1. Privacy commitment and information collected

akg-images website is controlled by akg-images limited and akg-images GmbH in Germany. akg-images fully respect the privacy and security in the personal information of our users. Personal information is information about you from which you are personally identifiable like your name, address, email address etc, and may include information relating to your use of our website.

In order for you to make an informed decision about using this site, we recommend you take a moment to read this policy. You will learn what personally identifiable information is collected about you, how and when we might use this information, how we protect this information, who has access to this information, and how you can correct any inaccuracies in the information. Since this policy may change from time to time we suggest that you check it periodically.

2. What information is collected on the akg site, and how?

We collect certain information from and about our clients in three ways - via the registration form, cookies, and HTTP web sessions.

Registration form: When you register to log into our online catalogue, we ask you for your name, E-mail address, telephone number, industry, job title/function and some other personal information. The more accurate the information you give us, the better we will be able to respond to your requirements. We may from time to time ask you for further information in order to update our records or for particular purposes. We will always tell you how we will use any further information received from you. In addition, if you contact us we may keep a record of that correspondence and incorporate the information it contains onto our database.

Cookies: The akg-images website uses cookies. Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored on and retrieved from your computer by websites for record keeping purposes. Cookies allow us to save your preferences for you (such as your country, your preferred language, browser, etc.) so that you won't have to re-enter them the next time you visit. To find out more in-depth information about cookies and their purpose, please visit www.aboutcookies.org.

The list below describes the cookies we may use on this site. We operate an ‘implied consent’ policy which means that we assume you are happy for a cookie to be stored on your computer. If this is not the case and you wish to continue using our site, we recommend you delete the cookies once you have completed your visit. You can do this manually or you can configure your browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify you when a cookie is set. (Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.)

You can also browse the site using your browser’s anonymous browser settings. In Firefox this is referred to as "Private Browsing", in Chrome "Incognito", in Internet Explorer "InPrivate" and so on. Your browser's help pages should be able to give you more guidance in setting and managing your cookie preferences.

If you reject all cookies, you will still be able to use the akg-images on-line search that requires you to sign in, as well as the other portions of the site which don’t require you to sign in. However, the akg-images website will not be able to “remember” your preferred language or your country and some parts of our service may be slower or not function properly.

First Party Cookies:

These are cookies that are set by this website directly.

Google Analytics: We may use Google Analytics to collect information on our website. Google Analytics stores information about: pages you visit; length of your visit on the website; how you found the website; which links you click on within the website. This data is collected via a JavaScript tag embedded in the pages of our site. This information cannot be used to identify who you are and does not collect any personal information about you (for example your name and address).

You can find out more about Google Analytics here: www.google.co.uk/intl/en/analytics/privacyoverview.html

WordPress: The akg-images blog is run on the WordPress CMS. Cookies are used to store basic data about your interactions with WordPress, and whether you have logged into WordPress. If you are a registered Wordpress user, a session cookie remembers your login for you so that you can post comments to the blog. More information on session cookies and what they are used for at www.allaboutcookies.org/cookies/session-cookies-used-for.html

HTTP web sessions: When you sign in to our online image catalogue as an identified user (that is, as a visitor with a username and password attached to your own account), you automatically open an HTTP web session. This means that we automatically receive and record information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address how long you spend on the website and the pages you request.

3. Surveys, Competitions and Promotions

From time to time we conduct surveys, competitions and promotions and may request information from you as part of these. Participation in these is entirely voluntary and you therefore have a choice whether or not to disclose any information which might be required. We may also ask you whether you would like to receive promotional emails and mailings about our other products of services. Similarly, you are under no obligation to accept such information.

We collect and store the information you give us in a secure password protected database.

You can contact us at any time via email or by telephone during office hours to update or correct the user profile you have (address, e-mail, phone number etc.)

4. Use of personal information

We use information in different ways, depending on the type of information:

Registration form: This information is used for purposes such as personalisation and verification. Examples of user-supplied information are your name, address, phone number, E-mail address, and other demographic information. This information is required to process your orders, to notify you of the status of your orders, to keep you informed of any updates or changes to our website (in relation to which we may send you site and service announcement updates) and to generally provide an informed and user-friendly service to you. We may use your information to communicate with you by email, fax or telephone, for record keeping purposes, for the purpose of running your account, for technical administration of our web site, for research and development and for customer administration. We may also pass on your personal information to other akg companies.

Cookies: A cookie, by itself, cannot be used to find out your identity or the identities of any of our users. The cookie only recalls your previously set preferences (such as your country, your preferred language, your internet browser, etc.) when you re-visit an akg-images website.

HTTP web sessions: The information collected during your visit (throughout the course of a web session after having signed in) is used during that period to facilitate the various functions of the website (viewing, selecting, saving, sending, and downloading of images, for example). Once the session is closed, the choices you make as a user remain saved in your account and are made available to you the next time you sign in.

5. Disclosure of personal information

Except as described above, when you are at akg-images on-line search site and are asked for personal information you share that information only with us. We do not rent or sell email lists, or ordinarily disclose customers' personal information to any third parties.

However, it is possible that we, other akg companies, our joint venture partners or any combination of such, could merge with or be acquired by another business entity. Should this occur, we would share some or all of your personal information in order to continue to provide the products and services. You will receive notice of such an event and we will require that the new entity follow the same practices set out in this privacy policy.

If we are requested by the Police or a regulatory or government authority investigating illegal activities to provide information concerning your activities whilst using the network, we shall do so.

6. Protection of information

The privacy and protection of your personal information are vitally important to us. We take every precaution to protect your information. To this end all information stored by us is kept on a server in a secure environment and only employees who need the information to perform a specific task are granted access to it. In addition, regular security reviews are held by us to ensure that the site remains safe and secure for your protection. Also your access to some services and content is password protected.

You are responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any password you set up, and we recommend that you do not divulge it to anyone. You may also wish to close your browser window when you have finished your work. This is to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence if you share a computer with someone else or are using a computer in a public place like a library or Internet cafe.

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Accordingly, despite our efforts to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us (or we transmit to you) via the Internet). You transmit all such information at your own risk. However, once we receive your transmission, we will make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems.

We have links to other sites such as Bapla, Dacs and others. They may have privacy policies and practices that differ from ours. Since we can take no responsibility for the practices of other websites, we recommend you familiarise yourself with them.

If you have any questions about our privacy policy, or concerns about how information supplied on this site is being used, please contact enquiries@akg-images.co.uk.