Privacy policy

We, the company Africa Studio (hereinafter – we, us, Africa Studio) are committed to maintaining the privacy of the personal information that you provide to us while using our website https://africaimages.com (hereinafter – website). At all times we aim to respect any personal information you share with us, or that we receive from others, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy is an integral part of our Terms of Use.

To fulfill our commitment to respecting and protecting your privacy, we will adhere to the following principles:

• collect and process personal data only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes (purpose limitation);
• lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject (lawfulness, fairness, and transparency);
• ensure that personal data is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for relation to the purposes for which they are processed (data minimization);
• ensure that personal data is accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date (accuracy);
• ensure that personal data is kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed (storage limitation);
• process personal data in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorized or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organizational measures (integrity and confidentiality).
• process personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 ("GDPR").

This Privacy Policy explains how we will process and protect your personal data, and what rights you have in relation to your personal data. This Privacy Policy applies to the relations between the Africa Studio and users of website and is an integral part of the Terms of Use.

By using the website, you acknowledge that the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy will apply to you, as well as to any information that you provide to us.

In principle you may use the public parts of our website without telling us who you are. We do not require any registration. We only collect your data if you provide us voluntarily with this information to subscribe for a newsletter, to register your Company account or to contact with us via our Feedback form. We will use your personal data for the personalized provision of services.

We may also use your personal data for our own statistical, analytical and market research purposes. We will only contact you for direct marketing purposes if you have given your consent, or if it is otherwise permitted by law. You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future.

Different types of information (data) are collected and based on the different services of our website that you use. There are effectively two types of data collection: direct and indirect. Direct data collection means you are submitting data to us. Indirect data collection takes place passively as you interact with our website.

During your visit, we automatically collect and temporarily store the following information about your computer and your visit:

• IP address;
• Device identifiers;
• Web browser information;
• Cookies and other tracking technologies. For more information, please review our Cookie Policy;
• Log data (e.g. access times, hardware and software information).

This information is necessary to detect and prevent unauthorized or fraudulent use or misuse of the website, as well as to provide you with customized parameters and to optimize the website for your device and to make available our website to you or for statistical purposes.

Please be aware that depending on the username you choose, you may or may not be anonymous.

In order to make your log-in process simple we provide you with option to log-in via social media plugins of Google and social networks as a Facebook / LinkedIn.

When you use this option we automatically collect selected information about you from your social network, we may use it to identify you on the website, collect, analyze attached content as personal and non-personal information which is available social networks about you. The information we collect depends on what information you have made available on those social networks and your privacy settings for sharing such information on the social networks.

Depending on your settings and selection, we will collect the following information from your social networks:

• Name and/or username (that is visible to the public);
• Email address;
• Profile photo (that is visible to the public);
• Link to the site where you was at the time of leaving a review (that is visible to the public);

If you use Google or social network to log-in, please consult and read the privacy policies of the social networks:

• Facebook privacy policy
• LinkedIn privacy policy
• Google privacy policy

Why do we collect it?

We use publicly available information about you from plugins:

• to make the access to writing reviews for you easier and faster (you do not need to fill out additional forms);
• identify you;
• to analyze the absence of publications prohibited by law and violations of our Terms of Use.

If you send us a voluntarily completed "Feedback form", we collect your email address, name, other personal data as part of your communication, as well as the content of your message itself to enable us reply to you after. Please don’t share any sensitive personal documents or information with us in Feedback form, either concerning yourself or others.

When you subscribe to receive our newsletters or similar emails we collect your email address and newsletter preferences.

You are free to opt-out from receiving various offers directly to your e-mail. We use provided contact details and your preferences for direct marketing by sending various offers or newsletters. These direct marketing offers, depending on your preferences, may be personalized taking into account any other information which you have provided to us (e.g. location, social media profile information etc.) or we have collected or generated from other sources as described below.

Right to object

If you wish to change your preferences for direct marketing, you may exercise such option at any time you wish by following the instructions to unsubscribe in the received email.

If you want to configure newsletter preference you could choose from the following categories listed:

• Newsletter and Service Updates via email - our newsletter that includes new information about our service and other exciting news;
• New blog articles and useful information for you.

