Privacy Policy

1. About this policy

Happyapple is an online marketplace connecting New Zealand photographers with customers who wish to license photographic images. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share your personal information, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to everyone who uses Happyapple — customers, photographers, and visitors.

Happyapple (NZBN 9429051229634) is operated from New Zealand. We handle your personal information in accordance with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 and its Information Privacy Principles. Your use of Happyapple is also governed by our Terms of Use.

2. Information we collect

We collect information you provide directly to us, information generated as you use the platform, and information we receive from the service providers who help us operate Happyapple.

Information you provide:

• Account details — your name and email address, and a securely hashed password
• Photographer profile details — your handle, bio, social media links, banner and avatar images, and payout setup
• Images you upload, and the titles, descriptions, and tags associated with them
• Communications you send us, such as support enquiries and helpdesk tickets
• Communication and marketing preferences, including newsletter subscriptions

Information collected automatically:

• Photos you view, favourite, preview-download, or purchase
• Views of photo pages and photographer profiles, recorded once per viewer per day
• Search queries and browsing activity on the platform
• Device and connection information, including IP address and browser type
• Usage analytics and performance metrics, including view and preview-download analytics

If you are not signed in when you view a photo page or photographer profile, we do not store your IP address against that view. Instead we store a truncated, one-way cryptographic hash of it, which lets us count each visitor once per day without keeping a record that identifies you.

Payment information:

Payments are processed by Stripe. Happyapple does not collect or store your full card details on its servers. We receive only limited transaction information from Stripe, such as confirmation of payment and the items purchased.

3. How we use your information

We use the personal information we collect to:

• Create and manage your account and photographer profile
• Display photographer profiles, collections, and images on the marketplace
• Process purchases, deliver download links, and pay photographers their earnings
• Provide customer support and respond to your enquiries
• Send you transactional emails, such as receipts, order updates, and account notices
• Send newsletters or marketing emails where you have subscribed (you can opt out at any time)
• Moderate uploaded content and detect AI-generated images, using automated tools including artificial intelligence
• Analyse usage to maintain, secure, and improve the platform
• Show photographers aggregate statistics about their own photos and profile, such as how many times they were viewed, favourited, or purchased
• Detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, and unlawful activity
• Comply with our legal obligations

4. Service providers we share information with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with trusted service providers who process it on our behalf to operate Happyapple, and only as needed to deliver the service. Our key providers are:

• Stripe — secure payment processing and photographer payouts
• Microsoft Azure — hosting of the platform and storage of uploaded images
• Neon — managed PostgreSQL database hosting
• Resend — delivery of transactional and marketing emails
• Anthropic (Claude) — AI-assisted content moderation and image metadata generation

We may also disclose personal information where we are required or permitted to do so by law, to enforce our Terms of Use, to protect the rights and safety of our users or the public, or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. Photographer profiles, handles, bios, and listed images are publicly visible by design.

5. Cookies, analytics, and tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate Happyapple and understand how it is used:

• Essential cookies: required for sign-in, sessions, your cart, and core platform functionality
• Preference cookies: remember your settings, such as saved favourites
• Analytics and third-party tracking: we use, or may use, analytics and third-party tracking tools to measure usage and improve the platform. Where required, we will seek your consent and provide controls before non-essential tracking is enabled.
• View analytics: when you open a photo page or a photographer profile, your browser tells us that the page was viewed so we can count it. Each visitor is counted once per photo or profile per day, so refreshing or revisiting the same page does not add to the count. We use this to show photographers how their work is performing. We do not use it to build advertising profiles, and we do not sell it.

Most browsers let you block or delete cookies. Disabling essential cookies may prevent parts of Happyapple from working.

6. Storage and security

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, and unauthorised access, including:

• Encryption of data in transit
• Securely hashed account passwords (we never store passwords in plain text)
• Payment handling delegated to Stripe, so card data never touches our servers
• Limiting access to personal information to authorised personnel
• Ongoing monitoring of the platform

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. How long we keep your information

We keep personal information for as long as your account is active and for as long as needed to provide the service. We retain order and transaction records for longer where required to meet our legal, tax, and accounting obligations. When information is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it.

8. Your rights and choices

Under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of information that is inaccurate or out of date
• Update your account and profile information at any time
• Opt out of marketing communications using the unsubscribe link or your preferences
• Request deletion of your account and associated personal information, subject to records we must retain by law

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at legal@happyapple.co.nz.

9. International data transfers

Some of our service providers store or process information on servers located outside New Zealand. Where personal information is transferred overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is protected by comparable safeguards consistent with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.

10. Children's privacy

Happyapple is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by posting the revised policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date above. Your continued use of Happyapple after a change takes effect means you accept the updated policy.

12. Contact us

If you have any questions, concerns, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, contact us at legal@happyapple.co.nz.

For help with your account, orders, or photos, visit our Support page or Contact us. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.