Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 2026

TreatCounter is an iPhone app and website (treatcounter.com) made by Kevin Grissom, an independent developer in Riverside, California ("we," "us"). This policy explains what we collect, why, who else handles it, and how to delete it.

1. Information We Collect

• Account information: your email address, an optional name, and your password (stored only in hashed form; we can't read it). If you signed in with Apple, we receive an account identifier and the email address Apple shares with us. We also keep whether your email is verified, and temporary codes for email verification and password resets.
• Your porch (household): the household name, the members who have joined it, its invite code, and the location you choose to enter: country, state or region, city, and ZIP or postal code. When you type a city, the app suggests matches using Apple Maps, so the text you type is sent to Apple to look them up.
• Your counts: each tap you record (the time, the group size such as Little, Big, or Teen, and how many), the nights you count (date, when they opened and closed, and totals), and an identifier for your device (Apple's identifier for vendor, which is specific to our app) so taps aren't counted twice.
• Approximate location from your network: our network provider, Cloudflare, gives us an approximate location for each request based on your IP address. For counts made in the United States, we store the ZIP code it reports alongside your taps, and use it to place your porch on the live map if you haven't entered a ZIP. When you open the live map, an approximate location may be used to center it and is not stored. The app does not access your device's location services.
• Plus purchases: Apple processes all payments, and we never see your card or payment details. We receive and keep purchase information from Apple, such as transaction identifiers, the product purchased, whether it was a test (sandbox) or real purchase, and notices of refunds or revocations.
• Email updates from the website: if you sign up, we collect your email address, an optional name, where you signed up, and your IP address and browser information, plus whether you confirmed or unsubscribed.
• Door hanger QR codes: when a TreatCounter door hanger code is scanned, we record which side was scanned, whether the device was an iPhone or iPad, and the time. We don't store the IP address or other device details.
• Links we post online: when you follow a tracked TreatCounter link (for example from our Instagram), we record which link it was, whether the device was an iPhone or iPad, and the time. We don't store the IP address or other device details.
• Technical data: our servers and providers process your IP address and basic device and browser information to deliver the service, and may keep it briefly in logs to troubleshoot errors and keep the service secure.

2. Analytics and Diagnostics

• App analytics: our servers send product analytics and error reports to PostHog. These include your account ID, email address, and name, along with events such as creating an account, verifying an email, and recording or undoing taps. We use them to understand how TreatCounter is used and to find and fix problems.
• Website analytics: treatcounter.com uses Google Analytics, which uses cookies to measure visits and how pages are used.
• Website advertising: to measure our own ads on Facebook and Instagram, treatcounter.com uses the Meta Pixel for visitors in the Americas. It tells Meta when someone visits the site or taps an App Store button, using cookies and information about your browser, so we can see whether our ads work and show reminder ads to people who visited. Meta handles this information under its own privacy policy. We don't load it if your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal.
• The iPhone app itself contains no third-party analytics or advertising code, and we don't track you across other companies' apps or websites.

3. How We Use Your Information

• To count, sync, and save your nights, and to show your porch's history year over year.
• To share a porch between the members of a household.
• To provide and restore TreatCounter Plus, and to verify purchases with Apple.
• To build neighborhood comparisons and the Halloween live map from combined counts.
• To send account emails (verification and password resets), a once-a-year Halloween recap of your porch's night (you can turn it off from any recap), and, if you signed up, email updates. Every update email includes an unsubscribe link.
• To provide support, keep the service secure, prevent abuse, and fix bugs.
• To understand how the app and website are used so we can improve them.

4. What Other People Can See

• Your household: people who join your household can see its counts, nights, and history, and who else is a member.
• Neighborhood comparison: combined numbers for a city appear only once enough households there take part (currently at least 10).
• The live map: on Halloween night, treatcounter.com/map shows combined trick-or-treat counts by US ZIP code or, elsewhere, by city, only once enough porches in that place are counting (currently at least 3). Country totals follow the same rule. No individual porch, household, or person is ever shown.

5. Who We Share Data With

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information, and we don't share your account or count data for advertising. We use a small number of service providers who handle data on our behalf, only to run TreatCounter:

• DigitalOcean hosts our servers and database.
• Cloudflare delivers and protects our website and API, and provides approximate location from IP addresses.
• Our email delivery provider sends account and update emails.
• PostHog provides app analytics and error monitoring.
• Google Analytics provides website analytics.
• Meta receives website visit information through the Meta Pixel, as described in section 2.
• Apple provides the App Store, in-app purchases, Sign in with Apple, and the Apple Maps city suggestions in the app.
• Discord receives private notifications for the developer when someone creates an account, joins a household, or buys Plus. These include the person's name and email address.
• When you visit treatcounter.com, your browser also loads fonts from Google Fonts, and the live map loads map images from CARTO. Those providers receive your IP address as part of delivering that content.

We may also disclose information if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, or security of TreatCounter, its users, or others.

6. How Long We Keep Data

We keep your account, porch, and counts for as long as your account exists, because year-over-year history is the point of the app. Email update signups are kept until you unsubscribe; after that we keep a record that you unsubscribed so we don't email you again. Records of Plus purchases may be kept for accounting, refund, and fraud-prevention purposes. Logs are kept only as long as needed for troubleshooting and security.

7. Deleting Your Account and Your Choices

• Delete your account in the app: go to Profile, then Delete Account. This permanently deletes your account. If you're the last member of your household, the household and all of its nights and taps are deleted too. If other people are still in the household, its shared counts stay with them.
• Or email us at [email protected] to delete your account or ask us to remove other data, such as an email update signup.
• Access or correct your data: you can edit your name and porch details in the app, or email us for a copy of your data or other corrections.
• Email updates: use the unsubscribe link in any update email.
• Website analytics: you can block or delete cookies in your browser settings.
• Website advertising: turn on Global Privacy Control in your browser, block cookies, or change your ad preferences in your Facebook or Instagram settings.
• Uninstalling the app removes data stored on your device, but not your account. Delete your account first if you want that gone too.

Depending on where you live, including California and the European Union, you may have additional rights, such as to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal information, or to object to certain uses. To make a request, email us. We won't treat you differently for using these rights.

8. Data Security

Data is sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Passwords are stored only as secure hashes, and access to our systems is restricted. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will notify you if a breach affects it, as required by law.

9. Children's Privacy

TreatCounter is designed for households to use on Halloween and is not intended for children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us personal information, email us and we'll delete it.

10. International Users

TreatCounter is operated from the United States. Your information may be processed and stored in the United States and in other countries where our service providers operate.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as the app changes. When we do, we'll post the new version here with a new effective date, and for significant changes we'll let you know in the app or by email.

12. Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact:

Email: [email protected]
Website: treatcounter.com