Privacy Policy

Mike’s Camera Privacy Statement for Revenue Generating and Marketing Activities


This Privacy Statement describes why and how Mike’s Camera, Inc. and Mike’s Camera of California, LLC, both dba Mike’s Camera, collect, store, use and share personal data collected in connection with Mike’s Camera’s revenue generating activities, which includes Mike’s Camera stores and e-commerce site (“Website”), and marketing and other commercial activities (the "Activities"). We collect such data in various ways, including data you provide to us, data we collect by automated means, and data we collect from other sources.


What Personal Information Do We Collect

Information You Provide to Us

When you participate in the Activities, you may be asked to provide information about yourself to us, including:

  • Your name
  • Your email and mailing address
  • Your phone number
  • Your payment information, which we will use to process your orders
  • Your preferences and interests in Mike’s Camera's offerings.

The following are examples of when you may give your personal information to us:

  • If you place an order with us for yourself or as a gift
  • If someone ordered a gift from Mike’s Camera for you
  • If you join one of our membership programs
  • If you participate in a survey, study, contest, or promotions, or share articles from our blog
  • If you register with us, sign up for an email newsletter, or request information from us


Information Collected and Stored Automatically

Mike’s Camera uses online analytics tools such as Google Analytics, WebTrends, etc., to collect and track information about your visit so that Mike’s Camera can monitor usage and make improvements. These tools may store your IP address from which you access our Website. Mike’s Camera also collects the following data elements in aggregate form:

  • The name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, gmail.com, if you are connecting from a Google Online account)
  • The type of device, browser, and operating system used to access our Website
  • The date and time you access our site
  • The length of your visit
  • The location from which you access our site (approximate country, state, city and postal code based on Google Analytics data)
  • The pages, files, documents, and links that you visit and engage with
  • The domain of the website which referred you to the Website (the last website you visited before visiting the Website)

Additionally, to better understand our customers, we may ask that you share additional information about you or your experience (such as, your city or state, age); your participation would be voluntary and, unless specifically stated otherwise in the request, the information you provide will not be connected with your personally identifiable information.


Social Media

When you access or interact with Mike’s Camera through a social media service such as Facebook or Instagram, we may have visibility to your profile name and other information you have made public in connection with that particular social media service. The social media companies may collect and share anonymous aggregate metrics with us regarding use, such as the total number of clicks, shares, users' demographics (e.g., age range, gender, location). These social media companies are not operated by Mike’s Camera; use of their services is governed by the privacy policies of the social media companies.


How We Use and Disclose Personal Information

Mike’s Camera may use and disclose information collected for various revenue-generating and fundraising purposes, including:

  • To process, track, and manage products and/or services you request
  • To communicate with you about the content and/or services you may be interested in through content and advertisements on our Website, mail, email, advertising networks, and social platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Google
  • To manage your account, deliver services you request, and to improve and enhance our services
  • To provide you with special offers, promotions and information from across Mike’s Camera in accordance with applicable law
  • To respond to your inquiries or comments
  • To contact you about changes to services
  • To allow social media sharing
  • To perform internal analysis in order to improve Mike’s Camera operations and business practices
  • To protect the legal rights and obligations of Mike’s Camera and others
  • To help determine how parts of our Website are used in order to optimize site performance
  • To inform third parties about our users' aggregate demographics, advertising impressions or how they collectively use our Website

Please note that if you purchase a Mike’s Camera product or service, you may receive transactional communications. You also may be offered an opportunity to receive additional information and promotions.


Mike’s Camera uses outside vendors to provide certain services, such as companies that process credit card transactions for Mike’s Camera. These third-party vendors will have access to the information needed to perform their functions but may not use your information for any other purpose. Examples include:

  • E-mail acquisition and distribution
  • Order fulfillment and shipping
  • Event reservation or ticket fulfillment
  • Online class or workshop participation via video conferencing connection
  • Marketing and advertising
  • Printing and mailing
  • Data Storage
  • Payment processing
  • Fraud prevention


Mike’s Camera may collect personal data about you from unaffiliated sources with whom we contract, such as product and service providers and data aggregators, as well as from public sources or databases. We may obtain data such as your name, postal address, email address, telephone number, demographic data (such as age, gender, income level, and purchasing profiles). We generally use such data to identify potential customers, or to update personal data we already have about existing customers (such as an address update), or to enhance our data models.

