Privacy Policy

1. Who this policy applies to

Fotarie serves photography studios and photographers who hold accounts (“account holders”); people who visit or unlock a shared gallery (“gallery visitors”); people who appear in photos or other material uploaded by an account holder (“gallery subjects”); and people who interact with a studio’s client-facing tools—such as inquiry forms, booking packets, questionnaires, contract signatures, or invoices (“studio clients”). A person may fall into more than one of these groups.

For account information and data needed to operate and secure Fotarie, we decide why and how the information is handled. For photos, video, gallery details, website content, contacts, bookings, contracts, invoices, client-facing material, and related information uploaded or configured by a photographer or studio, that photographer or studio controls the content and Fotarie acts as its service provider or processor.

2. Information we collect

• Account and studio information: name, email address, password credentials in protected form, studio or organization name, role, account status, invitations, and email-confirmation status.
• Photos, video, and gallery information: uploaded photos and video, filenames, technical metadata that accompanies uploads, video duration and resolution, gallery and set names, descriptions, access settings, watermark and branding settings, download settings, expiry settings, and related delivery information.
• Gallery activity: visits, gallery unlocks, photo, gallery, and video downloads, the time of those actions, and related IP address and user-agent information. This activity is available to the photographer or studio that controls the gallery.
• Gallery visitor information: where a photographer asks visitors to identify themselves before viewing a gallery, the email address a visitor provides. We associate that address with the gallery, record it alongside the gallery activity above, and use it to group the photos that visitor marks as favourites. The photographer or studio that controls the gallery can see this information.
• Website information: the pages, portfolios, text, images, and settings of a website built with Fotarie, together with its web address and published versions. Content on a published website is public to anyone who visits it.
• Inquiry and lead information: when someone submits a website inquiry form or a shareable inquiry link, the name, email, phone number, event details, and other fields the studio asks for. That information is available to the photographer or studio that controls the form.
• Studio contacts, bookings, and client materials: contact records (such as name, email, phone, notes, and lead source), job and booking details, booking packets (quotes, contracts, and questionnaires), questionnaire answers, contract signatures (including signer name, signing time, and related IP address and user-agent information), invoices and installment details, payment instructions entered by the studio, and generated PDFs stored for delivery. Token links used to open a packet or invoice are part of how those materials are delivered. This information is controlled by the photographer or studio that enters or collects it.
• Billing information: the plan, billing interval, currency, subscription status, renewal and cancellation dates, and the customer and subscription identifiers our payment processor assigns. Payment card details for studio subscriptions are entered directly with Stripe and are never received or stored by Fotarie. Client invoices created in Fotarie are for the studio’s own billing relationship; Fotarie does not collect card payments from those clients.
• Communications: information needed to send account, invitation, email-confirmation, password-reset, gallery, booking packet, invoice, inquiry-notification, security, and support communications, together with messages and product feedback you send us.
• Technical information: IP address, browser and device user agent, requested pages, timestamps, session identifiers, and security or diagnostic records produced when the service is used.
• Optional analytics and campaign information: with analytics permission where required, Fotarie collects visits to a limited set of public acquisition pages, page title, approximate region, device and browser information, referring source, campaign parameters, successful sign-up method, and the plan, billing interval, currency, and value selected when checkout begins. On those same public pages, Microsoft Clarity may also record clicks, scrolls, cursor movement, and a masked session replay of the page so we can see how people use the marketing site. Where analytics is permitted, the referring source and campaign parameters from your first visit are also stored with the studio account created at sign-up, so we can tell which channel a studio came from.

3. Google Sign-In

If you choose Google Sign-In, Fotarie receives basic profile details made available for authentication—such as your name and verified email address—and a stable Google account identifier. We use this information only to authenticate you, create or link your Fotarie identity, secure the sign-in flow, and provide your account.

Fotarie does not receive your Google password, request access to Google Photos, Google Drive, contacts, or other Google API content, retain the raw Google ID token after verification, or use Google user data for advertising. We do not store Google access or refresh tokens for this sign-in feature. Our use of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its applicable Limited Use requirements.

