Privacy, in plain language

Information we collect

We collect information you choose to provide when you send an enquiry, reserve a session, communicate with the studio, review a gallery, or request prints and extras. This may include your name, email address, phone number, project details, session preferences, gallery selections, and messages.

The website also receives limited technical information needed to operate securely, such as request timestamps and network information. Abuse-prevention records use a keyed, non-reversible identifier rather than storing a raw IP address in the application database.

Payments

Payments are processed by Stripe. 12 Bit Studios does not receive or store your complete card number, security code, or bank credentials. Stripe processes payment information under its own privacy policy and provides the studio with transaction identifiers, payment status, amount, currency, and limited billing details needed to reconcile your booking.

How information is used

• Respond to enquiries and plan, schedule, photograph, edit, deliver, and support your project.
• Create and reconcile reservations, deposits, remaining balances, receipts, and refunds.
• Deliver private galleries, record selections and approvals, and respond to print or revision requests.
• Measure privacy-safe event-gallery activity and attribute an enquiry or booking to the last verified event-gallery visit within the previous 30 days.
• Send service messages about your enquiry, booking, payment, session, or gallery.
• Protect the website, prevent abuse, diagnose failures, and maintain reliable business records.

Service providers and sharing

We share information only as needed with providers that operate the service, including Vercel for website hosting, Neon for the application database, Stripe for payments, Cloudflare R2 for gallery files, Google Workspace for email, and Vercel Analytics for privacy-conscious traffic measurement. We do not sell personal information.

We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with law, enforce an agreement, prevent fraud or harm, or protect the rights and security of clients, the studio, or others.

Private galleries and photographs

Client galleries use expiring or revocable access controls. Anyone who receives a working gallery link or access code may be able to view the material permitted by that link, so clients should share it carefully. Publishing photographs in the public portfolio or marketing materials is handled separately from private delivery and is subject to the applicable agreement or permission.

Event-gallery guests provide a name and email to use the secure delivery service. Viewing and downloading never requires marketing consent. Adults may separately choose an optional, unchecked permission for occasional session and event emails. That choice is recorded with the policy version and time, and can be withdrawn without changing the historical record.

We count limited gallery events such as visits, downloads, shares, and session-enquiry actions to understand service use. We do not record the receiving application or recipient of a share, and analytics do not contain gallery access tokens or temporary photograph URLs.

Event attribution and marketing choices

When you enter an event gallery or choose its session invitation, we may place a signed first-party cookie that identifies only the source gallery and the time of that visit. It contains no email address or gallery access token, expires after 30 days, and is verified by the server before it can be attached to an enquiry or booking.

Service messages needed to provide a gallery, answer an enquiry, or complete a booking are separate from marketing. Marketing messages are sent only to contacts with a current explicit permission. You can withdraw that permission at any time by contacting tobif@12bitstudios.com or using an unsubscribe option in a future marketing message.

Retention and security

Client galleries remain accessible for 90 days after publication. Access is then disabled, online media enters a 30-day recovery quarantine, and gallery objects are scheduled for removal at day 120. The studio’s independent master archive is separate from the client gallery and may follow a different retention period for production, accounting, contractual, or legal needs.

We retain business and signed-release records for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the service, meet accounting or legal obligations, resolve disputes, and maintain project history. Completed release records are stored as immutable document snapshots with integrity hashes. We use access controls, encrypted connections, restricted credentials, and operational monitoring, but no internet service can guarantee absolute security.

Your choices

You may ask to review, correct, or delete information controlled by 12 Bit Studios, subject to records we must retain for payment, accounting, fraud prevention, contractual, or legal reasons. Email tobif@12bitstudios.com with the subject “Privacy request.” We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

Children and changes

This website is not directed to children under 13. A parent or legal guardian should make enquiries and bookings for a minor. We may update this policy as the service changes; the date shown on this page identifies the current version.