Date of Last Revision: June 15, 2024
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SmugMug, Inc. and our subsidiary SmugMug Limited ("SmugMug", "we" or "us"), are passionately committed to the privacy of our customers.
This Privacy Policy ("Privacy Policy") explains how SmugMug collects, uses and discloses information from and about you when you use the SmugMug services, including the SmugMug mobile and Apple TV applications and SmugMug website (collectively, the "Services"). It does not cover data relating to the Flickr service.
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of the policy and, if the changes are significant, we will provide you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to our homepage or sending you an email notification). We encourage you to review the Privacy Policy whenever you access the Services to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.For information about how to change your privacy preferences for your photo galleries, please see: https://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/1229910.
We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information when you:
The types of information we may collect include your name, email address, postal address, phone number, fax number, credit card information, bank transfer information, Social Security number (and other data necessary for tax reporting relating to payments to users), title, gender, and other information you choose to provide.
You have the option of telling us how you wish to be identified in connection with your photos, galleries, comments and elsewhere using the Services. If you choose to use your real name (or include any identifying information as part of your "nickname") that information will be publicly displayed through the Services. Therefore, please use caution in determining how you wish to be identified in using the Services.
Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies
We use various technologies to collect information, including cookies, web beacons and similar technologies. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us to provide and improve our Services and your experience, see which areas and features of our Services are popular and count visits, and for our advertising and analytics purposes. We use cookies to keep you logged in to the Services, to count the number of unique computers using the Services and to record your user preferences. We may also collect information using web beacons (also known as "tracking pixels"). Web beacons are electronic images that may be used in our Services or emails and help deliver cookies, count visits, understand usage and campaign effectiveness and determine whether an email has been opened and acted upon. You may be able to set your web browser to refuse certain types of cookies, or to alert you when certain types of cookies are being sent. Some browsers offer similar settings for HTML5 local storage, and Flash storage can be managed here. For more information and more detailed options, please see the “Advertising and Analytics Services Provided by Others” section below.
Information We Collect From Other Sources
We may also obtain information from other sources and combine that with information we collect through our Services. For example, if you create or log into your account through a social media site, we will have access to certain information from that site, such as your name, account information and friends lists, in accordance with the authorization procedures determined by such social media site. We may receive updated information about you, such as an updated billing address, from the financial institution issuing your credit card in connection with our billing for the Services. When somebody buys a gift for you on our service, we’ll receive your shipping information from the purchaser. Users also can share another person’s email address with us through features that can invite the other person to view the user’s content.
Our use of the following information, which we call “Photographer Personal Data,” is limited by our agreements with our registered users: (i) images and videos that the user uploads to or creates in the Services, and (ii) any labels, tags, comments, descriptions or categorizations that user adds to those images and videos in the Services.
We use other information for the following purposes:
We also may use personal information to create appropriately aggregated or anonymized data, which is not subject to this Privacy Policy, and which we may use or disclose for any purpose.
We may share information about you as follows or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:
We may also share aggregated or anonymized information that does not directly identify you.
Our sharing of Photographer Personal Data is governed by our agreement with the user who posted it. If you contact us regarding a request or complaint about Photographer Personal Data, we may forward your communication to the user who posted it.
Social Sharing Features and Third-Party Integrations
The Services may offer social sharing features and other integrated tools which let you share actions you take on our Services with other media, and vice versa. The use of such features enables the sharing of information with your friends, the public, and others, depending on the settings you establish with the entity that provides the social sharing feature, and depending on that entity’s other sharing practices. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, please visit the privacy policies of the entities that provide these features.
Additionally, you may give certain third-party apps different levels of permissions to interact with your account to take advantage of things like photo editing tools. If you want to stop using one of these apps and revoke your permission, click the "Revoke" link under "Authorized Services" in the Privacy section on your account settings page.
Advertising and Analytics Services Provided by Others
We may allow others to serve advertisements on our behalf across the Internet and to provide analytics services. These entities may use cookies, web beacons, mobile device identifiers, and other technologies to collect information about your use of the Services and other websites, including your IP address, web browser, pages viewed, time spent on pages, links clicked and conversion information. This information may be used by SmugMug and others to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising and content targeted to your interests on our Services and other websites and better understand your online activity. For more information about interest-based-based ads, or to opt out of having your web browsing information used for behavioral advertising purposes, please visit www.aboutads.info/choices. We use Google Analytics to understand our website traffic, and we allow our users to use their Google Analytics and StatCounter analytics accounts on their SmugMug-hosted pages. We may allow additional services later. You can opt out of Google Analytics by installing Google Analytics’ opt-out browser add-on. A StatCounter opt-out is available here. You should take the steps described above with each browser you use. Your device should also include a feature (“Limit Ad Tracking” on iOS or “Opt Out of Interest-Based Ads” or “Opt Out of Ads Personalization” on Android) that allows you to opt out of having certain information collected through mobile apps used for interest-based advertising purposes.
