For this website
Privacy.What this site keeps, why, where it goes, and how to turn it off.
Ryan Parker Photography is run by Parker Studios Inc., in Edmonton, Alberta. Where this page says “I”, that’s me, Ryan Parker, and I’m the person who answers every question about it: ryan@ryanparkerphotography.com.
The short version
- I don’t sell or rent anything about you, and I never will.
- The site keeps a record of each visit: roughly where from, on what kind of device, how you got here, the pages you looked at and for how long. It’s how I know what’s useful, and when a booked client is on their way. No names, no IP addresses, nothing you type.
- Google Analytics and the Meta pixel (Facebook and Instagram) also run here, to measure visits and the ads I run.
- If you write to me, book, or use a gallery, I keep what you send so I can do the work.
- You can turn the tracking off on this browser, right here:
1. What the site records while you look around
My own visit log. When you arrive, the site notes the city your connection appears to come from, your device and browser (“iPhone Safari”), and how you got here (a search, an AI assistant, a link from another site, an ad). Then, as you go: each page you open, how long it’s on screen while you’re using it, and the links and buttons you click, by the words on them. I see this as a notification in my own private Discord channel and on a private page only I can open. I use it to see which pages help people and which don’t, and to know when someone’s on the site, especially a client opening the studio directions before a shoot.
It doesn’t include your name or anything you type into a form. Your IP address is used for a moment to estimate the city and to stop abuse, and isn’t stored. A random code kept in your browser ties one visit’s pages together; your next visit gets a new one. The site also counts how many times this browser has visited, so I can tell a first visit from a return. The log is deleted after 13 months.
Google Analytics. Counts visits and pages so I can see trends. Google sets its own cookies and handles the data under Google’s privacy policy.
The Meta pixel. Tells Meta (Facebook and Instagram) that a visit happened, so I can measure my ads and Meta can show my ads to people who’ve been here. Meta sets its own cookies and handles the data under Meta’s privacy policy.
Hosting. The site runs on Cloudflare, which keeps standard technical logs of requests to run and protect it. The typefaces are served from this site, not from Google.
2. What you send me
The contact form. Your name, email, phone number if you add it, the kind of session, and your message. It goes into VSCO Workspace, the software I run the studio on, as an enquiry, and to my email inbox (Gmail), so I can reply and quote.
The chat. Your messages, and your name and email if you leave them. They reach me through Discord, so I can answer from my phone. If you leave an email, the conversation is saved in VSCO Workspace as an enquiry, and a reply I send after you’ve left the site is emailed to you. The site’s own copy of the conversation is deleted after 180 days without a message; my copies in Discord and VSCO are my record of it.
Comments on the influencer page. Emailed to me, and that’s all: not stored on the site, not shown to anyone else.
Booking. The scheduler on the booking page is Acuity Scheduling, part of Squarespace. What you enter there, including any payment, is handled by Acuity under its privacy policy, and the booking comes to me.
Client galleries. Your name, email and photographs, plus the photos you pick and the notes you leave. A proofing gallery closes a year after it opens unless we extend it, and its photo files are deleted 30 days after it closes. Your picks and notes stay with my record of the job. What I do with the photographs themselves is on the Usage Rights page, including taking one off this site if you ask.
3. Where it’s kept, and outside Canada
These are the companies that hold or handle what’s above for me. Each is based in the United States, so information may be stored or processed there and in other countries where they run servers, and can be subject to the laws of those places.
- Cloudflare: hosts the site, the visit log, the chat and the galleries.
- Discord: my private notifications: visits, chat messages, gallery activity.
- VSCO Workspace: client records, enquiries and bookings.
- Google: my email (Gmail), and Google Analytics.
- Meta: the pixel, for measuring and showing ads.
- Acuity Scheduling (Squarespace): the booking scheduler.
Questions about any of them, or about how your information is handled outside Canada, go to me, Ryan Parker, at ryan@ryanparkerphotography.com.
4. Your choices
- Turn tracking off on this browser with the switch at the top of this page. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, Google Analytics and the Meta pixel are already off.
- Google offers its own Analytics opt-out, and Meta lets you change your ad preferences.
- See, correct or delete what I have about you. Email me and say what you’d like. I’ll answer within 45 days, usually much sooner. Some records I have to keep for a while, like invoices for tax.
- Change your mind about email. I only email you about your own enquiry, session or gallery. Ask me to stop and I will.
If I haven’t sorted something out for you, you can contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.
5. Keeping it safe
Everything travels over encrypted connections. The visit log, the chat and the galleries’ admin are behind my own passwords, and I’m the only one with access. If something ever went wrong in a way that put you at real risk, I’d tell you and the Privacy Commissioner, as Alberta’s law requires.
6. Kids and teens
I photograph kids and teens, but this site isn’t meant for them to send me information. A parent or guardian books and is who I talk to. If you think a young person has sent me something, tell me and I’ll delete it.
7. Changes
If what the site collects changes, this page changes with it, and the date below moves.