Privacy Policy for Luke Tscharke Photography
Welcome to luketscharke.com. Your privacy is critically important to us. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, protect, and disclose your personal information as you engage with our website and services. By using our site, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.
Collection of Personal Information
We collect personal information that you provide to us when:
- You register for an account or for our workshops,
- You place an order for our products,
- You subscribe to our newsletters or other marketing communications,
- You participate in a survey or promotional activity,
- You interact with our customer support.
The types of personal information we may collect include your name, email address, phone number, postal address, and payment information. When you make a payment, your financial details are processed by our secure third-party payment gateway (e.g., Stripe, PayPal). We do not store your full credit card information on our servers.
Workshop Information: For workshop participants, we may also collect dietary requirements, accessibility needs, emergency contact information, and skill level details to ensure we can provide appropriate instruction and maintain safety standards.
Event Photography: During workshops and events, we may take photographs that include participants. These images may be used for promotional purposes as outlined in our workshop terms and conditions. You may opt out of being photographed by notifying us in writing.
Minors: If you are under 18, please ensure your parent or guardian has reviewed this privacy policy and consented to our collection and use of your personal information.
We also collect non-personal information that does not individually identify you, such as browsing history or aggregate user data.
Use of Your Personal Information
Your personal information is used to:
- Provide, operate, and maintain our website,
- Improve, personalise, and expand our services,
- Understand and analyse how you use our website and services,
- Develop new products, services, features, and functionality,
- Communicate with you, either directly or through one of our partners, including for customer service, to provide you with updates and other information relating to the website, and for marketing and promotional purposes,
- Send you emails and newsletters,
- Find and prevent fraud,
- Fulfil orders and workshop registrations.
Communication Preferences: We primarily communicate via email. If you prefer alternative contact methods, please let us know when providing your information.
Disclosure of Personal Information
We may disclose your personal information to third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing (e.g., Stripe), email marketing services (e.g., Mailchimp), data analysis, email delivery, hosting services, and customer service. Here’s how we handle and disclose your personal information:
- Order Fulfilment: We may provide your name and address to third-party vendors to drop-ship orders directly to you.
- Workshop Administration: Information may be shared with facilitators and venue providers to manage workshop logistics.
- Legal Requirements: We may disclose your information where required by law or subpoena or if we reasonably believe that such action is necessary to comply with the law and the reasonable requests of law enforcement or to protect the security or integrity of our service.
Cross-Border Disclosure of Information
Some of our third-party service providers (such as our email marketing platform and web hosting services) may be located or have servers outside of Australia. When we disclose your personal information to these overseas recipients, we take reasonable steps to ensure that your information is treated securely and in accordance with Australian privacy standards.
Direct Marketing
We may send you direct marketing communications and information about our products and services that we consider may be of interest to you. These communications may be sent by email in accordance with applicable marketing laws. You may opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us at any time by contacting us or by using the opt-out facilities provided in the communication.
Security of Your Personal Information
We take reasonable steps to protect the personal information we collect from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no internet or email transmission is ever fully secure or error-free, so you should take special care in deciding what information you send to us via email or our website.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyse our service. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.
Your Rights
You have the right to access, update, or delete the information we have on you. Whenever made possible, you can access, update, or request deletion of your personal information directly within your account settings section. If you are unable to perform these actions yourself, please contact us to assist you.
If you have a complaint about our handling of your personal information and you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Data Retention
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this policy, or as required by law. Workshop participant information is typically retained for 7 years for business record-keeping purposes.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or our handling of your personal information, please contact us at [email protected].
Last updated: 3 July 2025