Last updated November 22, 2023

Thank you for choosing to be part of our community at Melanie Duerkopp Photography ("Company", "we", "us", "our"). We at Melanie Duerkopp Photography are committed to protecting your privacy and your personal information. If you would like to reach out to us with any questions or concerns regarding our practices with respect to your information, please reach out to us at melanie@melanieduerkopp.com.

When you visit our website https://www.melanieduerkopp.com (the "Website"), and also when you use any of our services (the "Services"), we understand that you are entrusting us with your personal information. We appreciate the significance of this and take the protection of your privacy very seriously. In this document, our goal is to provide you with a clear understanding of what information we collect, how we intend to use it, and what your rights are in terms of controlling that information. We encourage you to take some time and read through this carefully because it contains important information regarding your privacy rights. If you finish reading this and decide that you do not agree with all of the terms and conditions contained within, then you must immediately cease using our website and affiliated Services immediately.

Our Privacy Policy will apply to all of the information that is collected through our website and other Services, as well as any other functions. Please be sure to read this document carefully, as it will help you to fully understand what information we are collecting, and what we intend to do with it. 

This privacy notice applies to all information collected through our Services (which, as described above, includes our Website), as well as, any related services, sales, marketing or events.

Please read this privacy notice carefully as it will help you understand what we do with the information that we collect.

1. What Information Do We Collect From You?

We here at Melanie Duerkopp Photography collect personal information that you give to us when you use our website or affiliated Services, or when you look for our products or services online, interact with our brand on social media, or directly reach out to us. 

The type of information that we obtain about you depends upon the context of when you interacted with us and our website, the selections that you make on it, and any products or other Services that you might make use of. Some of the information that we collect includes, but is not limited to: your name, phone numbers, email addresses, and other like information. Any and all information that you provide to us must be completely true and accurate, and we require that you inform us of any changes to that information. 

2. How Do We Use The Information We Collect From You?

In Summary: We will use the information that we obtain from you for legitimate business purposes, and fulfillment of our Agreement with you, our compliance with legal requirements, and/or your consent. 

We will use your personal information that we have collected through our website for multiple business purposes as described more fully below. We use this information for these purposes so that we can form or enter into agreements with you, with your consent, and so that we can comply with any and all of our legal obligations. We list the particular rationales that we rely upon below, along with the purpose of each. 

We use the information we collect or receive:

• To assist in the account creation and login processes. If you would like to link your account with our website to a third-party account (i.e. your Google or Facebook account), then we use the information that we collect from those third parties to help simplify the account creation and login processes during the course of your contract with us. 

• To upload testimonials from satisfied clients. We like to post testimonials to our web platform from users of our website that may contain some of your personal information. Before we upload a testimonial, we will contact you to get your permission to make use of your name and the content of your testimony. If, after you provide us with a testimonial, you would like to make any changes or remove it from our website, please reach out to us at melanie@melanieduerkopp.com and provide us with your name, testimony details, and contact information.

• Obtain feedback regarding our website. In order to better serve our customers, we sometimes use your personal information to send you emails asking for feedback and to ask you about your experience on our Website.

• To enable customer communications. We also sometimes use your personal information in order to provide user-to-user communications, so long as both of the customers agree. We will not use this information to allow user-to-user communications without your consent. 

• To assist in controlling customer accounts. We may use your personal information in order to manage your account and ensure it is in working condition.

• To provide you with administrative information. We may use your personal information to provide you with news regarding new products or feature information and/or information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies such as here.

• To safeguard our website and other services. In addition to some of our other uses of your information, we may use it in our work to ensure the security of our website and for information fraud prevention. 

• We may also use your information to enforce the terms and conditions for the use of our website and other services, as well as to comply with all applicable legal, regulatory, or contractual mandates.

• Additionally, we may be required to use your information to answer legal questions and to protect our company and customers from harm. If we are subpoenaed or receive any other legally compelling request, we may be required to turn over your information or to view it to see if it is pertinent to the request. 

• Your information may also be used to assist in completing or providing support for any orders that you have placed from our website. Your information may be used to complete these orders and to manage any other aspects of your order such as the payment process, or any returns or exchanges that you may make through our website. 

• We may sometimes offer prizes for raffles or competitions that we run through our website. In order to provide you with information regarding these, we may use your information if you consent to participate in our competitions. 

• Your information may also be used to deliver or assist in the delivery of our services to you.

• If you are in need of technical assistance or support from us, we may need to use your information to contact you and answer your questions or provide support for any issues that you are experiencing while using our website or other services. 