Please note that Mike’s Camera also may provide your information to: (1) a Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency if Mike’s Camera becomes aware of a violation or potential violation of law or regulation; (2) a court or party in a court or Federal administrative proceeding if Mike’s Camera is a party or in order to comply with a subpoena; (3) the Department of Justice or in certain legal proceedings when Mike’s Camera, an employee of Mike’s Camera, or the United States is a party to litigation or has an interest in the litigation and the use of such records is deemed relevant and necessary to the litigation; (4) Mike’s Camera officials, as needed to perform official duties; (5) a Committee of Congress in response to a formal request; (6) protect the security or integrity of Mike’s Camera’s Website and services; and (7) any other person or entity as required by law.


For European Residents — Our Lawful Basis for Processing Personal Information

We are based in the United States, and your personal information may be processed on servers located in the United States, where the data protection laws may be different from the laws in your country. Standard contractual clauses (SCCs) are written commitments between parties that can be used as a ground for data transfers from the EU to third countries by providing appropriate data protection safeguards. SCCs have been approved by the European Commission and can't be modified by the parties using them. Such clauses have also been approved for transfers of data to countries outside the UK and Switzerland. We rely on SCCs for our data transfers where required. The approved SCCs that we use can be found here.

Further, Mike’s Camera is a controller of personal information and appropriately processes personal information about Europeans in accordance with the lawful bases and purposes specified below.

For revenue generating activities only, we obtain your consent to use your personal information to:

  • communicate with you about the content and/or product and/or services you may be interested in through content and advertisements on our Website, mail, email, advertising networks, and social platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Google
  • provide you with special offers, promotions and information from across Mike’s Camera in accordance with applicable law

We rely on our contractual obligations to you to use your personal information to:

  • process, track, and manage products and/or services you request
  • manage your account

We rely on our need to comply with our legal obligations to use your personal information to:

  • protect the legal rights and obligations of Mike’s Camera and others

We rely on our legitimate interests in providing and improving our services to use your personal information to:

  • improve and enhance our services
  • respond to your inquiries or comments
  • contact you about changes to services to perform internal analysis in order to improve Mike’s Camera operations and business practices
  • help determine how parts of our Website are used in order to optimize site performance
  • inform third parties about our users' aggregate demographics or how they collectively use our Website
  • provide information about how many advertising impressions were delivered on a campaign

Tools to exercise your privacy rights can be found in the Opt-out and User Control section below.


Location of Your Data

We are based in the United States and your personal information may be processed on servers located in the United States, where the data protection laws may be different from the laws in your country.


For California Residents

Mike’s Camera is a for-profit business operating in the United States. As a best practice, we provide the below notice about our collection of personal information, as would a "business" under California law:

We collect the following categories of personal information when you participate in the Activities: identifiers/contact information, payment card information, Internet or other electronic network activity information, and inferences drawn from the above. For more information on the information we collect, please review the What Personal Information Do We Collect? section of this Privacy Statement.

The sources of personal information from whom we collected are: directly from you, analytics tools, social networks, and other vendors providing services on our behalf.

We collect and use this information so that we can best serve you including to fulfil your orders or requests and share offers we think you would be interested in. For more information on how we use your information and who we share it with, please review the How We Use and Disclose Personal Information section of this Privacy Statement.

As the term is defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), we do not “sell” personal information.


Opt-Out and User Control

Customers may opt out of regular mailings by contacting customer service. Customers can change their email communication preferences by using the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails or by contacting customer service. Customer service contact options may include mail, email, and web. See below for our customer service contact information.

You also have the right to:

  • access your personal information, including information about the information we collect from you
  • request that we delete your personal information
  • request that we correct your personal information
  • withdraw your consent
  • restrict our use of your personal information

If you would like to exercise your rights, please click or email: service@mikescamera.com, or write to: Mike’s Camera Customer Service, 2500 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO  80302.

We will need to verify that you are who you say you are before we delete or share personal information with you. As such, you may need to provide us with documentation of your identity.


Behavioral Advertising; Your Ad Choices

In order to provide a more relevant online experience, some of the ads that you see on various sites, social media, and digital applications are customized based on your previous online activity on our sites, social media, and other sites. The information may be used to predict your interest in future ads related to your interests. The advertising practice is called interest-based advertising (IBA). By presenting ads relevant to your interests, we hope to enhance your experience on our Website or social media. You may learn more about online advertising, including IBA, at www.aboutads.info/consumers.

What choices do I have about online behavioral advertising from Mike’s Camera Website?

You can opt out from receiving ads relevant to your interests from "third parties" that participate in the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) program and are identified on their opt-out page. If you elect to opt out of IBA, you will still receive the same number of ads as before, but they may not be as relevant to you. Opting- out is cookie-based and will only affect the specific computer and browser on which the opt out is applied. If you delete your browser cookies and want to continue to be opted out of interest-based ads, you will need to opt out again.

