SmugMug Privacy Policy

(Last Updated: October 28, 2010)

At SmugMug, Inc. ("SmugMug", "we", or "us"), we are passionately committed to the privacy of our customers.

This Privacy Policy (this "Policy") describes how personal information is collected from users of SmugMug's website at www.smugmug.com (the "Site"), and how that information is used and disclosed by SmugMug.

For information about how to make your photo galleries private and/or secure, please see:

www.smugmug.com/help/private-albums.

What is Personal Information?

Personal information specifically identifies an individual, such as an individual's name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, credit card or other account number—and information about that individual's activities when directly linked to him or her, such as information about his or her purchases.

Personal information also includes demographic information, such as date of birth, gender, geographic area and preferences when such information is linked to other personal information that identifies an individual.

Personal information does not include "aggregate" information. Aggregate information is data collected about a group or category of products, services or customers from which individual customer identities have been removed. Aggregate data helps us understand trends and customer needs so that we can better design new products and services, and refine existing products and services to serve our customers better.

Personal Information We Collect

Some third parties may place cookies in advertisements and in other locations on the Site, and may place Web beacons on the Site in conjunction with such cookies. Information collected by these third parties is subject to those third parties' policies governing use and disclosure of personal information. In addition, a third-party service is used to anonymously track traffic data on the Site through the use of a cookie that is not linked to, and does not track, any personally identifiable information about users of our Site.

Personal information may be collected any time you:

create an account and subscribe to our digital photography, media hosting or other services ("Services")
purchase prints or other products or services
participate in a survey, contest or sweepstakes on the Site
contact us by email for any reason, such as to request help with the Services, or to provide us with your comments/feedback
submit a resume to us via email; or
post personal information in connection with your photos/galleries (e.g., in a photo caption) or in other forums or interactive areas on the Site.

Important Note: You have the option of telling us how you wish to be identified in connection with your photos, galleries, comments and elsewhere on the Site. If you choose to use your real name (or include any personally identifying information as part of your "nickname") that information will be publicly displayed on our Site. Therefore, please use caution in determining how you wish to be identified on the Site.

Additionally, when you visit our Site, some information is automatically collected, such as your computer's operating system and browser type, version, and capabilities (such as whether JavaScript is enabled and cookies are accepted), your Internet Protocol (IP) address and the time and date of your visit, the referring site (if applicable), as well as screen resolution, color and depth. This information is tracked through the use of "cookies" and "Web beacons."

Cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by your browser at the request of a web site to store your personal preferences. We use cookies to keep you logged in to the Site, to count the number of unique computers visiting the Site, and to record your user preferences.

Web beacons, also known as Web bugs, are small, graphic images on a Web page or other Web-based content that allow the site owner or a third party to monitor the IP address and other information of the site or computer viewing the Web page or content. Web beacons are often invisible to the user because they are typically very small (only 1-by-1 pixel) and the same color as the background of the Web page or other Web content. Web beacons collect the IP address of the computer to which the Web beacon is sent, the URL of the page from which the Web beacon comes, and the time it was viewed. Web beacons can be linked to personal information.

We may place Web beacons on the Site in conjunction with cookies to monitor how visitors are navigating and/or interacting with the Site. We treat automatically collected information as personal information if we combine it with or link it to any of the personal information identified above. Otherwise, it is used in the aggregate only.

How We Use Personal Information

In general, we use personal information collected on the Site to provide the Services and otherwise process transactions on the Site, to provide support for the Services, to respond to user requests and inquiries, to maintain a record of our dealings with Site users, to facilitate your use of, and our administration and operation of, the Site; to develop new products and services and to inform users about information, events, promotions, products or services we think will be of interest.

For example, we use your information to process orders of subscriptions to the Services or purchases or prints or other products, to communicate with you about your product purchases, your subscription(s) and/or use of the Services or the Site, to provide support in response to your inquiries, to send you promotional materials via email and postal mail, to improve our products and services and to develop new products and services. When we use your personal information in our internal marketing efforts, we provide you with choices (see "Choice," below). We may also receive information from third parties with whom we have business relationships, and may combine this information with the other personal information we maintain about you (for example, we may receive updated information about you, such as an updated billing address, from the financial institution issuing your credit card in connection with billing for Services). If we do so, this Policy governs such information.