• In our efforts to provide you with the best information regarding our products and other services, we may use your information for our marketing and promotional services. We may also use third parties to help partner with us and market our products by using your information, so long as this is aligned with your advertising settings. You are able to opt out of these marketing and promotional options at any time by contacting us.

• In addition to our other marketing practices, we also may use targeted advertising to provide you with information regarding our products or services. We may use your information to deliver you personalized advertising and/or other marketing content, and may also use third-party marketing tools to help attune these advertisements to your interests or geolocation. 

• Finally, we may use your personal information for some of our other proprietary business purposes. These may include performing analysis and using software to help us track the usage of our website, and help us to identify the best way to promote our products to you and to improve our website, services, marketing campaigns, and your overall experience with our products and services. This information from you may be used and/or stored in an unidentifiable and anonymous manner so as to ensure that you cannot be associated with your individual data. We will not make use of your personal information without your permission.

3. Will We Share Your Information With Anyone?

To Summarize: We will share information only if you provide us with your consent, to comply with any legal or regulatory duties, to help to provide you with our products or services, to help safeguard your rights, and to fulfill our other business or contractual obligations.

We may use or distribute the information regarding you that we possess for the following reasons:

• Consent: We will make use of your personal information if you give us consent to use your personal information for that particular purpose.

• Legitimate Interests: Your information may be used when it is necessary to perform the legitimate business interests or in the performance of our services for you.

• Performance of a Contract: If we form a contract with you, we may require your personal information to fully perform under the terms of the agreement. 

• Legal Obligations: We may be required to divulge your personal information under certain circumstances by law, such as to comply with applicable laws or regulations, to respond to government requests, judicial proceedings, court orders, or any other legal proceedings such as a subpoena request. 

• Vital Interests: Where necessary to assist in an investigation, or to prevent or rectify violations of our website policies, to combat fraud, or other situations which might involve threats to the safety of persons or other illegal activities, or to provide evidence in any litigation which we find ourselves in, we may use your personal information. 

Below are a set of examples of situations wherein we might need to use or share your personal information: 

• Business Transfers. In the course of any business mergers, acquisitions, sales of part or all of our assets, in the course of receiving financing, or other related activities that we are involved in, we may need to use or disclose your information in connection with these transactions. 

• Affiliates. We may disclose the information that you provide to us to any of our affiliates. In such a case, we will require our affiliates to safeguard your information in accordance with this privacy policy. Some examples of our affiliates would include a parent company, and any subsidiaries, partners, or other companies that we own or that we have a controlling interest in. 

• Business Partners. In connection with our business relationship, we will likely be sharing your information with any and all of our business partners, to help them and us to offer you additional products or services. 

• Other Users. As you make use of our website, you may disclose information when you interact with our website or any of the other users on our website. You understand that such personal information that you provide or release in this manner is in a public place, and it may be shared outside of the confines of our website. Additionally, other users of our website will be able to access and see the information that you post in this manner and see portions of your activities, reach out to you within our website, or view your website profile. 

4. Do We Use Cookies And Other Tracking Software?

To Summarize: We may make use of cookies and other tracking software or technology to identify, obtain, and retain your information when you access our website or other services.

In order for us to ensure that you have the best possible experience on our website, we use cookies and other software to support our services by accessing your information and storing it. If you would like to learn more about the software that we use and how you can interact with it, please visit our Cookie Policy page.

5. How Long Do We Retain The Information That We Obtain?

To Summarize: We will retain your information as long as we require it to comply with the policies that we have described in this Privacy Policy. 

We retain your personal information for as long as we need it for the reasons that we described in this Privacy Policy unless a longer period of time is mandated by law, regulatory action, or judicial decree. However, nothing in this Privacy Policy shall require us to retain your personal information for any period of time longer than 2 years from the date we obtain the information.

If we no longer have a legitimate business need to use your personal information, we will either dispose of or disassociate your personal information so as to render it anonymous or if we are unable to do that for any reason, then we will keep the information safely stored with us and keep it separated from our other information until it is possible to dispose of it.

6. How Do We Safeguard Your Information?

To Summarize: We seek to safeguard your personal information via our series of security measures.

We use a number of high tech security measures that are built to protect and secure any personal information that we use with our website and other services. Even with all of this, we cannot guarantee that the information that you send to us or that we store can be completely secured against third party access such as hackers, cybercriminals, or any other unauthorized users that are able to illicitly access, obtain, or change your personal information. We will do our best to secure your information, but you understand that you are assuming the risk of this information being released if you share it with us. You can limit these risks by ensuring that your connection and location are secure when you use our website and other services.

