What are “cookies”?

“Cookies” (also known as HTTP cookies, web cookies or browser cookies) are simply small pieces of data, which are stored as text files on your computer, whenever you visit certain websites. Their typical purpose is to help sites remember particular actions you may have done there in the past. For example, cookies may track when you have logged into a site, visited certain pages or clicked certain buttons.

Websites maintained by Grow Your Photography Studio use cookies to improve your user experience. In many cases, cookies are even essential for certain features of a site.

For example, we use cookies to:

• Remember your user preferences, searches and favourites.
• Track your usage of a site, via Google Analytics© and Google Tag Manager©.
• Track the success of our marketing campaigns.

Are cookies harmful?

Cookies cannot harm you or your computer. They cannot contain viruses, cannot install harmful software and cannot damage your computer in any way. Although Grow Your Photography Studio uses cookies to gather encrypted information to improve your user experience, this information is never personally identifiable. We do not use cookies to store any sensitive information, such as name, address or contact details.

Despite this, if you do wish to disable or remove cookies, please see the “Help” section of your browser or mobile device. Each browser or device handles the management of cookies differently, so you will need to refer to your appropriate “Help” documentation. However, as mentioned, please be aware that cookies are essential for certain features of a Grow Your Photography Studio site to work properly.

Why are we telling you this?

The information provided here on the use of cookies on Grow Your Photography Studio websites demonstrates our compliance with recent cookie legislation. We also want you, as a valued Grow Your Photography Studio website user, to fully understand your privacy, how cookies affect you and to be entirely comfortable with your Grow Your Photography Studio website experience.

We trust that this information eases any concerns you may have had about your privacy and safety with cookies. BY CONTINUING TO USE OUR WEBSITE, YOU AGREE TO BE SUBJECT TO THE TERMS OF THIS COOKIES POLICY AND OUR USE OF COOKIES AS DISCLOSED IN THIS POLICY.

What cookies do we use and why?

The following shows the full list of platform cookies used throughout Grow Your Photography Studio websites.

Use of Google Analytics

Google Analytics uses so-called “cookies,” i.e. text files that are stored on your device, enabling us to track and analyse your visit to our website.

You can prevent the storage of cookies on your device by changing the settings of your browser soft­ware accordingly; however, we point out that in this case you may not be able to fully use all functions on our website. Furthermore, you have the option of disabling the tracking of the data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address) as well as processing of this data by Google, if you download and install the browser add-on available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en

You can disable the collection of your data by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set, which prevents the collection of your data on future visits to this website: Disable Google Analytics

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager is a solution that enables us to manage various website tags via a single interface. The Tag Manager tool itself (which implements the tags) is a cookie-less domain and does not collect any personal data. The tool triggers other tags, which in turn may collect data under certain circumstances. Google Tag Manager does not access these data. If deactivation occurs at domain or cookie level, it remains in use for all tracking tags, which are implemented by Google Tag Manager.

Facebook Pixel, Custom Audiences und Facebook Conversion
On the basis of legitimate interest in, and for the purposes of, the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of the websites, the so-called "Facebook Pixel" of the social network Facebook, which is operated by Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA, or, if you are based in the EU, Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland ("Facebook"), is used within the websites of Grow Your Photography Studio.

Facebook is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus guarantees compliance with European data protection law

(https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active).

With the help of the Facebook Pixel, Facebook is able to determine the visitors of the website as a target group for the presentation of ads (so-called "Facebook ads"). Accordingly, Grow Your Photography Studio uses the Facebook Pixel to display the Facebook ads only to Facebook users who have also shown an interest in the website or who have certain characteristics (e.g. interest in certain topics or products as determined on the basis of the websites visited) that Grow Your Photography Studio transmits to Facebook (so-called "custom audiences"). The Facebook Pixel also ensures that the Facebook ads correspond to the potential interest of the users and are not a source of annoyance. Grow Your Photography Studio can also use the Facebook Pixel to monitor the effectiveness of Facebook advertisements for statistical and market research purposes by seeing whether users have been redirected to a website after clicking on a Facebook advertisement (so-called "conversion").

