Privacy policy
We take your security and privacy very seriously and we aim to make your experience with us entirely safe and problem free. Please see our security guarantee and privacy policy below.
This site is owned by Alamy Ltd ("Alamy", "we" or "us") whose registered office is at 6 - 8 West Central, 127 Olympic Avenue, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4SA, United Kingdom and our company registration number is 3807789, and we are the 'data controller' of the personal information you provide to us. Alamy acts on behalf of all Alamy group companies, i.e. all parent and subsidiary undertakings.
We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy when visiting our website and providing us with your personal information and this privacy policy statement summarises what personal details we may collect from you before, during or after you use our site and what we will do with them. You can contact us via the postal address above or via email at customersupport@alamy.com if you have any queries regarding this policy.
We will review and update this Privacy Policy from time to time and all changes will be posted to this page.
This page was last updated on 05/09/2019.
What information do we collect and how may we use it?
• All visitors to the site:
During your visit to our site, we will only collect personal information that you choose to provide, if for example you: contact us with an enquiry; register on the site; enter a competition or prize draw; request us to provide you with further information; post information to a public area of the site or take advantage of a promotion.
If you share other people's data with us, for example if you buy one of our products for another family member, you will need to check that person consents to you providing that information to us.
We may use the information held about you in the following ways:
• To administer any account you have with us, including any terminated account to which post-termination provisions apply
• To perform our contractual obligations to you
• To respond to your queries and requests
• To communicate with you
• To notify you of any changes to our services
• To ensure that the content of our site is presented in the most effective manner
• To provide you with the information, products and services requested from us
• To provide you with helpful information about our products or services
• To allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, should you choose to do so
• To administer competition entries and to notify winners
• To make improvements to the service we provide you
We also reserve the right to disclose your personal information where we are required to do so by law, and to assist in any disputes, claims or investigations relating to your account or contract with us, and to detect and prevent fraudulent transactions.
We may also use information about your visits to our site to enhance your visit and to create a general demographic profile of visitors.
E-mail, telephone calls and Live Chat correspondence with Alamy via our website, telephone numbers and email addresses accessible through, or obtained from, this site may be recorded, transcribed and/or monitored for training purposes and to improve customer interactions. By using these communication methods, you are consenting to the recording, transcribing and/or monitoring of your emails, telephone calls and chats.
• Customers and registered users:
When you register on the site we will ask for your name and address, your company name and address, your email address and a password. This enables us to send you information which you have indicated you wish to receive from us, as well as related communications which we think you will find of interest, including our regular email newsletters and updates on any special offers or events coming up on the site.
When you place orders with us we need to know your name, email address, invoice address, delivery address and telephone number. If the order is placed using a credit or debit card we also need the number and expiry date of the card, if paying on account we also need the email and contact name of the person responsible for paying invoices in your accounts payable department. This allows us to process and fulfil your orders and to notify you of your order status. We may provide some or all of this information to our partners or advisors for the purposes of completing or investigating a transaction with you or answering a question you raise with us. We sometimes provide pseudonymised data to 3rd parties to fulfil contractual obligations.
We use information on your previous habits and purchases to personalise your shopping experience, and to show you products and promotions that we think will appeal to you. This information is collected by a 'cookie' which is stored on your computer's hard drive and enables us to automatically link our customers to their personalised accounts. If you want to, most web-browsers allow you to turn off the automatic acceptance of cookies on your PC. We also monitor the usage of our site and customer traffic patterns to help us improve the layout and functionality of the site.
If you register with us as a contributor, we need you to provide your name and address, (your company name if you register as an agency) your telephone number, your email address and a password. This enables us to administer your account and send you information which you have indicated you wish to receive from us, as well as important account specific information such as contractual notifications, operational updates and service emails.
Additionally, to get paid for any sales made through Alamy we need to know your bank details; name of your bank, country, account holder's name and account number with sort code.
• Contributors covering News events:
If you agree to cover a News event Alamy will share your required personal details with the event organizer so that you can gain access to the event. If the event organizer requires more details than what we currently hold we will request these details from you. We will delete any extra details we acquire in regards to your access to a News event within 2 years.
In all cases cited above if you do not provide the data required we will not be able to provide you with our services, or the administration of those services may be hampered.
What if I don't want to receive any correspondence from you?
Where you have given your permission for us to use your data for particular purposes, or where we send you communications relating to Alamy products and services, you can at any time change your preferences as to how your data is used by us. Simply sign in to My Alamy and change your email preferences.
As lightboxes can be emailed out and viewed by clicking on the URL link, the information contained in them could be viewed, but not altered by someone other than yourself or an intended recipient.