Legal Basis for Processing
The laws in some jurisdictions require companies to tell you about the legal grounds that allow them to use or disclose your personal data. Where those laws apply, our legal grounds are:
We process a user’s Photographer Personal Data as the user’s “processor” (under the GDPR and similar laws) or “service provider” (under the California Consumer Privacy Act) as set forth in our agreement with the user.
Security
SmugMug takes physical, technical and administrative measures to help protect information about you from loss, theft, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. However, no security measure is perfect. SmugMug cannot and does not promise that any information will remain secure.
Data Retention
We store the information we collect about you for as long as is necessary for the purpose(s) outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless the law requires us to keep it for a longer period of time. Information in copies made for backup and business continuity may remain for longer than the original data. For example, photos and videos that are marked for deletion, or that are in an account that gets closed, are de-published almost immediately and are permanently removed from backup copies 30 days later. Certain information relating to payments to photographers must be retained for at least six years for U.S. tax compliance reasons.
Data Transfers
To provide the Services, we may transfer your information to servers operated by SmugMug or our service providers in the United States or other countries. When we transfer information from the European Union / European Economic Area (“EEA”), the United Kingdom, and Switzerland to countries that the European Commission has not deemed to provide an adequate level of protection, we normally do so on the basis of either (i) Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Union Commission for such purpose or (ii) the recipient’s participation in the EU-U.S., Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework(s) (described below). You may request a copy of the Standard Contractual Clauses by contacting us as described below.
SmugMug complies with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF) and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (Swiss-U.S. DPF) as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce. SmugMug has certified to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it adheres to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles (EU-U.S. DPF Principles) with regard to the processing of personal data received from the European Union in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF SmugMug has certified to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles (Swiss-U.S. DPF Principles) with regard to the processing of personal data received from Switzerland in reliance on the Swiss-U.S. DPF. If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy and the EU-U.S. DPF Principles and/or the Swiss-U.S. DPF Principles, the Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Data Privacy Framework (DPF) Program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/.
In compliance with the EU-U.S. DPF and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, SmugMug commits to refer unresolved complaints concerning our handling of personal data received in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF and the Swiss-U.S. DPF to JAMS, an alternative dispute resolution provider based in the United States. If you do not receive timely acknowledgment of your DPF Principles-related complaint from us, or if we have not addressed your DPF Principles-related complaint to your satisfaction, please visit https://www.jamsadr.com/DPF-Dispute-Resolution for more information or to file a complaint. The services of JAMS are provided at no cost to you.
Unlike some other rights described in this Privacy Policy, the JAMS mechanism is available only to individuals whose personal data we receive pursuant to applicable the Data Privacy Framework.
In compliance with the EU-U.S. DPF and the Swiss-U.S. DPF, SmugMug commits to resolve DPF Principles-related complaints about our collection and use of your personal information. EU individuals and Swiss individuals with inquiries or complaints regarding our handling of personal data received in reliance on the EU-U.S. DPF and the Swiss-U.S. DPF should first contact SmugMug at: [email protected] or by submitting this form: https://www.smugmughelp.com/hc/en-us/requests/new.
Under certain conditions, you may be able to invoke binding arbitration to resolve your complaint. SmugMug is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the Federal Trade Commission. SmugMug is obligated to arbitrate claims and follow the terms as set forth in Annex I of the DPF Principles, provided that an individual has invoked binding arbitration by delivering notice to your organization and following the procedures and subject to conditions set forth in Annex I of Principles.
If we share personal data transferred to the U.S. under the Data Privacy Framework with an agent that processes such data on our behalf, then we will have certain responsibility under the DPF Principles if both (i) the agent Processes the information in a manner inconsistent with the DPF Principles and (ii) we are responsible for the event giving rise to the damage.
Our Services allow our users to transfer Photographer Personal Data (such as by publishing it), and our users (not SmugMug) are responsible for their transfers.
Your Choices
Privacy Requests Regarding Users’ Photos, Videos, and Some Related Data
For privacy-related takedown requests, or to exercise any rights you may have under privacy law regarding images or videos that a SmugMug user uploaded to or created in the Services, or any labels, tags, comments, descriptions or categorizations that the same user added to those images and videos in the Services (Photographer Personal Data), please contact that user directly. SmugMug processes this data on behalf of the user, and the user has responsibility for handling these requests. Under the GDPR and similar laws, SmugMug is the user’s “processor” of this limited set of data, and under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), SmugMug is the user’s “service provider” for this data. (SmugMug still can remove illegal content and other material that users are not entitled to maintain on the Service, such as nonconsensual intimate images, which can be reported at https://help.smugmug.com/contact.)