How can I learn more?

Learn more about the DAA Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising from www.aboutads.info.

Learn more about online advertising from the Network Advertising Initiative at www.networkadvertising.org.

Learn more from the Interactive Advertising Bureau at http://www.iab.net/privacymatters/, including how to manage cookies using your browser controls.


Data Retention

We will retain your information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Statement unless a longer retention period is required or allowed by law.

Remember that even after you cancel your account, or if you ask us to delete your personal information, copies of some information from your account may remain viewable in some circumstances where, for example, you have shared information with social media or other services. Because of the nature of caching technology, your account may not be instantly inaccessible to others. We may also retain backup information related to your account on our servers for some time after cancellation or your request for deletion, for fraud detection or to comply with applicable law or our internal security or recordkeeping policies. It may not always be possible to completely remove or delete all of your information due to technical constraints or contractual, financial or legal requirements.


Cookies, Web Beacons, and Pixels

Cookies

In addition to information collected automatically, we use cookies to support the internal functionality of our Website. Cookies, which are small pieces of information sent to your browser by a website that you visit, are used to track usage patterns, traffic trends and customer behavior, as well as to record other information from the website. When you register on our Website, cookies also allow us to save information so that you will not have to re-enter it the next time you visit. Many content adjustments and customer service improvements are made based on the data derived from cookies. Mike’s Camera’s Website uses third-party vendors, such as Google Analytics, to place cookies and analyze the information collected by cookies in order to make the Mike’s Camera’s Website more interesting and useful to you. No personally identifiable information is collected. Information that we collect from cookies will not be used to create profiles of individual users and only will be used in aggregate form. The data is retained for as long as necessary to support the mission of the Mike’s Camera Website. You may set your browser to refuse cookies from any website that you visit. If you so choose, you may still gain access to most of the Mike’s Camera Website, but you may not be able to conduct certain types of transactions (such as shopping) or take advantage of some of the interactive elements offered. You may opt-out of Google Analytics using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Additionally, Mike’s Camera’s Website may use the Demographics and Interest reporting feature for Google Analytics for Display Advertising. The data provided by this service (such as age, gender, and interests) is used to better understand visitors to the Website and customize our Website to our users’ interest. You may opt-out of Google Analytics for Display Advertising by visiting Ad Settings.


Web Beacons and Pixels

Mike’s Camera also collects non-personally identifiable information through the use of tracking pixels that appear on our pages. A tracking pixel is a transparent graphic image (usually 1 pixel x 1 pixel) that is placed on a web page and, in combination with a cookie, allows us to collect information regarding the use of the web page that contains the tracking pixel.

We use tracking pixels to trigger ads on participating websites based on activity tracked from the browser on a device used to visit Mike’s Camera Website. We also use them to tell when an advertisement we run on another website has been clicked on by Mike’s Camera Website visitors, and use that information to judge which advertisements are more appealing to users.

To opt out of these tracking pixels and services, please follow this link to opt out of the Google Analytics-based tools (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/), the Facebook Pixel (https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads), and the Bing Pixel (https://choice.microsoft.com/en-US/opt-out).


Children and Privacy

The Mike’s Camera Website is intended to be accessible and enjoyed by general audiences. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13, without first providing the parent or legal guardian with notice and obtaining prior verifiable consent. If a visitor known to be a child sends an email to the Smithsonian, we will only use it to respond to the writer and not to create profiles or otherwise retain the information. If a parent or guardian believes their child's personally identifiable information was inadvertently collected, please contact service@mikescamera.com.


Security

Mike’s Camera takes reasonable steps to design and manage our Website’s technology to ensure that its information technology systems, applications, and information technology infrastructure are secure. When you use your credit card for any purchase on the Mike’s Camera Website, that transaction is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption to protect your credit card information when traveling over the Internet. Further, we require credit card processing be secured based on compliance with Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards.


Linking

Within the Mike’s Camera Website may be content links to non- Mike’s Camera websites. These sites operate independently of Mike’s Camera and have their own privacy policies. Mike’s Camera is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of non-Mike’s Camera websites, and such link is not intended to be an endorsement of the non-Mike’s Camera website or its content. For your protection, you should review the privacy policy of the site you linked to from our Website.


Contact Us

Questions and comments about this Privacy Statement may be directed to us via mail at Mike’s Camera Privacy Office, 2500 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO  80302, or email at service@mikescamera.com. Mike’s Camera is a large organization with many people sharing responsibility for the content of its Website. Please help us respond to your comments and inquiries by sending them to this office.


Last revised: 08/14/2025