Privacy Policy | Manito Manita

1. Who we are

Manito Manita (manitomanita.com) is an online gift exchange organizer operated by Rouie Ilustrisimo in the Philippines (“we”, “us”). For privacy questions or requests, contact our Data Protection Officer at rouie@manitomanita.com.

We process personal information in accordance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173), its implementing rules, and the issuances of the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

2. What we collect

When you create a group: group name, gift exchange date, spending minimum, your name, your email and an organizer password (stored only as a secure hash).

When you join a group: your full name, screen name, email and a password (stored only as a secure hash). Optionally: your wishlist (items, notes and links), your address and contact details for gift delivery, comments you post, and whether you have bought or given your gift.

Automatically: technical information such as your IP address, browser and device type, and pages visited, used for security, spam prevention and statistics.

Payments: if you buy PRO or credits, PayPal processes your payment. We receive the order ID, amount and status, never your card or bank details.

3. How we use it

To run your group: shuffle names, show each member their own match, display wishlists, and send emails such as email confirmation, your match, reminders and password resets.
To provide PRO features you or your group paid for.
To keep the service safe: verify emails, block spam and bots, prevent abuse and fix problems.
To improve the service with aggregated statistics.
To show gift ideas, including ideas generated from your wishlist text.
To show ads to free groups.

Our bases for processing are your consent (for example, optional details and reminder emails), the performance of the service you requested, our legitimate interests in running a safe and reliable service, and legal obligations.

4. Who can see your information

Your group: members of your group can see your screen name and wishlist. Anyone with the group link can open the group page, so share the link only with your group.
Your Secret Santa: only the person who drew you sees your address and contact details.
The organizer of a PRO group: can see members’ names, emails and matches and export the group’s data to run the exchange.
After the exchange: if the organizer turns on the reveal, members of the group can see who gave to whom.

We do not sell or rent your personal information.

5. Service providers

Like most websites, we rely on trusted service providers who process information on our behalf and only for the purposes below:

Hosting and storage, to run the website and keep your group’s data.
Email delivery, to send confirmation, match and reminder emails.
Payment processing, for PRO and credits. Card and bank details are handled by the payment provider, never by us.
Security and spam protection, to keep bots and abuse out of our forms.
Analytics and advertising, to understand usage and show ads to free groups.
Gift idea suggestions, which may use an AI service on your wishlist text with links, emails and phone numbers removed first.
Online stores and affiliate partners, only when you click a shopping link.

These providers are bound to protect your information and may only use it to provide their service to us. Some may process data outside the Philippines with appropriate safeguards. Contact us if you would like more details.

6. Cookies and similar technologies

We use a session cookie to keep you signed in to a group, small browser storage entries to remember things like whether you have seen the tour, and cookies from our analytics and advertising providers. Stores you visit through our shopping links may set their own cookies. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; parts of the site may not work without the session cookie.

7. How long we keep it

We keep group and member information while the group exists, so members can come back to their wishlists and matches. You can ask us to delete your information or your group at any time. We keep payment records as long as required for accounting and legal purposes. We may delete inactive groups after a reasonable period.

8. How we protect it

We use HTTPS encryption, store passwords only as secure hashes, check permissions on the server for organizer tools, verify payments with PayPal, and limit who can access our systems. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to protect your information and will notify you and the NPC of any personal data breach as required by law.

9. Your rights

Under the Data Privacy Act you have the right to be informed, to access your personal information, to object, to correct it, to have it erased or blocked, to data portability, and to claim damages. You also have the right to file a complaint with the National Privacy Commission (privacy.gov.ph).

To exercise your rights, email rouie@manitomanita.com from the email address you used, and tell us your group name. You can also correct most information yourself in your group, and unsubscribe from reminder emails with the link in each reminder.

10. Children

Manito Manita is meant for people aged 13 and over. Members under 18 should use it with the permission of a parent, guardian or teacher, for example when a school group is organized by an adult. If you believe a child gave us information without permission, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the service changes. We will post the new version on this page with a new “Last updated” date, and for significant changes we will give notice on the site.

Questions? Email rouie@manitomanita.com.