SmugMug users can follow the instructions below to handle such requests or to otherwise manage their Photographer Personal Data.
Deleting Photos
You can delete individual photos that you have on SmugMug by selecting the photos that you wish to delete, then clicking the delete button. Or you can delete groups of photos using batch operations.
Photo Sharing Features
In the "Privacy" section of your Account Settings, you can determine who you intend to access your site by leaving it set to "Anyone" by default, setting a site-wide password, or inviting only specific people to have access to your site. You can control at a more granular level each folder and gallery's settings, leaving them set to "Anyone" by default, making them unlisted, applying a password, allowing access to only specific people, or giving only yourself access.
Account Information
You may update, correct or delete certain information about you at any time by logging into your online account or emailing us at [email protected]. You may delete your account or terminate your subscription pursuant to SmugMug’s Terms of Use, but note that we may retain certain information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.
Privacy and Profile Information
In the "Edit Profile" section of your User Menu, you can add, edit, or remove various pieces of profile information, including: first/last name, display name, contact email address, personal description, profile photo, and social media URLs.
Information provided in your Profile will be publicly available through the Services, including to your site visitors and via the search function on smugmug.com/search. Visibility of your account in search results can be limited via the “Discovery” tab of your Account Settings. Visibility of individual folders/galleries/photos in search results can be limited via each folder or gallery's settings.
EXIF Information
By default, SmugMug will display a link showing EXIF data about photos or video you upload. The link shows on all your individual photo pages, and displays the make & model of the camera you used to take the shot. You can elect to hide this link in “Appearance” section of your Gallery Settings.
Location Information
When you first launch any of our mobile applications that collect location information, you will be asked to consent to the application's collection of this information. If you initially consent to our collection of location information, you can subsequently stop the collection of this information by our application’s camera function at any time by changing the preferences on your mobile device.
Some cameras and applications can store GPS (location) coordinates in a photo's EXIF header. SmugMug imports that data and if you choose, SmugMug can display that data publicly. This display setting can be changed in gallery settings "Permissions and Sharing" on smugmug.com. You can also change the settings on your camera to stop location data storage.
Auto-Upload Feature
If you turn on the auto-upload feature, photos and videos from your mobile device camera roll will be automatically uploaded to SmugMug. These photos and videos will be stored as private (non-public) on SmugMug until you choose to share them. You can turn off auto-upload at any time in your mobile app settings.
Cookies
Please see the “Advertising and Analytics Services Provided by Others” section above for options for controlling cookies and similar technology.
Promotional Communications
You may opt out of receiving promotional communications from SmugMug by following the instructions in those communications or by emailing us at [email protected]. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional communications, such as those about your account or our ongoing business relations.
Email Notifications
Visit your SmugMug Account Settings area to edit your SmugMug email notification settings.
Other Data Protection Rights
The law of your jurisdiction may give you additional rights to make certain requests with respect to your personal data. This is the case, for example, for residents of the European Economic Area and Switzerland, and, as described further below, residents of California. Our preference is to treat requests from all users in a similar way, regardless of where they live, to the extent we find this practicable and legally feasible. So although we describe the rights that exist under certain specific laws and frameworks below, we are happy to receive such requests from users in different jurisdictions as well.
As a reminder, regardless of where you live, all requests to exercise privacy rights with respect to Photographer Personal Data should be addressed to the user who uploaded that content, not SmugMug.
Under the Privacy EU-U.S. DPF Principles and/or the Swiss-U.S. DPF Principles (as applicable) and laws like the GDPR, some individuals have a legal request access to, correction of, or deletion of certain personal data we store. In some cases, they are be entitled to receive a copy of the personal data they provided to us in portable form or to request that we share it with a third party. The law also gives them the right to request certain restrictions on the use of their personal data, to object to our use of their personal data, or, where applicable, to withdraw their consent to use of their personal data (which will not affect the legality of any processing that happened before your request takes effect).
People who live in the UK or elsewhere in the European Economic Area (and certain other people) have additional rights to opt out of our use of personal data for direct marketing. They can exercise their rights to opt out, or to object to other processing, by contacting us as described below. Every individual has the right to lodge a complaint with the data privacy authority where they reside.
Individuals and data protection supervisory authorities in the EU and the UK may contact our data protection representatives according to Articles 27 EU and UK GDPR:
EU: DP-Dock GmbH, Attn: SmugMug Inc., Ballindamm 39, 20095 Hamburg, Germany
UK: DP Data Protection Services UK Ltd., Attn: SmugMug Inc., 16 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2B 5AH, United Kingdom
https://www.dp-dock.com
[email protected]
Additional Privacy Details for California Residents
The sections below apply to “personal information” about California residents, as that term is defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and they supplement the information in the rest of our Privacy Policy above. These sections also do not apply to Photographer Personal Data (defined further above as user-uploaded images, videos and certain content relating to such images and videos), even when such data is about a resident of California, because SmugMug is a “service provider” for such data under the CCPA.
