Privacy Policy for George Smithson Photography
Effective Date: July 9, 2025
This Privacy Policy describes how George Smithson Photography handles information on our website, [Your Website Address, e.g., www.georgesmithsonphotography.com].
We are committed to protecting your privacy. This policy outlines our practices regarding information collection, use, and disclosure.
11. Information We Collect
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and services, when you participate in activities on the Site, or otherwise when you contact us.
Information You Provide Directly:
Contact Form Data: When you use our contact form, we collect the information you provide, such as your name, email address, and the content of your message.
Other Voluntary Submissions: Any other information you choose to provide, such as through email correspondence or other communication channels.
Information Collected Automatically:
When you visit our Site, we may automatically collect certain information about your device and usage, including:
Log Data: Information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Site. This may include your computer's Internet Protocol ("IP") address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our Site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, and other statistics.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to track the activity on our Site and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Site.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:
To Respond to Inquiries: To respond to your questions, comments, and requests submitted through our contact form. Messages submitted via our contact form are automatically forwarded to our designated email address [e.g., 'info@yourwebsite.com' or 'support@yourwebsite.com'] for internal processing and response.
To Improve Our Site: To understand how our Site is used and to improve its functionality, content, and user experience.
To Maintain Security: To help maintain the safety and security of our Site and services.
For Internal Operations: For internal record keeping, analysis, and administrative purposes.
To Comply with Legal Obligations: To comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processes.
3. Legal Basis for Processing (for UK/EU Users)
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK, our legal basis for collecting and using the personal information described in this Privacy Policy depends on the personal information we collect and the specific context in which we collect it.
We may process your personal data because:
We need to perform a contract with you.
You have given us permission to do so.
The processing is in our legitimate interests (and not overridden by your data protection interests or fundamental rights and freedoms).
To comply with the law.
Specifically, for data collected via the contact form, our legal basis for processing is typically our legitimate interest in communicating with our website visitors and providing effective customer support.
4. Cookie Policy
This section explains how we use cookies and similar technologies on our Site.
What are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.
How We Use Cookies
We use cookies for several purposes:
Essential Cookies (Strictly Necessary Cookies): These cookies are essential for the Site to function properly. They enable you to navigate the Site and use its features, such as accessing secure areas. Without these cookies, services you have asked for cannot be provided.
Performance Cookies (Analytics Cookies): These cookies collect information about how you use our Site, such as which pages you visit most often and if you receive error messages from web pages. These cookies do not collect information that identifies you. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. They are only used to improve how our Site works.
Functionality Cookies: These cookies allow our Site to remember choices you make (such as your username, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for, such as watching a video. The information these cookies collect may be anonymized, and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
Targeting/Advertising Cookies: These cookies are used to deliver advertisements more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement and help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaigns. They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website operator’s permission.
Third-Party Cookies
In addition to our own cookies, we may also use various third-parties cookies to report usage statistics of the Site, deliver advertisements on and through the Site, and so on. These third parties may include analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics) and advertising partners. We do not have control over these third-party cookies.
Your Choices Regarding Cookies
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your cookie preferences by:
Browser Settings: You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our Site, though your access to some functionality and areas of our Site may be restricted. The exact method for doing this varies by browser, but you can usually find instructions in your browser's "Help" or "Settings" menu.
Cookie Consent Tools: If applicable, our Site may present a cookie consent banner or tool that allows you to manage your preferences for non-essential cookies.
For more information about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your device and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
5. Disclosure of Your Information
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal information to outside parties without your consent, except as described below:
Service Providers: We may share your information with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents who perform services for us or on our behalf (e.g., website hosting, data analysis, email delivery, customer service). These third parties are obligated to protect your information and use it only for the purposes for which it was disclosed.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or a government agency).
Business Transfers: In connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company.
With Your Consent: We may disclose your personal information for any other purpose with your consent.
6. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, please be aware that despite our efforts, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We cannot promise that unauthorized third parties will never be able to defeat our security measures or use your personal information for improper purposes.
7. Data Retention
We retain your personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements).
Specifically, we retain contact form messages and the associated personal data for a period of [e.g., 12 months] from the date your inquiry is resolved. This retention period allows us to maintain records of our correspondence and refer back to previous interactions if necessary for ongoing support or to meet legal obligations.
When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize it, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
8. Your Data Protection Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:
Right to Access: The right to request copies of your personal data.
Right to Rectification: The right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate or complete information you believe is incomplete.
Right to Erasure: The right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
Right to Restrict Processing: The right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
Right to Object to Processing: The right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
Right to Data Portability: The right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
Right to Withdraw Consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in the "Contact Us" section below. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.
9. Children's Privacy
Our Site is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.