Privacy & Cookies Policy

Last updated May 13, 2024

PicMonkey takes user privacy seriously. Our goal is to make PicMonkey a great experience while protecting your privacy.

Here's the scoop in layman's terms

PicMonkey collects, uses, and processes personal information for the purposes of making PicMonkey better, faster, or more convenient for you. When you use our www.picmonkey.com,  and our related websites (collectively, "Websites"), and use the services provided through the Websites and our web and mobile based applications, including our photo editing, video editing, collaboration tools, and design services (collectively, "PicMonkey Services"), PicMonkey may collect, use, and disclose your personal information in the manner described in this Privacy and Cookies Policy.

Personal information is information that identifies you or can be used to identify you. In order for us to provide the PicMonkey Services to you, we need to collect and process your personal information. If you do not provide the information we need, we may not be able to provide the PicMonkey Services to you. We will tell you when we ask for information which is a contractual requirement or needed to comply with our legal obligations.

This Privacy and Cookies Policy will apply to your personal information collected through the PicMonkey Services. It also applies to any third parties whose personal information you provide to us through the PicMonkey Services.

Entity responsible for your personal information and where you can contact us if you have any questions

Shutterstock, Inc. of 350 Fifth Av., Fl. 20, New York, NY 10118, United States ("PicMonkey", "we", "us", "our") is responsible for your personal information. If you have any questions about this Privacy and Cookies Policy or your personal information, you can contact us in Ireland at Shutterstock Ireland Limited, Irish company number 613449 with registered office at MHC, 6th Floor, South Bank House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4 and VAT number IE3508218NH. You can also contact us at legal@picmonkey.com.

Information we collect

We collect the following information about you:

Basic registration / services information: You may give us information about you by filling in forms on our Websites, registering to use the PicMonkey Services or through other contact with us in relation to the PicMonkey Services. The information that we collect on or through our PicMonkey Services will include your name, e-mail address, other email addresses you associate with your personal account, User ID, device type, location, images, video, audio, media, and graphics or photographs relevant for providing the services through the website e.g. your JPG/PNG images and video files. If you contact us we may also keep a record of that correspondence (including e-mail addresses). We also collect your transaction history.

Payments information: Payments information provided by you via the PicMonkey Services will be collected, stored and processed by Braintree Payments, PayPal, Adyen, Taxamo and any other third party payment service providers as designated by PicMonkey from time to time. Payment information provided by you may also be processed by PicMonkey in order to verify a user as necessary in order to provide the services. Payments information includes credit / debit card numbers, other relevant card information, security numbers, email address, transaction details and other related payment information as may be necessary to facilitate to the transaction or verify a user. Braintree Payments, PayPal, Adyen, Taxamo and any other third party payment service providers will be responsible for your payments information which will be subject to the privacy policy of Braintree Payments (available here), PayPal (available here), Adyen (available here), Taxamo (available here) or any other third party service provider as applicable.

PicMonkey may also access payment information collected, stored and processed by third party payment service providers. This is done, only where necessary, in line with PicMonkey’s security checks process, to verify that instructions are from the PicMonkey services. For example, where we need to verify that instructions are from the PicMonkey account holder, in the event that a request for action, such as a refund or cancellation, is received from an email address that is not the registered PicMonkey email address.

Usage information: Like many websites, we use cookies and similar technologies to collect additional website usage data and to improve our PicMonkey Services, but we do not require cookies for many parts of our PicMonkey Services. PicMonkey may use both session cookies and persistent cookies to better understand how you interact with the PicMonkey Services (including the collection of your IP address), to monitor aggregate usage by our users and web traffic routing on our Websites, for advertising, and to customize and improve the PicMonkey Services. For this purpose, we use Google Analytics, a third party vendor. Information about your visit to the Websites will be shared with Google Analytics on an anonymized basis.

Although most web browsers automatically accept cookies, some browsers' settings can be modified to decline cookies or alert you when a website is attempting to place a cookie on your computer. However, the PicMonkey Services may not function properly if you disable cookies. Users can opt-out of cookies by utilizing the settings provided in their browsers.

