
13. Children
Yay Bestie is a shop for adults buying gifts. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, or under 16 where local law sets that age, and children should not create accounts or place orders. A gift can of course carry a child’s name, for example on a baby’s first ornament; that name is provided by the adult buyer and used only to make the item. If you believe a child has given us information directly, contact us and we will delete it.
14. Links to other sites
Our pages may link to carrier tracking pages or other websites we do not run. Their privacy practices are their own, so please read their policies before sharing information with them.
15. Changes to this policy
We update this policy when our practices or the law change. The date at the top always shows the latest version. If a change materially affects how we use information you have already given us, we will tell you by email or with a clear notice on the site before it takes effect.
16. Contact us about privacy
Questions, requests or concerns can go to support@yaybestie.com or by post to Yay Bestie, 6230 Belmont Trail Ct, San Diego, CA 92130, United States. You can also use our Submit Ticket page. For how we handle orders and payments, see our Terms of Service and Payment Methods page, and for everything else, the Help Center.