Privacy Policy

Dmitry Bugaenko Photography / Photique

Effective date: August 10, 2026

Last updated: August 10, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Dmitry Bugaenko Photography (also operating under the Photique brand, “Photique,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, protects, and retains personal information.

It applies when you visit photique.ca or a related Photique landing page, submit a form, subscribe to emails, purchase or inquire about photography services, communicate with us, participate in a photography session, or use a client portal or gallery that we provide. Third-party websites and services linked from our website have their own privacy practices.

Photique is responsible for personal information under its control. Dmitry Bugaenko is the person accountable for our privacy practices and acts as our Privacy Officer.

1. Personal Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following information.

• Contact and inquiry information: your name, email address, telephone number, preferred contact method, and the content of your messages.

• Booking and service information: requested date or timing, type and purpose of the session, package or collection, location, wardrobe or styling preferences, creative direction, mood, accessibility or accommodation requests, boundaries, privacy preferences, and other information you choose to provide.

• Photography and media: photographs, video, audio, image selections, editing instructions, image metadata, and files created before, during, or after a session.

• Contract and transaction information: signed agreements, releases, invoices, order history, payment status, billing details, and related business records. Payment card information is generally processed directly by our payment providers; we do not normally receive or store a complete card number.

• Client portal and gallery information: account or gallery access details, favourites, downloads, product selections, comments, and delivery activity.

• Marketing information: email address, subscription status, consent records, signup source, communication preferences, and, where email tracking is enabled, information about message delivery, opens, and link clicks.

• Website and device information: IP address, browser and device type, operating system, pages viewed, referring pages, approximate location derived from an IP address, dates and times of visits, cookie identifiers, and interactions with the website.

• Reviews and publication choices: testimonials, reviews, social media handles, and any permissions you give us to publish particular photographs or statements.

We may also receive information from a person acting for you, a session participant, an event or project organizer, a referral partner, a social media platform, or a service provider, where permitted by law.

Please do not send highly sensitive information through a general website form unless it is necessary for your request. If special information is needed to plan a session safely and appropriately, we will limit its collection to what is reasonably necessary.

2. How We Use Personal Information

We use personal information for purposes that include:

• responding to inquiries and providing quotes;

• scheduling, planning, and delivering photography services;

• discussing wardrobe, creative direction, boundaries, privacy, and accessibility needs;

• preparing contracts, releases, invoices, and business records;

• capturing, selecting, editing, retouching, backing up, delivering, and printing photographs;

• operating protected client galleries and fulfilling product orders;

• processing and documenting payments, refunds, and disputes;

• providing customer service and communicating about a booking or order;

• delivering a requested guide or other resource;

• sending marketing communications when we have the consent or other lawful authority required to do so;

• measuring website and email performance, understanding which content is useful, and improving our services;

• preventing fraud, misuse, and security incidents;

• establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims; and

• meeting tax, accounting, regulatory, and other legal obligations.

We will not use personal information for a materially different purpose without obtaining additional consent when required by law.

3. Sensitive Photography, Privacy, and Publication

Photographs can be personal information. Boudoir and other intimate photographs are especially sensitive, and we treat them accordingly.

• Creating and privately delivering photographs does not automatically give us permission to publish them.

• We will not use identifiable client photographs in our public portfolio, website, advertising, social media, educational materials, competitions, publications, or promotional emails unless the client has given separate, express permission through a release or another clear written choice.

• Permission to publish is optional and is separate from the consent needed to perform and deliver a standard paid photography service, unless a session is expressly identified in advance as a collaborative, editorial, model-call, or portfolio-building project and its publication terms are stated in the agreement.

• Where practical, publication permission should identify the photographs or categories of photographs that may be used and the permitted channels.

• You may withdraw permission for future uses by contacting us, subject to legal and contractual restrictions. We will stop new uses and, where reasonably practicable, remove affected content from channels we control. Withdrawal may not be able to reverse printing, third-party sharing, archival copies, or other publication that occurred lawfully before withdrawal.

Client galleries are intended for private delivery. Clients are responsible for protecting gallery links, passwords, downloaded files, and any copies they choose to share.

4. Consent

We seek meaningful consent in a form appropriate to the sensitivity of the information and the circumstances. Consent may be express or implied where permitted by law. We generally seek express consent for sensitive photographs, public image use, and marketing subscriptions.

You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to reasonable notice and any legal or contractual restrictions. Withdrawing consent may prevent us from continuing an optional activity and, in some cases, may prevent us from providing a service that necessarily depends on the information.

Submitting an inquiry does not by itself authorize us to publish photographs or add you to unrelated marketing lists.

5. Email Marketing and the Boudoir Planning Kit

When you request the Boudoir Planning Kit or subscribe to Photique emails, we use the information you provide to deliver the requested resource and, if your signup choice clearly includes it, to send related photography guidance, news, and offers.

Our email provider may record delivery, opens, and link clicks when those features are enabled. These measurements can be affected by email applications, privacy features, automated scanners, and bots and may not accurately reflect individual behaviour.

You can unsubscribe through the link in any marketing email or contact dmitry@photique.ca. We will process unsubscribe requests as required by applicable law. We may retain a minimal suppression record so that we can honour your request. Unsubscribing from marketing does not prevent service, booking, transaction, gallery, or other non-promotional communications that are reasonably necessary.

6. Cookies, Analytics, and Similar Technologies

Our website is hosted on Squarespace and uses cookies and similar technologies. Depending on the page, configuration, and your choices, these may include:

• essential cookies needed for security, navigation, forms, shopping, and core website functions;

• analytics and performance cookies used by Squarespace Analytics and Google tools, including tags deployed through Google Tag Manager, to understand visits and website performance; and

• marketing or integration technologies used by embedded forms, social platforms, videos, or other third-party features.