You are free to opt out from our newsletters at any time by following the link "unsubscribe" at the bottom of all Africa Studio emails. You may at any time refuse to receive information from us by sending an email to [email protected]. We will process your request within a reasonable time after receipt. Please note that you will continue to receive emails from the Africa Studio regarding to your requests. We may also send you certain non-advertising messages regarding the Africa Studio, and you will not be able to opt out of these messages (for example, updates about our Terms of Use or this Privacy Policy).

We will use the information you provide to us to:

• Provide our services to you, including displaying your reviews providing you with access to your profile and our website;
• To prevent unauthorized or fraudulent use, or abuse of services on our website;
• To improve the quality of our services, to test and implement new features and to troubleshoot, to monitor the effectiveness of our services;
• Identify you as a registered user when you log in to the website and re-visit the website;
• Verify the legitimacy of your reviews;
• Improve the website and our services;
• Invite you to leave more reviews;
• Respond to your questions and provide related customer service;
• Send you our newsletters;
• Notify you of any important information regarding our services;
• Comply with legal requirements and legal process, requests from public and governmental authorities, relevant industry standards and our internal policies;
• Enforce our Terms & Conditions;
• Protect our operations or those of any of our affiliates;
• Protect our rights, privacy, safety or property and/or that of our affiliates, you or others;
• Allow us to pursue available remedies or limit any damages that we sustain;
• To notify you about changes to our service;
• To ensure that content from our website is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your device;
• To carry out our obligations arising from services that you request from us;
• To administer our website and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes, traffic levels on the website, and other usage data, all of which helps us to provide content tailored to your interests and improve the website and related services.
• For any other purposes that we specifically communicate to you when we collect that information with your consent, or for which we have a legitimate interest, such as direct marketing, individual or market research, or anti-fraud protection;
• To market our services and to provide you with materials about offers, and services that may be of interest, including new content or services, including tailoring content, advertisements, and offers, and to notify you of offers and services that may be of interest to you, for other purposes disclosed at the time that you provide your information, or otherwise with your consent.

Processing your Personal Data in connection with the purposes set out in this Policy, we may rely on one or more of the following legal bases, depending on the circumstances:

Consent: We may process your Personal Data where we have obtained your prior, express consent to the processing (this legal basis is only used in relation to processing that is entirely voluntary – it is not used for processing that is necessary or obligatory in any way);

Contractual necessity: We may process your Personal Data where the processing is necessary in connection with any contract that you may enter into with us;

Compliance with applicable law: We may process your Personal Data where the processing is required by applicable law (for example, when executing information disclosure orders on the basis of laws and decrees announced by government bodies);

Vital interests: We may process your Personal Data where the processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of any individual;

Legitimate interests: We may process your Personal Data where we have a legitimate interest in carrying out the processing for the purpose of managing, operating or promoting our business, and that legitimate interest is not overridden by your interests, fundamental rights, or freedoms.

Some of these grounds for processing your personal data overlap, so there may be several reasons which justify us processing your personal data.

In those limited circumstances where you have expressly given your consent to us to process your personal data, for example, when subscribing to our newsletters, you are free to revoke your consent at any time. However, please be aware that we may have the right to continue to process your information if it can be justified on one of the other legal bases mentioned above.

5.1. Disclosure of personal data on the website

Africa Studio contains links to other websites. Our inclusion of such links does not imply that we endorse that websites. We do not control the content of that third party and assume no responsibility for the third party or their policies or practices.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of this third party websites because their procedures of collecting, handling and processing personal data will be different from ours.

We generally retain personal information you provide, including your reviews, for as long as you have an account or as needed to provide you with our services and to comply with our legal obligations. Where your personal information is no longer required we will ensure it is securely deleted.

If you would like to stop us using your personal information, you shall request that we erase your personal information. We will delete this information upon your request and we will only save a log with the following information: your name, email address. We will keep the log for 3 years. All other information will be deleted.

We may, over time, minimize your personal data that we use and make your data anonymous so that they can no longer be associated with you. In this case, we will be able to use this information for statistical or other purposes without further notifying you, since such information ceases to be personal data.

