Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

Southern Exposure Photography (SEP) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information when you visit our website or engage our services.

By contacting us, booking a session, or using our services, you agree to the practices outlined below.

1. Business Details

SEP is a sole trader business operating in New South Wales under ABN 70 768 611 430. We provide professional photography services by appointment only.

You can reach us at:

2. Personal Information We Collect

We only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary to provide our services or communicate with you. This may include:

  • Names and ages of participants

  • Email address

  • Phone number

  • Home or postal address, where required (for example, in-home viewings, physical gift vouchers, or printed products)

  • Photography session details

  • Contact form responses and enquiry details

  • Payment information, which is processed by third-party providers. SEP does not store your full card details.

  • Photographs taken during your session

  • Consent preferences, such as promotional usage permission

We do not intentionally collect sensitive information unless it is directly relevant to our services and provided voluntarily.

3. How We Collect Personal Information

We may collect personal information when you:

  • Submit a form on our website

  • Contact us via email, phone, or SMS

  • Book or attend a photography session

  • Participate in a viewing appointment

  • Purchase images, products, or gift vouchers

  • Provide consent preferences during the booking process

4. Why We Collect Personal Information

We collect and use personal information to:

  • Respond to enquiries

  • Manage bookings and scheduling

  • Provide photography services

  • Deliver digital files or physical products

  • Process payments and issue receipts

  • Communicate about your session or order

  • Request feedback or testimonials

  • Use images for promotional purposes, only with consent (see Section 10)

  • Comply with legal, tax, and accounting obligations

  • Send marketing and promotional communications where you have opted in (you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email)

  • Manage email subscriptions, offers, and promotional campaigns

5. Children's Information

Our sessions usually involve families, so we often collect the first names and ages of children. We collect this only to plan and run the session well. Knowing a child's age helps us pace the shoot, choose a location, and direct in a way that suits them.

How we handle it:

  • Children's information is collected from, and stored against the booking record of, the parent or guardian who makes the booking. We don't collect information directly from children.

  • We don't use children's information for marketing, and we don't market to children.

  • Consent to use images that include anyone under 18 for promotional purposes must be given by a parent or legal guardian. That consent is optional and can be withdrawn at any time.

  • A parent or guardian can ask us to access, correct, or delete their child's information under Section 12.

6. Storage & Security of Information

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, including:

  • Password-protected devices and email accounts, with multi-factor authentication where available

  • Secure client management systems, such as Studio Ninja

  • Secure cloud services, such as Google Workspace

  • Secure email marketing and scheduling platforms, such as Mailchimp and Calendly

  • Secure payment platforms operated by third-party providers, such as Stripe, Square, and Squarespace

If something goes wrong:

If we become aware of unauthorised access to, or disclosure or loss of, your personal information, we will act promptly to contain it and assess what has happened.

Where a breach is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify the individuals affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as soon as practicable, and tell you what has happened, what information was involved, and what steps you can take to protect yourself.

7. How Long We Keep Your Information

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it, then delete or de-identify it.

As a general guide:

  • Enquiries that don't lead to a booking. Up to 2 years from last contact.

  • Client booking and session records. Up to 7 years after your last session.

  • Financial and transaction records. At least 5 years, as required by Australian tax law.

  • Marketing subscriber details. Until you unsubscribe, then removed within a reasonable period

  • Image files. Approximately 1 to 3 years (see Section 10 of our Terms & Conditions).

  • Consent records. For as long as we hold the images the consent relates to.

We may keep information for longer where we're required to by law, or where it's needed for an ongoing complaint, insurance matter, or legal claim.

8. Sharing of Personal Information

We do not sell or rent personal information.

We may share personal information with trusted third-party providers only where necessary to:

  • Process payments

  • Deliver products and digital files

  • Manage bookings, scheduling, and communications

  • Send email communications you have opted in to receive

We may also disclose personal information if required by law, or to establish or defend our legal rights.

9. Overseas Disclosure

Some of the platforms we use to run the business store data outside Australia. This includes our client management, scheduling, email marketing, website, payment, and cloud storage providers, such as Studio Ninja, Calendly, Mailchimp, Squarespace, Stripe, Square, Google, and Meta.

These providers are located primarily in the United States, and may store or process data in other countries where they operate data centres.

This means your personal information, and where relevant your images, may be stored or accessed overseas. We take reasonable steps to use reputable providers who handle personal information in a way consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles, but we can't control the laws of the countries they operate in.

If you'd rather your information wasn't handled by a particular platform, contact us at hello@sephoto.com.au, and we'll tell you whether we can work around it.

10. Images, Copyright & Promotional Consent

SEP retains copyright in all images. You receive a licence to use the images you purchase. The full terms, including what you can do with your images and what needs our written permission, are set out in Section 11 of our Terms & Conditions.

SEP will only use client images for promotional or marketing purposes with your explicit consent. Consent is requested as part of the booking process, and may also be given by explicit written or verbal permission. It is entirely optional, has no impact on the service you receive, and can be withdrawn at any time by contacting us in writing. Full details are in Section 12 of our Terms & Conditions.

11. Cookies & Website Analytics

Our website may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to improve performance, analyse website traffic, and support marketing and advertising activities.

This may include:

  • Website analytics tools, such as Google Analytics

  • Advertising and remarketing tools, such as the Meta pixel

These tools may collect information such as:

  • Pages visited

  • Actions taken on the website

  • Device and browser information

  • Approximate location (non-identifying)

This information may be used to:

  • Measure website performance

  • Improve user experience

  • Show relevant advertisements to people who have previously visited our website

Third-party advertising platforms may use cookies or similar technologies to serve ads based on past visits to this website. These technologies do not identify you by name.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. You may also opt out of personalised advertising via:

  • Google Ad Settings

  • Meta Ad Preferences

12. Accessing or Correcting Your Information

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information by contacting us at hello@sephoto.com.au.

We will respond within a reasonable timeframe, and in most cases within 30 days. Where we can't give you what you've asked for (for example, where we're required to keep financial records), we'll explain why.

13. Privacy Complaints

If you believe your privacy has been breached, please contact us directly at hello@sephoto.com.au so we can address the issue. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days and respond within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC):

  • Website: oaic.gov.au

  • Phone: 1300 363 992

14. Changes To This Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. The most current version will always be available on our website.