Privacy Policy for Santa by the Bay
Last updated: 10/10/2026
At Santa by the Bay, your family's privacy is important to us. We understand that your photos capture special family memories, and we're committed to treating your personal information, photographs and videos with care and respect.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your information when you visit our website, make a booking or participate in one of our Santa by the Bay photography sessions in Portarlington, Victoria.
1. Information We Collect
When you make a booking or contact us, we may collect:
Your name, email address and phone number.
Your booking date, time and selected photography package.
Names of family members or children where provided.
Any special requests or information you choose to share.
Photographs and videos captured during your session.
Your preferences regarding marketing and social media consent.
Payment and transaction information.
We only request information reasonably necessary to manage your booking, deliver your purchased services and provide a positive experience.
2. How We Use Your Information
Your personal information may be used to:
Process and confirm your booking.
Contact you regarding your appointment.
Process payments and provide receipts.
Capture, edit and deliver your photographs and videos.
Respond to enquiries or special requests.
Manage our business records.
Share promotional images or videos, but only in accordance with your separate marketing consent.
We do not sell your personal information or customer contact details to third parties.
3. Children's Privacy and Photography
We understand the importance of protecting children's privacy.
Photos and videos captured during your session are intended primarily for your family's personal enjoyment.
We will not knowingly publish identifiable photographs or videos of your children on our social media, website or other marketing materials without appropriate permission from a parent or legal guardian.
Parents and guardians are given the opportunity to specify their marketing preferences during the booking process.
We respect every family's decision.
4. Photography and Marketing Consent
During booking, you will be asked whether you give Santa by the Bay permission to use photographs or videos from your session for promotional purposes.
You may select one of the following options:
Yes – I give permission
You consent to Santa by the Bay using photographs and videos of your family for marketing and promotional purposes, including our website, social media accounts, advertisements and promotional materials.
Yes, but please blur my children's faces
You consent to promotional use of your photographs and videos provided your children's faces are blurred or otherwise effectively obscured so they cannot reasonably be identified.
No – Please keep our photos private
Your photographs and videos will not be used for public marketing or promotional purposes.
Your choice will not affect your booking, photography experience or purchased package.
You may contact us to withdraw marketing consent at any time. We will stop future promotional use and take reasonable steps to remove previously published material from platforms under our control.
Please understand that content already shared, downloaded or reposted by others may not be fully retrievable.
5. Photograph and Video Storage
We take reasonable steps to securely store and manage photographs, videos and customer information.
Your images may be stored on secure business devices, digital storage systems or trusted cloud services for editing, delivery, backup and record-keeping.
Access is limited to authorised people involved in operating Santa by the Bay and delivering your photography services.
We retain information and images only for as long as reasonably necessary for these purposes and applicable legal obligations, after which they are securely deleted or de-identified where appropriate.
6. Online Bookings and Payments
Our website and online bookings are managed using Squarespace and Acuity Scheduling, with payments processed through our connected payment provider, Square.
These third-party services may collect and process information necessary to manage appointments and secure payments.
Payment card details are handled by the relevant payment provider in accordance with its security practices and privacy policy.
We do not intentionally collect or store your full payment card details in our own booking records.
Some third-party providers may process or store information outside Australia.
7. Sharing Your Information
We may share information with trusted service providers where reasonably necessary to operate our business, including booking platforms, payment processors, cloud storage providers and online gallery delivery services.
We may also disclose information when required or authorised by law.
We do not provide your private family photographs to unrelated businesses for their own marketing purposes.
8. Website Cookies and Analytics
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to support website functionality, improve the booking experience and understand website traffic.
Some information, including browser or device information, may be collected automatically by our website service provider.
You can manage cookies through your browser settings.
9. Accessing, Correcting or Removing Your Information
You may contact us if you would like to:
Access or correct personal information we hold about you.
Update or withdraw marketing consent.
Request that photographs or videos be removed from our promotional platforms.
Enquire about the storage or deletion of your images.
Raise a concern about how your information has been handled.
We will respond within a reasonable timeframe and explain if a request cannot be fully accommodated due to legal, technical or record-keeping obligations.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our services, technology or legal obligations.
The latest version will be available on our website.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our handling of your personal information, please contact us through our contact form.
Thank you for trusting Santa by the Bay!