We may retain information in a personalized form for the time that we need to, if saving is reasonably necessary:

• to comply with applicable laws, regulations, or legal obligations;
• to provide the services to the User;
• to resolve disputes between or with Users of the Africa Studio during the term of the applicable statute of limitations. In particular, if the legislation of any country in which the User is / whose citizen the User is, contains provisions on the limitation periods during which you have the right to file a claim or a claim against us or other Users, or we have the right to file a claim or the claim is in you, and we need proof of the existence of a legal relationship between us, we can process your personal data during this period;
• to detect and prevent unauthorized or fraudulent use of the website.

All personally identifiable information that we collect about you is stored in limited-access cloud-based Africa Studio’s resources. The Africa Studio information is located on Africa Studio servers.

In particular, Data Controller is based on standard agreement conditions approved by the European Commission to ensure high level of security for your personal information.

The website has technical, administrative, and physical security measures in place to protect against the loss and misuse of the information which is under our control. While we are committed to implementing reasonable and appropriate safeguards to protect your information against foreseeable risks, no computer system or information can ever be fully protected against any possible risk, and we cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will not be able to circumvent those safeguards, or access and/or use your personal information for improper purposes.

Because the Internet is an open system, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will implement reasonable measures to protect your information, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to us using the internet. Any such transmission is at your own risk and you are responsible for ensuring that any personal information that you send to us are sent securely.

For the purpose of this Privacy Policy, we are a Data Controller of your personal information.

You have the right to know about the sources of the collection, the location of your personal data, and the purpose of their processing.

If you have an account on our website, you can log in to your account and see what information we have about you.

If you don’t have an account, you can email us on the email address specified in section 12 of this Privacy Policy and request information about your personal data.

You can find out the list of data that we need to provide to you in articles 13 and 14 of the GDPR. However, when contacting you, you must tell us your specific requirements so that we can legally be able to consider your request and provide an answer.

We will process requests as soon as possible, but at the same time we ask you to remember that providing a full and legitimate answer with respect to personal data is a complex process that can take up to a month.

Please note that if we are unable to verify your identity through the exchange of electronic messages, or in case of reasonable doubts about your identity, we may ask you to provide an identity document. Only in this way can we avoid disclosing your personal data to a person who can impersonate you.

• The right to receive information. You have the right to receive clear, transparent and understandable information about how we use your personal data and about your rights.
• Right of access. This right allows you to receive a copy of the personal data that we process, and to verify that we process it in accordance with applicable law.
• Right to make changes and delete Personal Data. If any of Personal data that we have about you in our capacity as a data controller is incorrect or misleading or if your personal data changes, you can correct most of the information yourself via your account. We recommend that you make any the correction(s) yourself. Otherwise, you are welcome to email us and ask us to assist with correcting your information.

In the cases provided for in Art. 17 GDPR, we will destroy your personal data that we process, with the exception of those personal data that we will be required to maintain in accordance with legal requirements.

• Right to limit processing. This right allows you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data, for example, if you want us to establish their accuracy or reason for processing.
• Right to withdraw consent to data protection. If you withdraw your consent, we will not be able to give you access to certain features of Africa Studio. We will notify you in case of and during the withdrawal of your consent.
• Right to file a complaint. You have the right to contact your national data protection authorities to appeal our data protection and privacy practices.
• Right to deactivate cookies. If you want to limit or block all cookies set by the website, use the tool available on the relevant website, or refer to the help of your browser to learn how to manage your browser settings.

Website is not intended for children under 16 years old (the age of 13 in USA), and the website does not collect personal information from children under 16 years old.

We understand the special necessity to protect children's online privacy, and we do not knowingly collect any personal information from children.

If you become aware that a child under the age of 16 has provided us with their personal data, please contact us using the contact information provided below.

We may change our Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make changes, we will notify you by making the revised version available on the website. You should regularly check this Privacy Policy, as revised versions will be binding on you. Any such changes will take effect after the publication of the updated Privacy Policy. You understand and agree that your continued access to our Africa Studio after any published changes to the Privacy Policy implies your acceptance of these changes.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, or if you have any questions, reviews, complaints or suggestions about the protection and processing of your personal data, you can contact us at the email address: [email protected]