Privacy policy

Xmas4eva is a free letter-to-Santa service. This page explains what we collect, why, who can see it and how long we keep it.

Who gives us information

Only a parent or guardian. Before a letter is sent, the grown-up confirms they are the child's parent or guardian. Children never create accounts and never give us an email address.

What we collect

• Your family name, your first name and your email address.
• For each child: first name, age, what they are proudest of, their wishes, and any picture they choose to draw for Father Christmas.
• Which advert or link brought you to us (for example "utm_source"), so we know what works.
• Whether you ticked any of the optional boxes, and when.

The waiting list

Before the Letters Office opens, grown-ups can join a waiting list. We keep your email address, your first name if you give it, which link brought you to us, and when you agreed to hear from us. We use it only to tell you when we open and to send occasional Xmas4eva news. You can unsubscribe from any email, or ask us to remove you completely.

Drawings

If a child draws a picture, we store it privately with their letter. It is never shared or used for anything else, and it is kept and deleted in exactly the same way as the letters.

What we use it for

Children's details are used only to personalise your family's letter, your archive and the emails we send you. We never sell your data and never use children's details for advertising.

We only send you news from the North Pole (including elf visits you can book) if you ticked that box. We record the date and time you agreed. You can unsubscribe at any time from any email.

Your family archive

We keep your family's letters, drawings, receipts and certificates in a private North Pole archive, so you can look back on them every year. Children never have accounts. The grown-up who wrote the letter signs in with a link we email to them; there are no passwords.

Only people your family invites can see your archive. The owner (and any co-owners) choose who to invite, and can remove anyone at any time. Our own staff only look at an archive when they need to help you or keep the service running.

Who else sees it

Our hosting and database provider, and our email provider, who send emails on our behalf. Cloudflare checks the form is being filled in by a person.

How long we keep it

Archives are kept indefinitely, so your family can look back year after year. You can delete yours at any time from the archive page ("Who can see our archive", then "Delete our archive"), or by emailing us. Deleting it removes every letter, drawing and certificate, and everyone's access.

If you ticked "Don't keep our letters after this Christmas", we delete that year's letters, drawings and certificates on 31 January of the following year.

If nobody has visited your archive or written a new letter for three years, we send one email asking whether you'd like to keep it. If nobody replies, we keep it. We never delete an archive without being asked.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask to see, correct or delete your data at any time. Reply to any of our emails and we will help. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).