Privacy Policy

Last updated: 4 August 2026

This page explains what we do with your information — especially the photo of your pet, which we know is the part that matters most. We have tried to write it in plain English rather than legal boilerplate.

Barksmith Studio is operated by Che, MB, Juknaičių g. 29, Slengių k., LT-92343 Klaipėdos r., Lithuania, company registration number 307744104. We are the ones responsible for the information described here. To ask us anything, or to have your data deleted, write to [email protected].

The short version

• You can see a free preview without an account and without paying.
• We keep your photo only as long as we need it to make and support your order.
• We never sell your data, and we never use your photo in advertising without asking you first.
• Email [email protected] at any time and we will delete your photos and your data.

What we collect

Photos you upload. The picture of your pet — and, for some designs, of you or a family member. We also keep any notes you write about the portrait.

Contact details. Your name and email address, and your phone number if you give one.

Order details. What you bought, size, format and frame, your delivery address, the amount paid, and the record of any refund or repaint. We do not receive or store your full card number — that goes straight to our payment processor.

Technical and usage data. Your IP address, device and browser type, the pages you view and roughly where you came from. This comes in automatically when you visit.

Messages. Anything you send us by email, so we can help you and keep a record of what was agreed.

Note that some of the work happens in your own browser: your uploaded photo and your cart are held in your browser's local storage on your device so the site can show them back to you. Clearing your browser data clears them.

Why we use it

• To make your portrait. Your photo is used by our studio to produce the artwork you ordered. This is the main reason we hold it.
• To fulfil and deliver your order — passing the final artwork and your delivery address to our print partner and the carrier.
• To take payment and to guard against fraudulent transactions.
• To support you — answering questions, arranging repaints, handling returns and honouring the 30-day guarantee.
• To send you order emails (confirmation, tracking). These are not marketing and you cannot unsubscribe from them while an order is live.
• To send you offers, but only if you asked for them. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link and it works.
• To understand how the site is used, so we can make it better, and to measure our advertising.
• To meet legal duties such as keeping tax and accounting records.

Who else handles your information

We are a small business and we rely on a handful of service providers. They may only use your data to do the job we hired them for, and they are not allowed to use it for their own purposes.

• Our payment processor — Shopify — takes and secures your payment.
• Our print partner — Gelato — prints, frames and ships your piece. They receive the final artwork file and your delivery address.
• Studio and image-processing providers — specialist third-party image-processing services — process your uploaded photo as part of producing the artwork.
• Our hosting and email providers — our web-hosting provider and Shopify — run the site and send our emails.
• Analytics and advertising — the Meta Pixel and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) — help us see how the site performs and measure our advertising.

We may also share information where the law requires it, or to establish or defend a legal claim, or if the business is ever sold or transferred (in which case we would tell you).

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share your photos with anyone except the providers listed above.

Cookies and analytics

The site uses cookies and similar technologies. Some are strictly necessary — they keep your cart working and the site secure. Others help us measure traffic and the performance of our advertising. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, though the site may not work as smoothly afterwards. Where a cookie banner is shown, your choices there are respected.

How long we keep things

• Photos where no order was placed: deleted within 90 days.
• Photos attached to an order: kept for 12 months after delivery, so we can reprint or repaint for you under the guarantee, then deleted.
• Order and payment records: kept for up to 10 years to meet tax and accounting rules.
• Marketing contacts: kept until you unsubscribe, then suppressed so we do not email you again by accident.
• Support emails: kept for 24 months.

You do not have to wait for these periods to run out — ask us and we will delete earlier, except where we are legally required to keep a record.

Security

The site runs over an encrypted connection. Access to uploaded photos and order data is limited to the people who need it to do their job, and to the providers listed above. Payment card details never reach our systems. No system is perfectly safe, and we cannot promise absolute security, but if something did go wrong we would tell affected customers and the relevant authorities as the law requires.

Children

The site is not intended for children under 16 and we do not knowingly collect their information. If you believe a child has sent us data, write to [email protected] and we will delete it.

Your choices, wherever you live

Whoever you are, you can ask us to: tell you what we hold, send you a copy, correct something wrong, delete your photos and data, or stop sending you marketing. Email [email protected] and we will act on it. We may need to check who you are first, so that we do not hand your data to somebody else. We do not charge for this and we will not treat you differently for asking.

California residents (CCPA / CPRA)

If you live in California, you have specific rights over your personal information.

Categories we collect: identifiers (name, email, address, IP address); customer records and commercial information (what you ordered and paid); internet and device activity; approximate location inferred from IP address; visual information (the photos you upload); and inferences drawn from the above, such as which designs you seem to like. We collect these from you directly and automatically as you use the site, and we use them for the purposes described above.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising in the sense the CPRA uses, except to the extent that standard analytics and advertising cookies may count as "sharing". You can opt out of those at any time by emailing [email protected] or using the cookie controls in your browser. We have not knowingly sold or shared the personal information of anyone under 16.

Your rights: to know what we collect and why; to get a copy of it; to have it corrected; to have it deleted; to opt out of sale or sharing; to limit the use of sensitive personal information; and not to be discriminated against for exercising any of these. To use any of them, email [email protected] with "California privacy request" in the subject line. We will confirm receipt within 10 business days and respond within 45 days, extending once if we need longer and telling you why. An authorised agent may make a request on your behalf with written proof.

We do not use your data for automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

Visitors from the UK and the EU (GDPR)

We ship worldwide, including to the UK and the European Economic Area. If you visit the site or order from there, this section applies to you.

Our legal bases. We process your data to perform the contract with you (making and delivering your order); with your consent (marketing emails, non-essential cookies, and any use of your photo beyond your own order); for our legitimate interests (keeping the site secure, preventing fraud, understanding how the site is used); and to comply with legal obligations (tax records).

Your rights. You have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and objection to processing based on legitimate interests. Where processing rests on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting what happened before. Email [email protected] to use any of these; we will respond within one month.

International transfers. Our servers and several of our providers are in the United States, so your data will be transferred there. Where we transfer personal data out of the UK or EEA we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, and we can send you details on request.

Complaints. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first at [email protected] — we would like the chance to fix it. You also have the right to complain to your national supervisory authority, or in the UK to the Information Commissioner's Office.

How to have your photos deleted

Email [email protected] with the subject "Delete my data" and, if you have one, your order number. We will confirm within a few days and delete your photos and personal data from our systems, and ask our providers to do the same. Two honest caveats: we must keep the basic financial record of any order for tax purposes, and copies may sit in routine backups for a short while before they are overwritten. Deleting your data also means we can no longer reprint or repaint that portrait for you.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle your information we will update this page and move the date at the top. If the change is significant, we will tell customers by email.

Questions about your privacy? Write to [email protected], or to Che, MB, Juknaičių g. 29, Slengių k., LT-92343 Klaipėdos r., Lithuania.