Information about you from other sources: We may receive personal information about you from third party websites, application programs and/or devices that you may elect to use in connection with the PicMonkey Services (including Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, Google, or any other third party applications listed on the PicMonkey Services from time to time). Information from these third party websites will consist of the profile information you have provided to these third party websites (e.g. your Facebook profile). This will include photographs, videos, email addresses, passwords and user IDs. If you elect to use any third party application in connection with the PicMonkey Services, you should review their third party privacy policies (Facebook here, Pinterest here, Twitter here, Google here) in relation to any information transferred to us.

Social Media Features: The PicMonkey Services include social media features which are either hosted by a third party social media provider (e.g. Facebook) or hosted directly on our Websites. Your interactions with these social media features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing it. Third parties, including Facebook, may collect or receive information from your app and other apps and use that information to provide measurement services and targeted ads. Users can opt out of the collection and use of information for ad targeting at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences

How we use your information and how this use is lawful

Your personal information will only be processed to the extent necessary as set out above. We will also process personal information as may be necessary to comply with legal obligations. We will inform you in advance if we intend to further process your personal information for a purpose other than as set out above. We may also seek your specific consent to the processing of personal information for other specific purposes. You will have the right to withdraw such consent at any time.

Will any of my personal information be shared with Third parties?

We disclose your personal information to the following third parties:

• our affiliates who assist with providing the PicMonkey Services to you, process your requests for information, and provide support services to you, including Shutterstock, Inc. and its group companies;

• our vendors who provide us with customer support assistance, customer account history support, customer relationship management support, web services, services related to customer experience data and services, email marketing services, including Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS);

• web analytics vendors who assist us in the improvement and use of the Websites, including Google Analytics, Mode Analytics, and Firebase;

• Facebook and Google, where you elect to log into the PicMonkey Services using Facebook or Google authentication via the PicMonkey mobile application in which case the information disclosed includes an anonymized identifier that is tied to your device, your location and your device type. You may update your Google authentication settings on the Google Security page here;

• social media platforms, websites or applications such as Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Pinterest or Twitter where you elect to share your PicMonkey photographs or videos to these platforms, websites or applications;

• third parties who are required in order to assist with the defense of legal claims, including insurance providers and legal services providers;

• advertisers and advertising networks that require the data to select and serve relevant adverts to you and others – we don't disclose information about identifiable individuals to our advertisers, but we may share aggregate information about our users.

Through the PicMonkey Services, you may disclose your payment information directly to Braintree Payments, Paypal, Adyen, Taxamo and other third party payment processing service providers. PicMonkey does not collect, store or have access to the payment information you provide to Braintree Payments, Paypal, Adyen, Taxamo and other third party payment processing service providers via the PicMonkey Services. All such information is subject to the privacy policy of Braintree Payments (available here), PayPal (available here), Adyen (available here), Taxamo (available here) or any other third party service provider as applicable.

We will also need to disclose your personal information if we are required to comply with any applicable law, a summons, a warrant, a court or regulatory order, or other statutory requirement.

We reserve the right to transfer any personal information we have about you in the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets.

We take all reasonable steps, as required by law, to ensure the safety, privacy and integrity of your personal information and, where appropriate, enter into contracts with such third parties to protect the privacy and integrity of such data and any information supplied.

Where is your information stored or transferred?

The personal information that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area ("EEA"), including the United States, for the purposes described above. To ensure that your personal information receives an adequate level of protection and is treated securely, we have put the appropriate safeguards in place to protect the privacy and integrity of such personal information when being transferred outside the EEA in the form of EU-approved Standard Contractual Clauses. These are standard clauses in our contracts with third parties situated in non-EEA countries to ensure that any personal information leaving the EEA will be transferred in compliance with EU data-protection law. Copies of our current Standard Contractual Clauses are available on request using the contact details listed above.

How long do we keep your information?

