Privacy policy
Last updated: 4 September 2026
This policy explains how the Pete McArthur photography archive handles information when you browse photographs, contact us, or use the site’s services.
Who operates this website
Aidan McArthur, based in California, United States, operates this website and is responsible for the personal information described in this policy. For privacy questions, access or deletion requests, or concerns about a photograph or its description, contact Aidan at aidan.b.mcarthur@gmail.com.
Contact inquiries
When you contact us, we collect your name, email address, selected topic and message. We save the inquiry and send an email notification to the archive team so we can respond and keep track of the conversation. Please do not include payment card details or sensitive information that is not needed for your inquiry. Our website and message storage use Amazon Web Services (AWS), notifications use Amazon Simple Email Service, and the team’s current receiving inbox is hosted by Google.
Optional analytics
If you accept analytics, PostHog receives limited events about visits to public pages, photograph views, search result counts and interactions with inquiry or checkout controls. Events include the public page address without query strings, time and a temporary identifier held in memory. We do not send contact form contents, names, email addresses or search terms as analytics event properties. Session replay, automatic click collection and person profiles are disabled. PostHog receives network information, including your IP address, when your browser connects; we do not describe this data as completely anonymous. Our PostHog endpoint is hosted in the United States.
Cookies, browser storage and your choice
Analytics stay off until you accept. You can reject them or withdraw consent using “Cookie & analytics settings” in the footer, and the rest of the site will continue to work. We store only your analytics choice, its expiry time and a version number in local browser storage for 180 days. If browser storage is unavailable, the choice lasts only for the current page session. PostHog is configured not to persist its identifiers in cookies or local storage. We also respect browser Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control signals by keeping analytics off. Withdrawing consent stops future analytics; it does not remove events already sent.
Essential cookies
Your shopping cart stores selected photographs and purchase options in this browser for up to 30 days so you can return to them. Cart storage is separate from optional analytics. The pma_admin cookie maintains an administrator session that expires after 15 minutes. When you start test checkout, pma_sandbox_access protects access to your test order and downloads for up to 30 days. These cookies support features you request and are separate from analytics. Google reCAPTCHA and Stripe may also use their own cookies when you use the contact form or hosted checkout; their notices explain those services.
Security and essential services
Hosting and security services process technical information such as IP addresses, request details and timestamps to serve the site and investigate abuse. Administrative sign-in uses essential session cookies. The contact form uses Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise for spam prevention, which can process device, browser and interaction information and use cookies or similar technologies. reCAPTCHA is separate from optional PostHog analytics. See Google’s privacy policy and terms of service.
Checkout and licensing
Checkout is currently a test environment. Do not use real payment information. Stripe hosts the checkout form and processes information entered there, including contact, billing and payment details. We receive checkout references, status and relevant customer or order details, but do not receive complete payment card numbers. For print fulfillment, we share the selected image, product details, recipient name, email and shipping address with our fulfillment partner, currently Prodigi, and shipping services. Order status and tracking are stored so we can provide delivery updates and support. Licensing requests may also be handled through the contact form. See Stripe’s privacy policy.
Photographs and archive records
Photographs, captions and source records may identify people, clients, locations or contributors. Original files and extracted metadata are kept privately for preservation and review; publication is a separate review step. If you have a concern about an image or information relating to you, contact us with the page address and details so we can investigate.
Retention and service providers
We retain inquiries and administrative records while needed to handle requests, maintain the archive, resolve disputes and meet applicable obligations. Archival source material may be retained long term for preservation. Deletion may be limited by these purposes and by backup retention. Contact us to request deletion or information about a particular record. AWS, Google, PostHog, Stripe and our fulfillment partners process information to provide their respective services, which may involve processing outside your country, including in the United States. Their own privacy notices describe their processing. We do not sell personal information or use the site’s analytics for targeted advertising.
Your rights and changes to this policy
Where applicable law grants them, you may request access, correction, deletion or a copy of your information, object to or restrict processing, and complain to a relevant privacy regulator. Optional analytics rely on your consent. Responding to inquiries, operating the archive and protecting the site rely on the purposes and legal grounds applicable to those activities, including legitimate interests, steps requested before an agreement and legal obligations. We may need to verify your request before disclosing information. We will update this page when our practices change.