CCPA categories of California personal information we collect:
In the main part of our Privacy Policy, we describe the specific pieces of personal information we collect from and about California residents. This information generally falls into the following CCPA categories, to the extent that any of the following are personally identifiable: identifiers (such as name, address, email address and other contact information); commercial information (such as transaction data, and information about an individual’s interactions with SmugMug); categories of personal information described in California Civil Code 1798.80(e) (such as name); characteristics of protected classifications under California or federal law (such as gender); internet or other network or device activity, and other information described in the Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies section of our Privacy Policy; geolocation information; professional or employment related data (such as title); and other information that identifies or can be reasonably associated with you.
CCPA description of uses of California personal information:
In CCPA terms, we have used and disclosed (and in the past 12 months have used and disclosed) all of the categories of California personal information that we collect for the purposes described in the Use of Information section of our Privacy Policy, though some uses and disclosures were more indirect than others. The extent to which our service providers engage in the uses and disclosures described above varies from provider to provider.
CCPA “sale” of California personal information
SmugMug does not “sell” and has not “sold” its personal information in the way most people understood those words before the CCPA was passed. We don’t sell copies of our user lists like a data broker would, for example. And while we’ve built a great home for photographers to promote their own creations, we don’t take money for letting unrelated third parties target advertisements to our users.
However, the CCPA defines “sell” and “sold” in an unconventional, vague and controversial way that has sparked extensive debate and disagreement within the legal and business communities. The CCPA requires businesses that “sell” personal information, as the term “sell” is defined under the CCPA, to provide an opt-out from such “sales.” Some people have taken the position that when a website or app uses third-party cookies and similar technology for its own analytics or advertising purposes, the website/app is engaged in a “sale” under the CCPA if the third parties have some ability to use, disclose or retain the data to improve their service or to take steps beyond the most narrowly drawn bounds of merely providing their service to the website/app. Some take this position even when the website/app pays the third party (not vice versa), and in most cases merely provides the third party with an opportunity to collect data directly, instead of sending a copy of personal information to the third party. If you take the position that any of those relationships involve a “sale” within the meaning of the CCPA, then you may consider SmugMug to have “sold” what the CCPA calls “identifiers” (like IP addresses), “internet or other electronic network activity information” (like information regarding an individual’s browsing interactions on smugmug.com), and “commercial information” (like the fact that a browser visited a page directed to people who are considering purchasing from us) to those sorts of companies. As we await clarity on this point and, if applicable, the arrival of a reasonable method for handling CCPA-like choice options for it, we continue to offer individuals the opportunity to opt out of the use of certain third-party cookies and similar technology for analytics and advertising purposes, as described in the Advertising and Analytics Services Provided by Others section of our Privacy Policy.
California Privacy Rights
This section describes rights under California law, but we plan to accept requests under this law from non-Californians, to the extent practicable and legally permissible. California law may permit you to request that we:
Certain information is exempt from such requests under applicable law. You also may have the right to receive information about the financial incentives that we offer to you (if any). You also have certain rights under the CCPA not to be subject to certain negative consequences for exercising CCPA rights.
To exercise any rights relating to “Photographer Personal Data”, including (i) the images and videos that a user uploads to or creates in the Services or Products, or (ii) any labels, tags, comments, descriptions or categorizations that user adds to those images and videos in the Services or Products, users should contact the relevant user, and not SmugMug. You can find contact information for many users by going to their SmugMug page and clicking on “About me” section. (Even if this were not the case under the CCPA, SmugMug would normally have multiple legal grounds for denying CCPA-based takedown requests for Photographer Personal Data due to multiple exceptions under that law, including those applicable to the exercise of First Amendment rights. Similar exceptions are common in other laws.)
To contact SmugMug to exercise CCPA rights with respect to other data, please visit https://help.smugmug.com/contact for the fastest response. Alternatively, you can make your CCPA request via voicemail at the following number: (833) 522-8821. No other requests are accepted at that number.
Contact Us
We welcome your feedback. If you have any comments or concerns about this Privacy Policy or would like to contact us for any reason, you may reach us via email at [email protected] or write to:
SmugMug, Inc.
Attention: Copyright Agent
67 E Evelyn Ave, Ste 200
Mountain View, CA 94041, USA
SmugMug Limited
Attention: Copyright Agent
3rd Floor, Chancery House, St. Nicholas Way
Sutton, England, SM1 1JB
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