Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 7 October 2026

Welcome to www.jamesmeakin.com. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website, book a photography session, or interact with our creative services worldwide.

As a business operating out of the United Kingdom, we process personal data in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and other global privacy laws (such as the EU GDPR and California Consumer Privacy Act) where applicable to our international visitors and clients.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

• Identity and Contact Data: Your name, email address, phone number, and physical billing/shipping address.

• Session and Booking Data: Details related to your photography booking, including event dates, locations, and specific creative briefs or requirements.

• Visual Content: Photographs, digital images, or video footage captured during our professional engagements, which may constitute personal data if individuals are identifiable. Where applicable, this includes signed model or property releases.

• Financial Data: Payment details processed securely via our third-party payment gateways. We do not store your full credit card details on our servers.

• Technical and Usage Data: Your IP address, browser type, operating system, pages viewed, and referral URLs collected automatically through cookies and analytics tools.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the data we collect for the following lawful purposes:

• To Fulfill Contracts: Managing bookings, communicating about your session, delivering client galleries, and processing invoices.

• Legitimate Business Interests: Showcasing our portfolio, managing our business operations, and maintaining website security.

• With Your Consent: Sending marketing newsletters, publishing your images on our public portfolio or social media (unless explicitly agreed otherwise in a private contract), and placing optional tracking cookies.

• Legal Compliance: Fulfilling tax, accounting, or statutory legal obligations.

3. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal data. We only share your data with trusted third-party service providers essential to running our photography business, including:

• Payment Processors: Secure merchant services to safely handle financial transactions.

• Web Hosting & IT Services: Providers that keep our website online, functional, and secure.

• Analytics Providers: Tools that help us understand website traffic and improve user experience.

All third-party partners are required to respect the security of your personal data and treat it in accordance with global data protection laws.

4. International Data Transfers

Because we serve clients worldwide, your data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside of the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area (EEA). Whenever we transfer your data internationally, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by utilizing approved legal frameworks, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or UK International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs).

5. Data Retention

We keep your contact and booking data only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements (typically 7 years for UK tax purposes).

For Visual Content (Photographs), we may retain portfolio images indefinitely to showcase our artistic body of work, subject to your right to object or terms outlined in your specific photography contract.

6. Your Legal Rights

Depending on your global location, you hold specific rights regarding your personal data. If you are based in the UK, EEA, or certain international jurisdictions, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.

• Correct any inaccurate or incomplete data.

• Erase your personal data (the "right to be forgotten"), subject to our legal retention overrides.

• Object to or restrict the processing of your data.

• Withdraw Consent at any time where we rely on your consent to process your data (e.g., portfolio display or marketing).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us directly using the details below.

7. Cookies and Tracking

Our website uses cookies to enhance functionality and analyze traffic. You can set your browser to refuse all or some cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or fail to function properly.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us at:

• Name/Business: James Meakin

• Website: www.jamesmeakin.com

• Email: james@jamesmeakin.com

• • Location: United Kingdom