4. Why we use personal information

We use personal information to:

• create, authenticate, administer, and secure accounts and studios;
• host, process, organize, display, protect, and deliver galleries and downloads according to the account holder’s instructions;
• provide gallery owners with activity records and operate access and download controls;
• host, publish, and serve websites built with Fotarie;
• host and operate studio tools for contacts, bookings, inquiry forms, booking packets, questionnaires, contracts, signatures, invoices, and related client delivery according to the account holder’s instructions;
• take payment for studio subscriptions, manage plan entitlements, and keep billing and tax records;
• send transactional communications and respond to support, privacy, legal, and security requests;
• send a small number of onboarding messages in the first days after sign-up, to help a new studio deliver its first gallery;
• maintain, troubleshoot, protect, and improve the reliability and usability of the service, including investigating bugs and resolving support requests;
• understand how people discover Fotarie, measure successful sign-ups, and evaluate advertising performance; and
• comply with law, enforce our Terms, and prevent fraud, abuse, or harm.

Depending on the context and applicable law, we rely on consent, the performance of our agreement with an account holder, and our legitimate need to operate and secure the service. We limit collection, use, and disclosure to purposes a reasonable person would consider appropriate.

Onboarding messages carry an unsubscribe link, and can also be turned off at any time from your profile page. Opting out never affects account email, which we must be able to send to operate your account—email confirmation, password resets, security notices, billing, and galleries, packets, or invoices shared with you.

5. Cookies and similar technology

Fotarie uses essential cookies and similar browser storage to keep users signed in, maintain gallery access after a valid password or download PIN is entered, protect requests, remember security state, and operate core service functions. Disabling essential cookies may prevent account or protected-gallery features from working.

In the production authenticated application, Fotarie uses Sentry for pseudonymous browser error diagnostics. Diagnostic events may include internal user, organization, gallery, photo, upload-run, and request identifiers together with technical status, timing, byte-count, connectivity, and page-visibility information. Browser diagnostics do not include names, email addresses, filenames, file contents, photos, signed upload URLs or credentials, or request bodies. Session Replay and browser performance tracing are not enabled.

On a small allowlist of public acquisition pages, and on the billing page only when checkout begins, Fotarie uses Google Firebase Analytics (Google Analytics 4) and Google Ads conversion measurement. These tools use cookies and similar technology to measure public-page visits, successful sign-ups, and checkout starts. They may also process technical, referral, and advertising-campaign information.

On that same public-page allowlist, Fotarie also uses Microsoft Clarity for heatmaps and session recordings. Clarity uses first-party cookies to stitch page views into a session. Sensitive form fields, including passwords, are masked by default. Clarity is not loaded on public galleries, tokenized links, billing, or general authenticated product pages.

Fotarie does not send Google or Microsoft names, email addresses, account or studio details, user identifiers, passwords, tokens, gallery identifiers, filenames, photo metadata, photos, galleries, or other customer content. Analytics is not loaded on public galleries, tokenized links, or general authenticated product pages. We do not use analytics for personalized advertising, audience remarketing, or cross-context behavioural advertising.

Where applicable, the consent strip asks before Google or Microsoft Clarity code loads or measurement begins. You may accept or reject optional analytics and may later change or withdraw your choice through “Cookie settings” in the footer. Rejection or withdrawal keeps optional measurement disabled, removes accessible Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity cookies, and discards any stored campaign information for this browser. Outside regions where prior consent is required, measurement begins by default, but the same setting remains available. Advertising personalization remains disabled in all cases.

6. When we disclose information

We may disclose information:

• to the photographer or studio controlling a gallery, website, inquiry form, booking packet, invoice, or other studio material, including the activity and client information described above;
• to service providers that help us host, secure, store, process, and deliver Fotarie, only as needed for their services. These are Render (application hosting), Neon (database hosting), Cloudflare (file storage, content delivery, and transactional email), Stripe (payment processing and tax for studio subscriptions), Mux (video upload, processing, streaming, and download), Sentry (error and performance monitoring, configured not to send personal information by default), Google (authentication and, where you permit it, Firebase Analytics, Google Analytics 4, and Google Ads conversion measurement), and Microsoft (Clarity heatmaps and session recordings on public acquisition pages, where you permit optional analytics);
• when our personnel need limited access to account or content data to investigate a bug, resolve a support request, maintain the integrity of the service, or address security, abuse, or legal concerns;
• when required by law, legal process, or a lawful government request, or when reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, security, and the integrity of the service; and
• in connection with a proposed or completed financing, reorganization, merger, acquisition, or sale of all or part of the business, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal requirements.