You may contact us or comment on our products and services through social media. The information we collect from social media and online sites sometimes includes personal information that has been put online and is publicly available. Please refer to the relevant social media sites for details of their own privacy policies on how they collect and share your personal data.
How do we store and protect your data?
We take the security of your information seriously and we will endeavour to ensure that the personal information you submit to us is kept private and secure, and held in accordance with relevant laws. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information. We protect your personal information using security measures such as encryption, access controls and physical security measures.
We will not sell, rent or otherwise disclose the personal information you provide to us through the site to third parties (other than as listed below) unless we are required to do so by law.
Third parties who provide services on our behalf
We share your personal information with certain third parties who provide services on our behalf, or, in limited cases, who receive services from us. They only have access to the personal information they need to perform those services. They are required to keep your personal information secure and confidential and may only use it as permitted by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
The third parties who provide services on our behalf fall into the following categories:
• Other Alamy group companies
• Payment service providers including for the purposes of transaction administration, identification and authentication, fraud detection and prevention services and anti fraud screening services
• Our partners or advisors for the purposes of completing or investigating a transaction with you or answering a question you raise with us
• Translators we engage to translate into different languages image captions and tags (keywords) and other information associated with an image
• Marketing agencies appointed to provide services to us
• The service providers operating this site on our behalf
• Accountants, auditors, law firms, information technology support providers
• Advertising services, analytics services, content providers
The information we collect about you, is hosted and stored in the UK and also outside of the EEA. We ensure our staff based outside the EEA are bound by the same conditions and standards and operate within the same levels of security as our staff in the UK when processing, hosting and storing your personal data. Those third parties with which we share your personal information may handle or transfer your personal information outside of the EEA. We make sure that any transfer of your personal information by us to any third party complies with all applicable data protection laws.
By submitting your personal information to us, and by using our site, you agree to us transferring, storing and handling your personal information in this way.
How long do we store your data?
We will not keep your data for longer than is necessary for the relevant purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. Where you have purchased a product or service from us, we will hold your relevant personal details to enable us to provide after-sale services and to administer the contract, including any relevant warranty. Where you are a Contributor (or an ex-contributor in respect of certain post-termination contractual obligations) as this is a contractual arrangement, we need to keep this data to administer the contract and correspond with you on any contractual matters arising.
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) you have a number of rights with regard to your personal data.
You have the right to request from us access to and rectification or erasure of your personal data, the right to restrict processing, object to processing as well as in certain circumstances the right to data portability. Please note we will retain and use your personal information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
Any information you post on the public areas of the site (e.g. our forum) is accessible to and used by others and may result in unsolicited messages or other contact from others. You are advised to use caution when posting personal information about yourself in public areas of this site.
No data collected from children
Our site is not directed at children and should not be accessed by them. We will not knowingly collect information from minors without their parent's or guardian's consent.
From time to time our site may contain links to and from the websites of our partner networks, affiliates and other third party sites. If you visit any of these sites please note that they have their own privacy policies and you should check these before submitting any personal data. We cannot accept any responsibility or liability for these policies.
Cookie policy
We explain what cookies are, how Alamy use them and how you can manage or remove them.
COOKIE POLICY
Last updated March 08, 2024
This Cookie Policy explains how Alamy Ltd ("Company," "we," "us," and "our") uses cookies and similar technologies to recognize you when you visit our website at https://www.alamy.com ("Website"). It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control our use of them. In some cases we may use cookies to collect personal information, or that becomes personal information if we combine it with other information.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by website owners in order to make their websites work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information. Cookies set by the website owner (in this case, Alamy Ltd) are called "first-party cookies." Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called "third-party cookies." Thirdparty cookies enable third-party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website (e.g., advertising, interactive content, and analytics). The parties that set these third-party cookies can recognize your computer both when it visits the website in question and also when it visits certain other websites
Why do we use cookies?
We use first- and third-party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Website to operate, and we refer to these as "essential" or "strictly necessary" cookies. Other cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Online Properties. Third parties serve cookies through our Website for advertising, analytics, and other purposes. This is described in more detail below.
How can I control cookies?
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your cookie rights by setting your preferences in the Cookie Consent Manager. The Cookie Consent Manager allows you to select which categories of cookies you accept or reject. Essential cookies cannot be rejected as they are strictly necessary to provide you with services.
The Cookie Consent Manager can be found in the notification banner and on our website. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our website though your access to some functionality and areas of our website may be restricted. You may also set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies.
The specific types of first- and third-party cookies served through our Website and the purposes they perform are described in the table below (please note that the specific cookies served may vary depending on the specific Online Properties you visit):
Essential Website Cookies
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our Website and to use some of its features, such as access to secure areas. Please click here to see all Alamy website cookies.
