PRIVACY POLICY
What I collect and why
I only collect what I need to answer you, photograph your wedding and run the business. I don’t sell your data, and I don’t send newsletters: if you write to me and don’t book, you won’t end up on any mailing list.
| When | What I collect | Why | Legal basis (GDPR) |
| You send an enquiry (contact form or email) | Your names, email, phone if you give it, wedding date, venue, number of guests, and whatever you write in the message | To check my availability, answer your questions and send you my packages | Steps you ask for before a contract, Art. 6(1)(b) |
| You book me | Names and contact details of the couple, billing address, the signed agreement, wedding schedule, venue, and contacts of your planner and other vendors | To plan the day and deliver the photos | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) |
| You pay | Name, amount, date and invoice details. Card payments go through AS SEB banka; I don’t see or store your full card number | To take payments and keep accounting records | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b), and Latvian accounting and tax law, Art. 6(1)(c) |
| We talk | Calendly: your name, email and the time you pick. WhatsApp: your number and messages. Video calls: the meeting link and what we discuss | To arrange calls and stay in quick contact before and on the wedding day | Steps before a contract and the contract, Art. 6(1)(b) |
| The wedding day | Photos and film of you, your families and your guests | That’s the work you booked: your gallery, album and prints | Contract with the couple, Art. 6(1)(b); legitimate interest for guests, Art. 6(1)(f) (see “Your wedding photos”) |
| You order prints or use the online payment portal | Name, billing details, order history, and an account login if you create one | To process and deliver your order | Contract, Art. 6(1)(b) |
| You visit the site | IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, time of visit | To keep the site running, fast and protected from attacks | Legitimate interest, Art. 6(1)(f) |
| You accept statistics or marketing cookies | How you use the site, and whether you sent an enquiry | To see which pages help couples and to measure my ads | Your consent, Art. 6(1)(a) (see “Cookies and consent”) |
If you tell me something sensitive, like a health condition, an accessibility need or a family situation that matters for the day, I use it only to plan around it and don’t share it beyond the people who need to know. I don’t use automated decision-making or profiling.
Who is responsible
This policy explains what personal data I collect on mikssels.com and in my work as a wedding photographer, why I need it, and what you can ask me to do with it. I’ve written it the way I’d explain it to you on a call.
The controller of your data is:
LIFE IS LIFE SIA (Miks Sels Photography) Reg. No. 40203370274 Teatra iela 67-1, Jūrmala, LV-2015, Latvia Email: [email protected] Phone and WhatsApp: +371 26325566
“I”, “me” and “my” in this policy mean LIFE IS LIFE SIA and Miks Sels, its board member. For anything about your data, write to the email above. I answer myself, usually within a few days and always within one month.
Cookies and consent
On your first visit a banner asks you to Accept, Deny or choose your preferences. Nothing beyond the basics runs until you choose.
- Functional (always on): what the site needs to work, such as remembering your cookie choice and your cart.
- Statistics (only if you accept): Google Analytics 4, from Google Ireland Limited. It shows me which pages are read and where visitors come from.
- Marketing (only if you accept): the Meta Pixel, from Meta Platforms Ireland Limited. It tells Meta which pages were visited and when an enquiry was sent, so I can measure my Facebook and Instagram ads and show them to people who have already visited the site.
- Embedded content: if a page shows a video or post from YouTube, Vimeo or Instagram, it stays blocked until you allow it, because those services set their own cookies.
You can change your mind at any time with the “Manage consent” link at the bottom of every page. The full list of cookies, with names and how long each one lasts, is in my cookie policy.
Who helps me
A few companies handle data for me so the site, my email and your gallery work. Each gets only what its job needs.
| Company | What they do for me | Where |
| SIA “Area IT” | Website hosting and business email | Latvia (EU) |
| BunnyWay d.o.o. (Bunny CDN) | Delivers the site’s images and videos quickly | Slovenia (EU), servers worldwide |
| Cloudflare, Inc. | Security, protection from attacks, routing | USA, servers worldwide |
| Google Ireland Limited | Google Analytics, only with your consent | Ireland, with processing in the USA |
| Meta Platforms Ireland Limited | Meta Pixel, only with your consent; Facebook and Instagram messages if you write to me there | Ireland, with processing in the USA |
| WhatsApp Ireland Limited | Messages and calls | Ireland, with processing in the USA |
| Calendly LLC | Booking a call with me | USA |
| Pic-Time Ltd. | Your online gallery, downloads, and the print and album shop | Israel, with servers abroad |
| AS SEB banka | Card payments and bank transfers | Latvia (EU) |
When you book a second photographer, videographer or album, the people doing that work get what they need, such as the schedule, venue and photos for the album. They work under my instructions.
Data outside the EU
Some of the companies above process data in the USA or Israel. For US companies this relies on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework where the company is certified, and otherwise on the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission. Israel is covered by an EU adequacy decision.
Most of my couples live in the US, UK, Canada or Australia. When I email or message you there, sending your data to your country is part of answering you and doing the work you booked.
How long I keep it
| Data | How long |
| Enquiries that don’t turn into a booking (form entries, emails, WhatsApp, Calendly) | 2 years after our last message, in case you come back, then deleted |
| Client emails, schedule and notes | 3 years after the wedding, for questions, re-orders and any claims |
| Agreements, invoices and payment records | As long as Latvian accounting and tax law requires, then deleted |
| Your online gallery on Pic-Time | 6 months after delivery, or as in your agreement |
| Edited photos | Long term, as a backup for you if you lose your copy and for my portfolio, unless you ask me to delete them |
| RAW files | At least 1 year (if the contract does not say differently) |
| Google Analytics data | Up to 14 months |
| Your cookie choice | 12 months, then the banner asks again |
| Server and security logs | A few weeks |
Your wedding photos
Sharing real weddings is how other couples find me, so I’d like to show a selection of yours on mikssels.com, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest, and send some to wedding blogs, magazines, your venue and your planner. I only do this when our agreement allows it.
- Couples: if you don’t want any photos published, or want to keep out certain people, children or moments, tell me before or after the wedding and I’ll respect it.
- Guests: if you’re in a photo on my website or social media and would like it removed, write to me and I’ll take it down. I can’t recall a magazine that has already printed.
- Children: I’m careful with photos of children and remove any on a parent’s request.
The copyright in the photos stays with me. Your agreement sets out how you can use them.
Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask me to:
- show you what data I hold about you and send you a copy
- correct anything that’s wrong
- delete your data
- limit how I use it while we sort out a question
- stop using it for something based on my legitimate interest, such as a published photo
- give you the data you gave me in a common format, or send it to someone else
- withdraw your consent, for example to cookies through “Manage consent”, without affecting what happened before
Write to [email protected]. It’s free, and I answer within one month. I may ask you to confirm who you are first. Some records, like invoices, I have to keep by law even if you ask me to delete them; I’ll tell you if that applies.
If you think I’ve handled your data wrongly, please tell me first so I can fix it. You can also complain to the Latvian Data State Inspectorate (Datu valsts inspekcija, www.dvi.gov.lv) or to the data protection authority where you live.
Security, children and changes
Security. The whole site runs on HTTPS, galleries are password-protected, and the website admin is limited to me. Your photos are backed up on two separate hard drives kept in different places, one of them in a safe. No system is perfectly secure, but I take reasonable care and will tell you if something goes wrong that affects you.
Children. The site is meant for adults planning a wedding. I don’t knowingly collect data from anyone under 16.
Changes. When the way I work changes, I update this page and the date below.
Last updated: 18 October 2026
