This Privacy Policy explains how BookBirdy LLC ("bookbirdy," "we," "us" or "our") collects, uses and protects information when you use the bookbirdy website, apps and services (the "Service").
The short version: photographers use bookbirdy to run their business, and their information, and their clients' information, belongs to them. We use it only to run the Service. We don't sell it, and we don't use it for advertising.
Who this policy covers
- Photographers and their teams who sign up for bookbirdy ("studios").
- Visitors to bookbirdy.com.
- Families and other clients who book with a studio, sign a contract, fill out a questionnaire, pay, or use a family page.
If you booked with a photographer: your photographer decides what information to collect and how to use it. bookbirdy stores and processes that information on their behalf. For questions about your information, or to update or delete it, please contact your photographer first. We'll help them with your request.
Information we collect
From studios
- Account details: your name, email address, password (stored scrambled, never in plain text), studio name, address, logo, colors and settings.
- Billing details: your plan and billing history. Card details are handled by Stripe, and we never see or store your full card number.
- Connected accounts: if you connect Google, Stripe or Square, we store the access needed to work with them (see "Google information" below).
About a studio's clients (added by the studio, imported, or entered by the client on a booking or family page)
- names, email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses (only the studio sees a family's address, and it's used to show which families live near each other);
- session details, such as dates, times, locations, notes and who's coming;
- children's first names and birth month and year, which photographers use to plan sessions;
- questionnaire answers and photo sharing choices;
- signed contracts, including the signer's name, email, the time they signed, and their IP address and browser details as a record of the signature; and
- payment status, such as whether a deposit was paid. Card payments happen on Stripe's or Square's own pages, and we never see or store card numbers.
Automatically
- Technical information: like IP address, browser type and pages visited, kept in server logs to run and secure the Service.
- Cookies: we use a few cookies that are needed for the Service to work, such as keeping you signed in. We don't use advertising cookies or ad trackers.
How we use information
We use information to:
- run the Service, including booking pages, calendars, contracts, payments, family pages and emails;
- send emails on a studio's behalf that the studio has set up or turned on, such as confirmations, reminders and invoices;
- send studios important messages about their account, billing and security;
- answer questions and give support;
- keep the Service secure and prevent fraud and abuse;
- understand how the Service is used, so we can fix problems and improve it; and
- follow the law.
We don't sell personal information, and we don't share it for advertising.
Google information
If you connect your Google account, bookbirdy can:
- Google Calendar: read and update events on your primary calendar, so sessions stay in sync and bookings you take through bookbirdy are added to it.
- Gmail (only if you connect it): send emails to your clients from your own address, and read messages so emails with your clients can show in their records. For the Inbox screen we keep a saved copy of the sender, subject, a short preview and the date of the last 90 days of your inbox, refreshed every few minutes, so it opens quickly. We don't store the body of your emails; they're read from Gmail when you open them. Disconnecting Gmail stops this.
- Google sign-in: use your name, email address and profile picture to sign you in.
bookbirdy's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We use Google information only to provide and improve the features you use. We don't use it for advertising, we don't sell it, and people at bookbirdy don't read it unless you ask us to for support, it's needed for security, or the law requires it.
You can disconnect Google anytime in Settings, or from your Google account's security settings.
Who we share information with
We share information only as needed to run the Service, with companies that help us, including:
- Hosting and security: DigitalOcean (through Cloudways) for servers, and Cloudflare for network security and speed.
- Email delivery: Amazon Web Services (Amazon SES), and Google if you connect Gmail.
- Payments: Stripe for bookbirdy subscriptions, and Stripe or Square for payments a studio takes from its clients.
- Calendars: Google, if you connect Google Calendar.
- Maps: the US Census Bureau's geocoder, which turns a street address into a map location (only the address is sent), OpenStreetMap, which provides the map pictures studios see, and the US National Weather Service, which gets the location of outdoor session days for the forecast. Family names and details are never sent to any of them.
These companies may only use the information to provide their services to us. We may also share information:
- when the law requires it, or to protect the rights, safety and security of bookbirdy, our users or the public; and
- as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of our business, in which case this policy will continue to protect it.
Children
bookbirdy is a tool for photographers and isn't meant for children to use. Parents and photographers may give us children's first names and birth month and year so photographers can plan sessions. We use this information only to provide the Service to the photographer. We don't knowingly collect information directly from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us information directly, contact us and we'll delete it.
How long we keep information
We keep a studio's information while its account is open or paused, so nothing is lost if the studio comes back. When a studio asks us to delete its account, we delete its information, except for anything we must keep to follow the law, settle disputes or enforce our agreements. Backups are deleted on a regular schedule.
Keeping information safe
We use encryption in transit (HTTPS), scrambled password storage, encrypted private links, separation between studios' data, and limited access for our team. No system is perfectly secure, but we work hard to protect your information.
Your choices and rights
Studios can view and correct their information in the app. To get a copy of your data, delete your account, or for anything you can't do in the app, email us.
Families and clients can update their own details on their family page, and can ask their photographer to change or delete their information.
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or get a copy of your personal information, or to object to certain uses. To make a request, email [email protected]. We won't treat you differently for using these rights.
Emails: every newsletter includes an unsubscribe link.
Where information is stored
bookbirdy is based in the United States, and information is stored and processed in the United States.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. If we make a significant change, we'll let studios know by email or in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.
Contact us
Questions or requests about privacy? Email us at [email protected].
BookBirdy LLC, North Carolina