Fotarie does not sell personal information. We do not disclose personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising.

7. Storage and processing outside Canada

Fotarie and its service providers may store or process information in Canada, the United States, or other countries where they operate. As a result, information may be subject to the laws of those jurisdictions and may be accessible to courts, law enforcement, or government authorities under local law. We use contractual and organizational measures intended to protect information handled by service providers. Database information hosted by Neon, payment information handled by Stripe, video handled by Mux, optional analytics and conversion information processed by Google, and optional heatmap and session-recording information processed by Microsoft may therefore be transferred to and handled in the United States and other countries where those providers operate.

8. Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, including access controls, protected authentication credentials, encryption in transit, encryption of stored files at rest, and service monitoring. No online service or storage system can guarantee absolute security. Account holders are responsible for protecting their passwords and sharing gallery credentials, packet links, and invoice links only with intended recipients.

9. Retention

We retain personal information only as long as reasonably needed to provide the service, fulfil the purposes described in this policy, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, maintain security and audit records, and enforce agreements. Retention depends on the type of information, account and gallery status, the photographer’s instructions, backup cycles, and legal requirements. Information may remain in protected backups for a limited period after deletion from active systems. Some records may first be deactivated or soft-deleted while related systems finish cleanup, and may remain recoverable for a limited period before permanent removal.

Gallery, website, studio, and billing records are kept while an account is active and for a limited period afterwards to meet legal, tax, accounting, and audit obligations and to resolve disputes. Stripe keeps its own record of payment transactions under the obligations that apply to it as merchant of record for studio subscriptions.

We configure Google Analytics event-level data retention for 14 months. Google may retain other aggregated, reporting, or operational data under its own service terms and retention controls. Microsoft retains Clarity recordings, heatmaps, and related operational data under its own service terms and retention controls.

10. Your choices and privacy rights

Subject to applicable law, you may ask to access personal information we hold about you, learn how it has been used or disclosed, correct inaccurate information, withdraw consent where processing depends on consent, or request deletion. Some requests may be limited where we must retain information by law, protect another person’s rights, preserve security, or complete a transaction you requested.

Account holders can update their name, email address, studio name, and password in Fotarie. Account holders can also export certain studio records they control—such as contact lists and gallery client selections—through the product. Fotarie does not currently offer self-serve account deletion, so requests to delete an account or to receive a copy of the information we hold are handled by contacting [email protected]. Gallery visitors, gallery subjects, and studio clients should first contact the photographer or studio that controls the relevant gallery, website, inquiry, packet, or invoice, because that party decides why the information is collected and how it is used. We will assist the controlling photographer or studio as appropriate. You may also contact our Privacy Officer at [email protected].

You may challenge our privacy practices or make a complaint to our Privacy Officer. We will investigate and respond within a reasonable time. You may also have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or an applicable provincial privacy regulator.

You can also use “Cookie settings” in the footer to accept, reject, or withdraw optional analytics permission at any time. Withdrawing consent affects future collection and does not require you to close your Fotarie account.

11. Children and photographed minors

Fotarie accounts are intended for adults aged 18 or older. The service is not directed to children. Photographers and studios are responsible for having lawful authority to upload, use, and share their content and for obtaining any consent required for people depicted in it or whose personal information they enter into studio tools, including a parent’s or guardian’s consent where required for minors.

12. Changes and contact

We may update this policy as the service or legal requirements change. We will post the revised policy with a new effective date and provide additional notice where required. Questions, requests, and complaints may be sent to Fotarie’s Privacy Officer at [email protected].