The Holiday Block Privacy Policy
1. Introduction
Welcome to The Holiday Block.
The Holiday Block is a mobile application operated by High Tide Digital to help families discover and create holiday experiences in their neighborhoods—finding decorated houses, planning a route for the evening, adding a home to the map, and sharing live updates that help other families along the way.
This Privacy Policy explains how High Tide Digital collects, uses, shares, and protects information through The Holiday Block mobile application for iOS and Android.
This policy is a product-specific Privacy Policy for The Holiday Block. It describes the information collected and used by this application and should be read together with the High Tide Digital Privacy Policy, which explains our broader company practices.
By using The Holiday Block, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy.
2. Information We Collect
We collect only the information needed to provide The Holiday Block and improve your experience.
The information we collect depends on how you use the app.
Information You Choose to Provide
Depending on how you use The Holiday Block, you may choose to provide information such as:
- House participation information when you add or update your home (for example, participation status, decoration level, optional treat notes, and related seasonal details)
- Visitor reports and other user-submitted updates about nearby houses (for example, candy or participation status, setup type, crowd level, decoration observations, and similar observations)
- Notification preferences you set in the app
House participation information and community updates you submit through the app may be visible to other users as part of the community map experience.
Providing this information is optional unless it is required to use a feature you choose. For example, you must grant location permission if you want the app to show nearby houses based on where you are.
Information Collected With Your Permission or Automatically
To help The Holiday Block operate reliably, we may also collect the following information:
Anonymous account identifier. When you use the app, we create or use an anonymous account identifier through Firebase Authentication. This identifier allows the app to associate your submissions, preferences, and activity with your account on our servers. The Holiday Block does not require you to provide your name, email address, or other traditional account credentials to use the app.
Location information. If you grant permission, the app collects precise location information (latitude and longitude) while you use the app. We use this information to show nearby houses on the map, support house updates near you, and process location-related information you submit with reports. We may also store your most recent location in connection with your account while the app is in use.
Push notification token. If you enable notifications and grant the required device permission, we collect a push notification token so we can send alerts you have chosen to receive, such as nearby updates.
Device and diagnostic information. Our infrastructure and service providers may process basic device and app information—such as device type, operating system, and diagnostic or log information—needed to operate, secure, troubleshoot, and maintain the app.
This information helps us provide the service, maintain security, troubleshoot issues, and improve reliability.
3. How We Use Information
We use the information we collect to provide the features you choose to use in The Holiday Block and to improve the app over time.
Depending on how you use the app, we may use information to:
- Operate and maintain The Holiday Block and its backend services.
- Display nearby participating houses, map markers, and related house information.
- Process house participation information you submit when you add or update your home.
- Process visitor reports and other user-submitted updates about houses.
- Provide location-based features, including showing houses near you, supporting updates for nearby houses, and opening navigation to route stops you choose.
- Send push notifications you have opted into, such as nearby updates.
- Store your notification preferences and associate your submissions and preferences with your anonymous account.
- Improve app reliability, performance, and security.
- Respond to support requests and communications you send to us.
- Protect the app and our users from fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access.
- Comply with legal obligations when required.
We will not use your personal information for purposes unrelated to providing or improving The Holiday Block without first updating this Privacy Policy.
4. When We Share Information
Information you submit about houses—including participation information and community updates—may be visible to other users of the app as part of the community map experience. That visibility is part of how The Holiday Block works, not a sale of your personal information to unrelated third parties.
We do not sell your personal information.
We share information only when it is necessary to operate The Holiday Block, comply with the law, protect our users, or when you ask us to.
Examples include:
- Service Providers — Trusted companies that help us operate the app, such as Firebase and Google Cloud (for authentication, data storage, and backend processing), Google Maps (for map display and location-related services), and Apple or Google notification services (when you enable push notifications).
- Legal Requirements — When required by law, regulation, or legal process, or when necessary to protect the security, integrity, users, or rights of The Holiday Block, High Tide Digital, or others.