Facebook processes the data in accordance with the Facebook Data Usage Policy. Accordingly, general information on the display of Facebook ads can be found in the Facebook Data Usage Policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy.php

For specific information and details about the Facebook Pixel and how it works, please visit the Facebook Help section: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/651294705016616

You can object to data collection by the Facebook Pixel and use of your data to display Facebook ads. Visit the page set up by Facebook and follow the instructions on usage-based advertising preferences in order to set the types of ads you see within Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads.

The settings are platform-independent, i.e. they are applied to all devices, such as desktop computers or mobile devices.

You may also object to the use of cookies for reach measurement and for advertising purposes via the disable page of the network advertising initiative (http://optout.networkadvertising.org/) and additionally via the US website (http://www.aboutads.info/choices) or the European website (http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/).

Special information – User tracking and user-based online advertising

Google Analytics

In order to keep the Grow Your Photography Studio website current, user-oriented and complete, this website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis tool by Google Inc. ("Google") that allows us to optimise our website to your needs. Google Analytics uses cookies that can track your preferences when you visit our website. This provides functions such as facilitating navigation and allows us to make our services even more user-friendly. The information generated for this purpose (including the IP address) is anonymised by default so that it cannot be used to identify you. The data is only analysed for reports after anonymisation. The information generated by these cookies is generally transmitted to and stored on a Google server in the United States. As a user of our services, you can of course opt out of the use of cookies by changing your browser settings at any time.

You can prevent the data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address) from being collected and processed by Google by downloading and installing a browser plug-in (IP anonymization). However, Google first truncates your IP address within Member States of the European Union or other contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

The current link is: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en-GB

More information on usage conditions and data protection in Google Analytics can be found here: 
http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/us.html.

As an AdWords customer, Grow Your Photography Studio also uses Google conversion tracking by Google on some pages. This means that Google AdWords places a cookie on your computer (“conversion cookie”) if you have accessed our website via a Google ad. These cookies become invalid after 90 days. If you visit certain pages on our website and the cookie has not yet expired, we and Google can recognise that someone has clicked on an ad and been directed to our page as a result. Each AdWords customer receives a different cookie. Cookies therefore cannot be tracked via the websites of AdWords customers. The information collected with the help of the conversion cookie allows us to prepare conversion statistics to optimise our services. AdWords customers know, for instance, the total number of customers who have clicked on their ad and been redirected to a page with a conversion tracking tag, but they do not receive any information by which users can be personally identified. If you do not want to participate in the tracking, you can prevent the placement of the necessary cookie, for instance through a browser setting that deactivates the automatic placement of cookies in general. You can also deactivate conversion tracking cookies by setting your browser to block cookies from the domain “googleadservices.com”.

Moreover, Grow Your Photography Studio uses Google’s remarketing technology on some pages. With this technology, users who have already visited our web pages and online services and shown an interest in what we have to offer are shown targeted advertising on other websites of the Google Partner network. The ads are displayed through the use of cookies, by means of which the user’s behaviour during his or her visit to the website is analysed and then used for targeted product recommendations and interest-based advertising. 

If you do not wish to receive any interest-based advertising, you can deactivate Google’s use of cookies for these purposes by going to https://www.google.co.uk/settings/ads. Alternatively, users can deactivate cookies from third-party providers by going to the network advertising initiative’s deactivation page (link: http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp).

More information about Google's use of Cookies https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies?hl=en-GB

Third party
Additionally, to give you a richer experience, Grow Your Photography Studio websites are hosted on Kartra©. Therefore, you may be presented with cookies from this service when you visit a Grow Your Photography Studio page. Grow Your Photography Studio does not control the dissemination of these cookies and you should check https://home.kartra.com/privacypolicy for more information.