Performance and Functionality Cookies
These cookies are used to enhance the performance and functionality of our websites but are nonessential to their use. However, without these cookies, certain functionality (like videos) may become unavailable.
Analytics and Customisation Cookies
These cookies collect information that can help us understand how our websites are being used. This information can also be used to measure effectiveness in our marketing campaigns or to curate a personalised site experience for you.
Advertising Cookies
These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They prevent the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensure that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases select advertisements that are based on your interests
Social Networking Cookies
These cookies enable you to share our website's content through third-party social networks and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes.
Unclassified Cookies
These are cookies that have not yet been categorised. We are in the process of classifying these cookies with the help of their providers.
How can I control cookies on my browser?
As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser to browser, you should visit your browser's help menu for more information. The following is information about how to manage cookies on the most popular browsers:
In addition, most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of targeted advertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visit:
What about other tracking technologies, like web beacons?
Cookies are not the only way to recognize or track visitors to a website. We may use other, similar technologies from time to time, like web beacons (sometimes called "tracking pixels" or "clear gifs"). These are tiny graphics files that contain a unique identifier that enables us to recognize when someone has visited our Website or opened an email including them. This allows us, for example, to monitor the traffic patterns of users from one page within a website to another, to deliver or communicate with cookies, to understand whether you have come to the website from an online advertisement displayed on a third-party website, to improve site performance, and to measure the success of email marketing campaigns. In many instances, these technologies are reliant on cookies to function properly, and so declining cookies will impair their functioning.
Do you use Flash cookies or Local Shared Objects?
Websites may also use so-called "Flash Cookies" (also known as Local Shared Objects or "LSOs") to, among other things, collect and store information about your use of our services, fraud prevention, and for other site operations.
If you do not want Flash Cookies stored on your computer, you can adjust the settings of your Flash player to block Flash Cookies storage using the tools contained in the Website Storage Settings Panel. You can also control Flash Cookies by going to the Global Storage Settings Panel and following the instructions (which may include instructions that explain, for example, how to delete existing Flash Cookies (referred to "information" on the Macromedia site), how to prevent Flash LSOs from being placed on your computer without your being asked, and (for Flash Player 8 and later) how to block Flash Cookies that are not being delivered by the operator of the page you are on at the time).
Please note that setting the Flash Player to restrict or limit acceptance of Flash Cookies may reduce or impede the functionality of some Flash applications, including, potentially, Flash applications used in connection with our services or online content.
Do you serve targeted advertising?
Third parties may serve cookies on your computer or mobile device to serve advertising through our Website. These companies may use information about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide relevant advertisements about goods and services that you may be interested in. They may also employ technology that is used to measure the effectiveness of advertisements. They can accomplish this by using cookies or web beacons to collect information about your visits to this and other sites in order to provide relevant advertisements about goods and services of potential interest to you. The information collected through this process does not enable us or them to identify your name, contact details, or other details that directly identify you unless you choose to provide these.
How often will you update this Cookie Policy?
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. Please therefore revisit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies.
The date at the top of this Cookie Policy indicates when it was last updated.
Where can I get further information?
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at customersupport@alamy.com or by post to:
Email disclaimers
Email disclaimer for Alamy Ltd, Alamy Inc., Alamy Australia Pty Ltd and Alamy Images India Pvt. Ltd
The information contained in or attached to emails is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorised to and must not disclose, copy, distribute, or retain any message or any part of it. If you have received an email in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.
We accept no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by software viruses or interception/interruption of emails. The information contained or attached to an email may contain information which is confidential and/or covered by legal, professional or other privilege or other rules or laws with similar effect in other jurisdictions.
Alamy Limited,
6 - 8 West Central,
127 Olympic Avenue,
Milton Park,Abingdon,
Oxon, OX14 4SA,
United Kingdom.
Registered in England Number 3807789.
Registered office:49 Flatbush Ave, 130, Brooklyn, NY 11217, USA.
Alamy Images India Pvt. Ltd
Registered office:C-16, Gayatri Building, Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. PIN - 695 581.Registered Number: U72900KL2004PTC016894.
Public domain content
Our website might have some collections that include images that are in the public domain, not protected by copyright or where the copyright ownership is unknown. Content can enter the public domain when copyright has expired, has been forfeited or is not applicable. For these images we don't claim any copyright or other intellectual property rights and neither do our contributors, we just provide you with access to a copy to use in line with the terms of the license you buy. Other copies of these images might be available elsewhere for free.
What is Copyright? Copyright is a law that gives you ownership over the things you create. As copyright owner you have the exclusive rights to sell, display and distribute the work however you want.