Sharing of Personal Information

We do not sell, rent or share personal information with third parties without your prior consent except in the limited circumstances described in this Policy. We may share personal information with third-party vendors who assist us in performing internal functions necessary to operate our business. These functions may include, for example, analyzing traffic information or other data, providing marketing assistance, mailing items, processing credit card transactions, and fulfilling or delivering orders. In all cases we limit the information shared with our third-party vendors to that which is necessary to carry out those functions. We are not responsible for any additional information you provide to these parties, and we encourage you to become familiar with their practices before disclosing information directly to them.

If you purchase prints or other products from one of our subscribers (e.g., a professional photographer) whose site is maintained or hosted by SmugMug (a "Subscriber Site) the contact and other information you provide in connection with such order (other than your credit card information) is provided to such Subscriber so that they may provide you with assistance or answer questions you may have in connection your purchases. The use of the information by such subscriber will be governed by such subscriber's privacy practices and policies which may differ from this Policy and we do not have control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy practices of Subscriber Sites. We may also share the personal information you provide with other third parties if you give us your consent for us to do so.

You understand that when you use the Site, information you post in any public areas of the Site, as well as any information you share with individuals through the Site, will be available to other users and in some cases may be publicly available. We recommend you be cautious about giving out personal information to others or sharing personal information in public or private online forums. We are not responsible for the actions of any third parties with whom you share personal information.

We also disclose personal information when we believe it is appropriate to comply with the law (e.g., a lawful subpoena, warrant or court order) or with requests of law enforcement authorities; to enforce or apply this Policy or our other policies or agreements; to initiate, render, bill and collect for amounts owed to us; to protect our or our customers' rights, property or safety; to protect our customers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of, our Site; or if we reasonably believe that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure of communications or justifies disclosure of records without delay. In addition, information about our customers, including personally identifiable information, may be disclosed as part of any merger, acquisition, debt financing or sale of company assets, as well as in the event of an insolvency, bankruptcy or receivership in which personally identifiable information could be transferred to third parties as one of our business assets.

Links to Other Web Sites

The Site may contain links to other Web sites. Links from our Site to other sites or content are provided for your convenience only, and we do not have control over the content or privacy and security practices and policies of such third parties or other sites. Any personal information you provide on linked pages is provided directly to that third party and is subject to that third party's privacy policy. We encourage you to learn about their privacy and security practices and policies before providing them with personal information.

Security

We have put into place reasonable security measures in an effort to prevent loss, misuse and alteration of information while it is under our control. We cannot, however, guarantee the protection of information against interception, misappropriation, misuse or alteration, nor can we promise that your information may not be disclosed or accessed by accidental circumstances or by the unauthorized acts of others. Furthermore, we have no control over the security of other sites you might visit, interact with or do business with.

Choice

To opt-out of receiving marketing or other promotional communications from us we provide you with the following options: you may (1) follow the "Unsubscribe" instructions contained in the communication from us; or (2) email us at help@smugmug.com. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as emails about your accounts or our ongoing business relations.

If, in the future, we decide to share personal information with any third parties for their own (or another third party's) marketing purposes (other than as already described in this Policy), we will update this Policy to reflect such change and provide you with the opportunity to opt-out of such disclosure of your personal information.

Policy Changes

We will modify this Policy if our privacy practices materially change in the future and we will notify you of such changes, such as by posting the modified Policy on our Site and indicating at the top of the Policy the date it was last updated. We encourage you to review this Policy each time you visit our Site to see if it has been updated since your last visit and to make sure you understand how information you provide will be used.

Your Comments or Concerns

We welcome your feedback. If you have any comments or concerns about this Policy or would like to contact us for any reason, you may reach us via email at help@smugmug.com.