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Privacy policies

Our privacy policies (last update 20-MAR-2019)

We know it's very important that each user feels confident in our privacy policies, please take the time to read them. Should you have any questions about our privacy policies or our terms of use, please do not hesitate contacting us.
 
Our privacy policies relate to our sites, which are
nikonians.org with subdomains and nikoscope.com
 
We (or "us"), that is Nikonians GmbH, which operates our sites use "personal information" and "personal data" having the same meaning in the context of these privacy policies.

The type of personal information we collect and what we use it for

1. As a visiting user of any of our sites we collect the following information: Access date & time, type of browser, country, domain name, IP address and which page is viewed. There is no correlation between this data and your registered user name, if you are a member. The data collected is anonymous and is not shared with any third party. This information is used for improving the content and design of our sites.

2. By visiting Nikonians.org, a cookie will be stored in your browser to support forum related settings such as last read message. Nikonians.org may not provide full functionality if this cookie cannot be stored, specifically login to forums may not be possible.

3. If you register as a member, we store your username, your full name, a password, state & country, email address, IP address used for registration and browser type. We do this to be able to provide you with the community services and to detect potential misuse.
 
You must use your real first and last name when you register. Accounts not using a real first and last name will be deleted. If you have strong incentives for not revealing your real name, you should contact us, best if prior to registering and we will help you. We have this real name policy since we launched in April 2000. The reason is that members automatically are more moderate when using a real name and trust is rather being built between members.
 
4. If you fill out your user profile, which is optional, we store that information as well. The data in the profile can only be seen by other registered members. No one can see your email address, except administrators. This is done to improve the member-to-member trust and relationships.
 
5. If you post a message in our forums, we store the IP address at the time you did the post. Only administrators can see this IP address. This is done to detect potential misuse.
 
6. If you post a comment in the galleries, we store and show the IP address at the time of the comment. Any visitor can see this IP address. This is done to detect potential misuse.
 
7. If you click on any link in our newsletters, we collect the date & time plus the subscription email address in use. This information is not related to your username in any way. We use this to improve the content of our newsletters, making them as interesting as possible for our readers.

8. If you have enabled the Nikonians.org feature "Automatically login when I return" (See My profile > Preferences > Community Settings), a cookie will be stored in your browser to allow you to automatically login to the community. If this cookie is not stored, automatic login is not working.

How we send emails to you and your consent for us to send them

9. As a registered member, you will receive emails from us pertaining to the community and the services the community provides. Registering as a member means that you give us your consent to send these emails to you. If you don't want to receive any emails from our community, use the link in the email. For some emails, using this link equals to removing your account. In that case, you will be warned prior deletion of your account.
 
10. If you subscribe to message threads in forums or to our newsletters, you will automatically receive emails. You can unsubscribe to these messages or newsletters at any time by following the directions in the email.
 
11. If you request to be informed about answers on a message posted by you, you will automatically receive emails containing those answers. You can always change your settings and disable such emails in your profile.
 
12. If you participate in any of our surveys, results from the statistical analysis of the anonymized data (that is, bundled and stripped of names) is used by us to improve our services.

We are not using any advertising tracking

13. We are advertising free and do not serve any advertisements. No advertising tracking is used.

We do not sell or give away your personal data

14. We do not sell or provide any user information to any other party, except for;
- If you pay for a membership or donate money. The data required for processing the payment is provided to the payment processing company. See below for more information.
- If you order a photographer's card ID. The data required to create the card is sent to the manufacturer of the card. See below for more information.

How accounts are deactivated

15. If you, as a member of Nikonians.org, are inactive for a longer period of time, your account will be deactivated. A deactivated account is not deleted, but the account profile is no longer shown and other members are no longer able to communicate with you via your account. Gallery images related to a deactivated account are still shown. Such a deactivated account can be activated at any time, by using the reactivation link available on the login screen at Nikonians.org. If you want to delete your deactivated account, contact us.

You can delete your personal data

16. You have the possibility and right to delete your active account at any time. You can delete your account by requesting it in your profile. When you delete your account, the data related to your account will be removed from view immediately. The account will be permanently deleted after some time. If you cannot access your account and want it deleted, please contact us and we will help you.
 
17. You have the possibility to remove any of your images in the galleries by yourself. Use the functions available in the galleries.
 
18. You have the possibility and right to either a) keep or b) delete an account of a deceased family member at any time. Contact us for help and prepare relevant documents to prove your identity and the identity of the deceased.

Where is your personal data stored and how is it shared?

19. Data residing at our sites is stored in the European Union (EU) according to data protection regulations and these sites are operated by us. This data is not shared with anyone, except in these two cases where partners are involved processing some of the data:
 
19.1 When you request a photographer's card ID to be produced, the data required to produce the photographer's card ID (your username, the name you want on the card, any national flag to be used, any image you want to have on the card, your membership level, member since date), including the postal address for shipping will be shared with the vendor of the card, Hartford Badges, NY 14170, USA.
 
19.2 If you pay for a membership, renew your membership (also automatic renewal) or donate money, the data required to process the payment is shared with 1&1 IONOS SE, Germany. It may further be processed by either EVO Payments International GmbH, Germany, PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., Luxembourg or American Express Payment Services Limited, United Kingdom.

Credit card details are not stored by us

20. We do not store any credit card details. Even if you have set up your account for automatic renewal, we do not store any credit card details. The data required for processing your credit card is stored in the EU according to data protection regulations by one or more of the vendors listed under 19.2

How you can access your personal information

21. Nearly all of your personal information is available in your profile, available to you at any time you are logged in.
 
22. You can ask us to export your personal information in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format for you.
 
23. All data sent between your browser and our sites, or between our sites, or in the case of when a partner is involved (see 19.1 and 19.2), is securely transported, encrypted using TLS (wikipedia info)

How we keep your personal data secure when stored

24. We make continuous, encrypted backups of all data used to operate our sites, including your personal data. This data is stored in the EU and not shared with any other parties.
 
25. Data at rest used to operate our sites is encrypted, where feasible.

How long do we keep your personal information?

26. We keep your personal information as long as required to provide you with the services. You can request the data to be deleted at any time (see "You can delete your personal data")

We are a "data controller"

27. For the purposes of the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, "GDPR", we are a "data controller" of your personal information.

Information about children

28. Our sites are not suitable for children under the age of 16 years, so if you are under 16 we ask you to not use our sites (please direct nearest responsible adult to use the sites for you). If you are from 16 to 18 years, you will need the supervision of a parent or guardian to become a member of Nikonians. It is the responsibility of parents or guardians to monitor their children's use of our sites. You must have your parent or guardian contacting us to help you with a membership in this case and not to register yourself.

When you make information public

29. If you post information at our sites, that information is public. We cannot control the use of this information and we cannot guarantee what or what not other people do with it. Before making your information public or giving your information to anyone else, think carefully. If you are giving information to another user via our sites, ask them how they will handle your information. If you are sharing information via another website, check the privacy policy for that site to understand its information management practices as our privacy policies will not apply.

When we update these privacy policies

30. We will change these policies from time to time to ensure they are up-to-date, reflecting legal requirements and our privacy management practices. When we do, we are making sure to notify you about such changes, where required.
 
A copy of the latest version of our policies will always be available on this page, nikonians.org/about/privacy

 

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