Cookies and related technologies may collect identifiers, IP address, device and browser information, page activity, referring pages, and approximate location. Some cookies are placed by third parties, which may handle information under their own privacy policies.

Where our cookie banner provides choices, you can use it to accept, decline, or manage non-essential cookies. You can also adjust browser settings to block or delete cookies. Blocking essential cookies may affect website functions. Our cookie controls may not block every technology added by an external integration, so you may also need to use the controls offered by the relevant provider or browser.

7. When We Share Personal Information

We do not sell or rent personal information.

We may disclose limited personal information to service providers that perform functions for us, such as:

• Squarespace for website hosting, forms, analytics, and commerce functions;

• Intuit Mailchimp for signup forms, contact management, email delivery, automation, and email reporting;

• Google services used for tag management and website measurement;

• booking, contract, invoicing, and payment providers;

• client gallery, file-transfer, cloud-storage, backup, and delivery providers;

• professional photo-editing, printing, album, and product suppliers;

• accountants, insurers, legal advisers, and other professional advisers; and

• technology, security, fraud-prevention, and support providers.

These providers may access personal information only to the extent reasonably necessary for their functions or as otherwise permitted by law. Some providers may independently collect information when you interact directly with their service, in which case their own privacy terms may also apply.

We may also disclose personal information:

• with your consent or at your direction;

• to complete a transaction or provide a service you requested;

• where required or permitted by law, court order, or lawful authority;

• to investigate fraud, misuse, threats, or violations of an agreement;

• to protect the rights, safety, and property of clients, Photique, or others; or

• in connection with a proposed or completed sale, financing, reorganization, or transfer of all or part of the business, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal requirements.

8. Processing Outside Canada

Some service providers may store or process personal information outside Ontario or outside Canada, including in the United States and other jurisdictions. Information processed in another jurisdiction may be subject to that jurisdiction’s laws and may be accessible to courts, law-enforcement agencies, or national-security authorities in accordance with local law.

We remain responsible for personal information under our control and use contractual, organizational, or other reasonable measures to require service providers to protect it. You may contact our Privacy Officer for more information about relevant service-provider categories or cross-border processing.

9. Retention and Deletion

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, to provide requested services, and to satisfy legal, tax, accounting, insurance, dispute-resolution, and record-keeping requirements.

Retention depends on the type of information and the relationship:

• inquiry records are retained while an inquiry is active and for a reasonable follow-up and business-record period;

• contracts, invoices, consent records, and transaction information may be retained for the period required by law and legitimate business needs;

• marketing information is retained while you remain subscribed, while a lawful marketing relationship continues, or as needed to maintain an unsubscribe record;

• working files, raw files, edited photographs, and gallery files are retained according to our workflow, backup schedule, client agreement, and reasonable customer-service needs; and

• publication consent and release records may be retained for as long as related images remain in use and afterwards as reasonably necessary to document that use.

Unless a written agreement says otherwise, we do not promise indefinite storage of photographs or galleries. Clients should download and securely back up delivered files promptly.

When information is no longer required, we delete, destroy, or de-identify it using measures appropriate to its sensitivity. Residual copies may remain temporarily in backups until overwritten or securely deleted through the ordinary backup cycle.

10. Security and Privacy Breaches

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards that are reasonable for the sensitivity of the information. These may include limiting access, using protected accounts and private galleries, maintaining backups, applying software and account security controls, and selecting service providers with appropriate safeguards.

No internet transmission, email, storage platform, or security measure is completely secure. If a privacy breach occurs, we will investigate, contain, document, and assess it and will notify affected individuals, regulators, or other organizations when required by applicable law.

11. Your Rights and Choices

Subject to applicable law and limited exceptions, you may ask us to:

• tell you whether we hold personal information about you;

• provide access to personal information we hold about you and explain how it has been used or disclosed;

• correct inaccurate or incomplete information;

• withdraw consent for future optional uses;

• stop sending marketing communications;

• delete information that is no longer required, where we are not legally or contractually required to retain it; or

• answer a question or investigate a complaint about our privacy practices.

To make a request, contact dmitry@photique.ca. We may need to verify your identity before responding. We will respond within the period required by applicable law and will explain any lawful restriction on access, correction, or deletion.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional privacy rights. We will consider requests under the laws applicable to the request and our activities.

12. Children and Minors

Photique’s general website is not directed to children under 13. Boudoir photography services are intended only for adults aged 18 or older.

For other photography services involving a minor, we require involvement and consent from a parent or legal guardian as appropriate. A parent or guardian who believes a child has provided personal information without appropriate consent should contact us.

13. Third-Party Websites and Social Media

Our website and emails may link to client portals, social media platforms, studios, vendors, or other websites that we do not control. This Policy does not govern those third parties. Review their privacy policies before providing information to them.

If you post a review, tag Photique, comment publicly, or share a photograph on social media, that activity is governed by the platform’s settings and policies. A public post does not automatically give us permission to use your image in our advertising.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy when our services, providers, technology, or legal obligations change. The revised version will be posted on this page with a new “Last updated” date. If a change materially affects how we use information already collected, we will provide additional notice or obtain consent when required by law.

15. Contact and Complaints

For privacy questions, access or correction requests, consent withdrawals, or complaints, contact:

Dmitry Bugaenko, Privacy Officer

Dmitry Bugaenko Photography / Photique

Email: dmitry@photique.ca

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

We will review and respond to privacy complaints in good faith. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or another privacy regulator that has jurisdiction over the matter.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada — File a formal privacy complaint