Privacy Policy
Scope of this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Gallart Network processes information needed to operate its international online Art Gallery and Painters Network. It applies to artist accounts, public artist profiles and paintings, membership administration, voting, the Art Related Message Board, Art Links, contact functions and the technical security of the website.
Gallart is an artist-focused, non-commercial service. Personal information is not sold to advertisers, and Gallart does not currently use advertising or analytics cookies.
Information Gallart processes
Gallart processes only information reasonably needed to provide, secure and maintain the service. Depending on how the site is used, this can include:
- artist account information such as a verified e-mail address, password hash, verification status, artist name, biography, country and optional website or Instagram address; the same verified artist e-mail is used for sign-in, security messages, password recovery and private visitor contact;
- public artwork images and information supplied by painters, including titles, years, painting techniques or media, dimensions, prices and availability;
- membership and PayPal order or transaction identifiers needed to confirm the one-time membership payment; Gallart does not receive or store payment-card details or a user's PayPal password;
- Message Board posts, verification records and information needed for optional private-contact conversations;
- Art Links submissions, backlink checks and moderation status;
- voting verification information used to enforce voting rules. After verification, voter identity is represented by protected technical identifiers rather than publicly exposing the voter's e-mail address;
- technical security information such as protected IP-address hashes, security events, timestamps and rate-limit records used to reduce spam, automated abuse and unauthorized access.
Artist profiles and public artwork
Gallart exists to promote painters and their works, so artist names, biographies, artwork images and the descriptive information intentionally submitted for publication are public. This can include paintings in oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media and other techniques, together with dimensions, prices and availability where the artist chooses to provide them.
Registered painters can update much of this public information through their secure member pages. Artists should publish only information and images they are comfortable presenting publicly as part of an international art gallery.
How information is used
Information is used to create and maintain artist accounts, display painter galleries, process membership status, authenticate users, send verification, e-mail-change or password-reset messages, privately route visitor messages to registered artists, prevent abuse and duplicate voting, operate the Message Board and Art Links, moderate public submissions and maintain the security and reliability of Gallart.
Gallart may also use technical records to diagnose errors, investigate abuse, protect artist accounts and preserve the integrity of community functions such as voting and moderated links.
Cookies and browser storage
Gallart uses an essential session cookie named gallart_session for secure sign-in and other core functions. Gallart does not currently use advertising or analytics cookies. The small cookie notice remembers its dismissal in the visitor's browser local storage so it does not need to appear on every page view.
Third-party services used on specific pages, such as PayPal for membership payments and Cloudflare Turnstile when enabled for human verification, may process technical information or use their own cookies under their own privacy policies.
Voting, Message Board and Art Links
Voting requires verification so that monthly limits can be applied fairly and automated voting can be reduced. Message Board and Art Links submissions may be checked for spam, inappropriate content and other abuse before or after publication. Public posts and approved links are visible to visitors and search engines.
International visitors and service providers
Gallart is an international painters network and can be accessed from different countries. Hosting, e-mail delivery, payment processing and other technical providers may process limited information when required to deliver their services. Gallart shares information with service providers only where it is needed to operate the website, confirm payments, deliver messages or protect the service.
Data retention and security
Account and published gallery information is retained while the account or gallery remains part of Gallart, subject to administrative, security and legal requirements. One-time verification codes expire after a short period. Password-reset links expire after 30 minutes and can be used only once. Artist e-mail-change links are also one-time links and expire after 60 minutes. Passwords are stored as hashes rather than readable passwords.
Gallart uses access controls, e-mail verification, additional login verification, CSRF protection, rate limiting, anti-spam measures and other technical safeguards intended to reduce unauthorized access. No internet service can guarantee absolute security, so users should also protect their own e-mail accounts and passwords.
Data sharing and direct artist contact
Gallart does not sell personal data. Visitors interested in paintings communicate directly with artists through the mechanisms provided by Gallart or through contact information the artist chooses to publish. When a registered artist uses Gallart's protected CONTACT ARTIST form, the message is delivered to the same verified e-mail address used for that artist's Gallart account; the address itself is not published in the page source. Information voluntarily provided to an artist during such direct communication is then handled by the recipient.
Your choices and privacy requests
Registered artists can correct much of their public profile and artwork information through their member pages and can securely change their own account e-mail or password from Account settings. Other privacy questions or requests concerning access, correction or deletion can be sent through the protected Contact Gallart page. The public website does not expose the administrative contact e-mail address in page source.
Some records may need to be retained when reasonably necessary for payment records, account security, abuse prevention, dispute handling or legal obligations.