Privacy Policy

This page explains what personal data this website collects, why, who else sees it and what you can ask me to do with it.

Last updated: 5 October 2026.

Who is responsible

Francesco Gola, seascape photographer, Italy. VAT number IT02730980428.
Email: info@francescogola.net

I run this website myself, so for anything about your data you write to me.

What I collect and why

When you buy a print. Your name, billing and shipping address, email, phone number and what you ordered. I use them to process the order, ship the print, keep you updated and handle any return. The courier gets your name, address and phone number to deliver the parcel. You pay by card through Stripe, through PayPal or by bank transfer: I never see your card details. Legal basis: the contract between us, and Italian tax law for invoices.

When you book a workshop or a lesson. The details you send me to organise it, such as your name, email and phone number, plus what I need for payment and invoicing. Legal basis: the contract between us.

When you write to me. The contact form sends me your name, email and message by email. It uses Google reCAPTCHA to stop spam, which means Google receives technical data about your browser. Legal basis: answering your request, and my legitimate interest in keeping spam out.

When you ask for my free guide or join a workshop priority list. Your email, and your name for the guide, go to Brevo, the service I use to send emails. For the guide, Brevo first sends you an email to confirm the address. After that I may write to you about workshops, prints and new articles. Brevo tells me whether an email was opened and which links were clicked. Every email has a link to unsubscribe, and you can also just write to me. Legal basis: your consent.

Statistics. Jetpack Stats, a service by Automattic, counts page views on every visit. To do that it receives your IP address and basic browser details, and shows me only totals. If you accept cookies, Google Analytics also measures how the site is used: pages viewed, time spent, the country and the device you visit from. Legal basis: my legitimate interest in knowing which pages are read for Jetpack, your consent for Google Analytics.

Server logs. The web server records the IP address, browser, page requested and time of each visit. My hosting provider, SiteGround, keeps these logs for a limited time to run the site and protect it from attacks. Legal basis: my legitimate interest in security.

Cookies

On your first visit a bar asks whether you accept cookies. Accept and Reject carry equal weight, and the site works the same either way. You can change your choice at any time from the Cookie settings.

  • Always on, because the site needs them: your cookie choice (wp_consent_*, 6 months) and the shopping cart (woocommerce_*, wp_woocommerce_session_*). In the cart and at checkout, PayPal and Stripe load their payment scripts and set their own cookies to prevent fraud (for example __stripe_mid and __stripe_sid).
  • Jetpack Stats: tk_or, tk_lr and tk_r3d hold only the address of the site you came from, so visits can be counted by source. They contain no identifier.
  • Only if you accept: Google Analytics (_ga and _ga_W5BJGRJBZJ, up to 2 years) and WooCommerce order attribution (sbjs_*), which notes how you reached the site, for example from a search engine or a link, and attaches it to an order if you buy.

If you reject, Google can still receive basic signals without cookies (Google Consent Mode), which do not identify your browser.

Some articles include YouTube videos. The player comes from YouTube, a Google service, which may set its own cookies when the page loads or when you press play.

Who else sees your data

Only the services I need to run the site and the shop, each for its own job:

  • SiteGround: web hosting and email.
  • Google: Analytics, reCAPTCHA, YouTube and my Gmail inbox.
  • PayPal and Stripe: payments and fraud prevention.
  • Automattic: Jetpack and WooCommerce, for statistics, the shop and security.
  • Brevo: emails and newsletter.
  • The courier that delivers your print.
  • My accountant and the Italian tax authorities, for invoices.

I don’t sell your data and I don’t share it with anyone for advertising.

Some of these companies are based in the United States. Those transfers rely on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework or on the standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission.

Links to other sites

Links to Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Amazon and other sites are plain links: those sites receive nothing from this page until you click. Some Amazon links are affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you, and Amazon knows you arrived from my site. Once you are on another site, its own privacy policy applies.

How long I keep your data

  • Orders and invoices: 10 years, as Italian tax law requires.
  • Emails and messages: as long as they are useful to follow up with you. You can ask me to delete them at any time.
  • Guide, newsletter and priority lists: until you unsubscribe.
  • Google Analytics data: 14 months at most.
  • Your cookie choice: 6 months, then the bar asks again.

Your rights

You can ask me at any time to see the data I hold about you, correct it, delete it, limit how I use it, or receive a copy to take elsewhere. You can object to what I do on the basis of legitimate interest, and you can withdraw your consent whenever you like; this does not affect what happened before. Write to info@francescogola.net and I will reply within one month.

If you think I have mishandled your data, you can complain to the Italian data protection authority, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, or to the authority of the EU country where you live.

I make no automated decisions about you.

Changes

If the site starts doing something new with your data, I will update this page and the date at the top.