- Business Changes — If High Tide Digital is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, user information may be transferred as part of that transaction.
Outside of these situations, we will not share your personal information without your permission.
5. How We Protect Information
Protecting your information is an important part of earning your trust.
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect the information we collect through The Holiday Block from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These safeguards include access controls, secure cloud infrastructure used to operate the app (including Firebase and Google Cloud), and practices intended to limit access to information to those who need it to operate and maintain the service.
While we work hard to protect your information, no method of transmitting or storing information is completely secure. For that reason, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
If we become aware of a security incident affecting your personal information, we will respond appropriately and notify affected users when required by applicable law.
6. Your Choices and Your Rights
We believe you should have meaningful control over your personal information.
Choices available in the app today
Depending on how you use The Holiday Block, you may:
- Grant or deny location permission through your device settings. Location is used only when you allow it and while you use location-based features in the app.
- Enable or disable push notifications through your device settings, and choose notification categories through in-app notification preferences (such as nearby updates).
- Manage or update your house participation information using the tools provided in the app.
- Manage certain in-app preferences, such as your default season and notification settings.
Privacy requests
Depending on where you live, you may have the ability to:
- Access the personal information we maintain about you.
- Correct or update your information.
- Request deletion of your personal information.
- Manage communication preferences.
If you would like to make a request regarding your personal information, or if you have questions about your privacy choices, please contact us using the information in the Contact Us section of this Privacy Policy.
We will respond to requests in accordance with applicable laws.
7. How Long We Keep Information
We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary to operate The Holiday Block, meet legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
How long we keep information depends on the type of information and how it is used:
Anonymous account identifiers. We keep your anonymous account identifier and related account settings (such as notification preferences and, when applicable, a push notification token) for as long as you use the app and your account remains active. If you contact us to request deletion or other assistance regarding your account, we handle those requests in accordance with applicable law and the choices described in this Privacy Policy.
User-submitted participation information. Information you submit when you add or update your home—including address-related details, participation status, decoration information, and optional treat notes—is retained so your house can appear on the map and so other users can benefit from accurate neighborhood information. This information may remain available while your house remains part of the service or until it is updated or removed in accordance with our practices and applicable law.
Visitor reports and other community updates. Reports and other updates you submit about houses are retained to process those submissions, update house information on the map, maintain the integrity of community data, and operate the service. Some of this information may be reflected in house records that remain visible to other users as part of the app’s community features.
Operational logs and diagnostic information. Basic operational, security, and diagnostic information processed by us or our service providers is retained for limited periods needed to operate, secure, troubleshoot, and maintain the app. We do not keep this information longer than reasonably necessary for those purposes.
When information is no longer needed for these purposes, we take reasonable steps to delete, anonymize, or otherwise dispose of it, subject to legal and operational requirements.
8. Children's Privacy
The Holiday Block is designed for families exploring and sharing holiday experiences in their neighborhoods. Parents and guardians may use the app with their children, but the app is not specifically directed to children under the age of 13.
We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 without appropriate parental consent where required by law. The Holiday Block uses anonymous account sign-in and does not require users to provide a name, email address, or other traditional account credentials to use the app.
If we learn that personal information from a child has been collected in a manner that does not comply with this Privacy Policy or applicable law, we will take reasonable steps to remove that information.
If you are a parent or guardian and have questions or concerns about how The Holiday Block handles information, please contact us using the information in the Contact Us section of this Privacy Policy.
9. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time as The Holiday Block evolves, to reflect changes in our practices, features, or applicable laws. When we do, we will update the Last Updated date at the beginning of this Privacy Policy.
If we make material changes, we will provide additional notice in an appropriate manner when required by law or when the changes significantly affect your privacy rights. That notice may be provided through the app, our website, or other reasonable means.
Your continued use of The Holiday Block after an updated Privacy Policy becomes effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy. If you do not agree with the changes, you should stop using the app.
10. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, The Holiday Block, or would like to make a privacy-related request, we'd be happy to hear from you.