1. Who We Are

ekphra (ekphra.com) is a project of Laird Art Gallery in Toronto, Canada. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, who helps us handle it, and the choices you have. It works together with our Terms of Use.

Questions or requests about your information go to hello@ekphra.com.

2. What We Collect

• Your account. Your name, email address and password. Passwords are stored only in a scrambled (hashed) form that no one at ekphra can read.
• Your profile. What you choose to add, such as a photo, location, bio and links.
• What you post. Artworks, poems, images, audio, comments and messages.
• Payments. Payments and payouts are handled by Stripe. ekphra keeps only Stripe reference numbers. We never see or store card or bank account numbers.
• Shop. For an order, the buyer's email and shipping address. For a seller, the business address and phone number, which is confirmed with a one-time code.
• Art Scene submissions. The email address of a person who sends us a submission without an account.
• Technical information. Our hosting server keeps standard access records, which include IP addresses.

We do not use advertising trackers or analytics tools, and we do not sell personal information.

3. Why We Use It

• To run your account and keep you signed in.
• To show your work and posts in the ways described in our Terms of Use.
• To process sales, subscriptions and payouts.
• To send emails you need, such as account verification, password resets and important notices.
• To keep the community safe and to meet our legal obligations.

4. Who Helps Us

We share information only with services that help us run ekphra, and only what each one needs:

• Stripe processes payments, subscriptions and payouts.
• Brevo delivers our emails.
• Cloudflare stores images and delivers some code libraries.
• Namecheap hosts our website and database.
• Google Fonts and jsDelivr deliver fonts and code libraries on some pages.
• YouTube plays a video when a post includes one.

When your browser loads a page that uses one of these services, that service receives your IP address as part of the request. Some of these services store information outside Canada, including in the United States.

In the Shop, a buyer's name and shipping address are shared with the seller so the order can be delivered.

5. Cookies and Browser Storage

ekphra uses only what the site needs to work:

• A session cookie that keeps you signed in while you browse.
• A "remember me" cookie, only if you choose to stay signed in.
• Browser storage for small settings and unsent drafts, such as how Display fits your screen.

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

6. What Others Can See

Your name, profile and the work and comments you post are public. Your email address is never shown publicly. Messages are private between the people in them, except as described in our Terms of Use for safety and Shop disputes.

7. How Long We Keep It

We keep your information while your account is open. When you delete your account, we follow Section 9 of our Terms of Use: a 30-day period in which the account can be restored, then removal of your personal details. Records of sales are kept as long as tax and accounting law requires. Server access records are kept by our host for a limited time.

8. Your Choices

You can view and change most of your information in your profile settings. You may also ask us to give you a copy of your information, to correct it, or to delete your account, by writing to hello@ekphra.com.

If you are not satisfied with our answer, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

9. Age

ekphra is for people 18 years of age or older. Everyone confirms this when creating an account.

10. Keeping It Safe

We use secure connections (HTTPS), store passwords only in hashed form, and limit who can access personal information. No system is perfectly secure, and we will tell affected members if a breach puts their information at real risk.

11. Changes to This Policy

When we change this policy in a way that matters to you, we will let members know in advance by email or by a notice on the site. The date at the top shows the current version.