7. Do We Collect Any  Information From Minor Users?

To Summarize: It is our policy to not knowingly obtain any data or directly market to children that are under the age of 18.

It is the policy of our company to not collect or request data from children under the age of 18, nor do we market our services towards them. When you use our website, you are indicating that you are at least 18 years of age, or that you are the parent or guardian of a minor and you grant consent to the minor to use our Website. If we discover that the personal information we have collected belongs to a user that is under the age of 18, we will terminate the user’s account and take all actions that are reasonably necessary to swiftly dispose of the information from our servers. If you discover that we have inadvertently obtained the personal information of a child under the age of 18, we ask that you promptly inform us at melanie@melanieduerkopp.com.

8. What Are Your Rights Under This Privacy Policy?

To Summarize: We permit you to review, modify, or end your account with us at any time. 

If you are currently residing in either the EEA or the UK, and you believe that we are unlawfully using your personal information, then you have the right to file a complaint with your regional data protection supervisory authority. You can determine the nearest one and find their contact information at the following URL:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/bodies/authorities/index_en.htm.

Alternatively, if you are a resident of Switzerland, then you can find the information to contact the data protection authorities there at the following URL: https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/edoeb/en/home.html.

Cookies and other software: Nearly all web browsers are designed to accept cookies and other similar technologies by default when you visit a website. However, if you wish you can modify the setting in your browser to both remove and reject cookies. If you do this, you might affect certain features of our website and our other services. If you would like to learn more about opting out of these types of advertising, please see http://www.aboutads.info/choices/.

9. Options For Controlling Do-Not-Track Features

Most of the popular web browsers and mobile device internet applications have some sort of Do-Not-Track feature (sometimes called a “DNT” feature) that allows you to automatically set your privacy options to not monitor or collect your internet activity or information. There is currently no universal standard for this software to use DNT features with all internet activities. Because of this, we cannot guarantee that our website will function with any DNT technology that you have set up to automatically disable any tracking or information gathering software that we use. If this changes in the future and there is a universal system of DNT software that we are required to use, then we will update you to this new information and how we will be adapting to that new technology. 

10. California Resident Specific Privacy Rights?

To Summarize: If you are a current resident of the State of California, then you do possess additional rights over your personal information that are greater than those you might otherwise have. 

Under California Civil Code Section 1798.83, (hereinafter referred to as the “Shine The Light” law), residents of California who access and make use of our website and other services may request and/or obtain access to from use regarding information about the type of personal information that we may collect and distribute to other third parties for marketing purposes, as well as the names and addresses of these third parties whom we have shared your information with in the last year. This access shall last for one year and is required to be provided free of charge to you. If you are a resident of California and wish to make a request to use under this provision, then please contact us with your request in writing at the following email address: melanie@melanieduerkopp.com.

If you are a minor who is under the age of 18 and also a resident of California, and you have an account on file with our website or other services, you may also send us a request to remove any data that you have publicly posted on our website that you no longer wish to have public. If you would like to make such a request, then please send us a written request at the following email address [Email], and please be sure to include the email address that you registered with your account on our website and a brief message stating that you are a California resident making a request under this term. We will do our best to ensure that the information that you designate is no longer publicly available on our website, however, understand that this information may not be completely removed from all of our servers and systems. 

11. Do We Update Our Privacy Policy?

We do reserve the right to make updates to this Privacy Policy to ensure that we stay compliant with all laws and regulations that apply to us. We will make these updates from time to time as they are required. When we do so, the new version will be displayed with a new date shown in the “Last Revised on” date, and the new, updated privacy policy will become effective and binding as soon as it is made publicly available. If any of the changes that we make are material to this Privacy Policy, then we shall do our best to inform you with either a display on our website making note of the changes, or by contacting you directly with a message. We recommend that you look over this Privacy Policy from time to time to keep abreast of any changes that we have made in our latest updated policy. 

12. Our Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, or anything else that you wish to share with us, please reach out to us at melanie@melanieduerkopp.com or by sending us a written message at

Melanie Duerkopp Photography
245 Collins Street, San Francisco, CA 94118

13. What Can You Do To Review, Update, Or Delete Your Information?

Depending upon the laws or regulations of the country where you are currently a resident, you may have the right to contact us and make a request to access the personal information that we have collected about you, to either change or delete that information under certain circumstances. To make such a request, please submit a written request form via email at melanie@melanieduerkopp.com.