We will keep your personal information only for so long as is necessary to carry out the purposes set out above. It may be necessary to keep your personal information for longer in certain limited circumstances, including where we need it to comply with any legal obligations, including in relation to requests from legal or regulatory authorities or to defend legal claims. In any event, we will not keep your personal information longer than 7 years following your last transaction on the PicMonkey Services ("Data Retention Period").

If you delete your PicMonkey account, PicMonkey will only retain your name and profile image associated with any content you may have created through the Collaborations Feature. PicMonkey needs to keep this information so it can facilitate users' ability to establish their respective ownership rights in projects, as well as allow PicMonkey to better track and remove any infringing content or content that violates PicMonkey's Terms of Service. PicMonkey will not keep any other personal information belonging to you after you delete your PicMonkey account. Your name and profile image associated with your Collaborations Feature content will be retained in line with our Data Retention Period.  Following the expiration of our Data Retention Period, any edits made by you within the Collaborations Feature will be retained (for the benefit of other users of the relevant document) but anonymized.

What Rights Do I Have?

If you are located in the EEA, you have a right to obtain a copy of, and the right to rectify any inaccuracies in, the personal information we hold about you by making a request to us in writing. You also have the right to request erasure, restriction, portability or object to the processing of your personal information or not to be subject to a decision based on automated processing, including profiling. You should inform us of any changes to your personal information. Any requests made under this section can be made using the contact details set out above. If you wish to exercise any of your rights in this regard please contact us at legal@picmonkey.com. We will respond to your request in writing, or orally if requested, as soon as practicable and in any event not more than one month after receipt of your request.

However, these rights may not be exercised in certain circumstances, such as when the processing of your data is necessary to comply with a legal obligation or for the exercise or defense of legal claims.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority in the country where you live if you are unhappy with how your personal information is being handled. The contact details of the Irish Data Protection Commission are below:

Data Protection Commission
Canal House
Station Road
Portarlington
County Laois
Telephone: +353 (0)761 104 8000
Telephone: +353 (0)57 868 4800
LoCall Number: 1890 252 231
Email: info@dataprotection.ie

If we are relying on your consent to allow us to process your personal information, you can withdraw your consent at any time. From that point on we would no longer be able to carry out the processing we were carrying out with your consent. Any processing we carried out before you withdrew your consent would remain valid. We do not generally rely on consent for processing personal information.

Data Security

As you will know, the nature of the internet is such that we cannot guarantee the security of the information that you send to us. This isn’t unique to PicMonkey though because no data that is sent over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We do, however, take all reasonable steps as required by data protection law to ensure the safety, privacy and integrity of your personal information.

So, does PicMonkey use cookies?

Yes, PicMonkey does set cookies to make your experience better. Cookies are small data files that are stored in your web browser on your device when you visit a website. Cookies serve a number of purposes like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, interests or log in details, and generally improving your website experience. Most internet browsers automatically accept cookies. You can instruct your browser to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from any website you visit. If you do this, it's possible that PicMonkey might not work as well.

What types of cookies do we use?

1. Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential in order to enable you to navigate the PicMonkey Services and use the PicMonkey Services’ features, such as accessing secure areas of the PicMonkey Services. Without these cookies, certain services you have asked for cannot be provided.

2. Session Cookies

We use session cookies, which are temporary cookies that aid your navigation through the pages on the Websites, and will remember preferences you have selected during the session. These cookies are deleted when the browser is closed.

3. Functionality Cookies

These cookies allow the Websites to remember choices you make (such as your preferred region) and provide more personal features. These cookies are used to better understand how you interact with our Websites and can also be used to monitor and analyze the performance, operation and effectiveness of the Websites, so that we can customize and improve it.

We may place a cookie on your device to remember your preferences so that you do not need to re-enter your details (country/age etc.) on our gateway page every time you want to access the Websites.

4. Performance Cookies

These cookies collect information about how you use the Websites, for instance which pages of the Websites you most often use. These cookies may be used to monitor usage by our users and web traffic routing on our website and for advertising purposes.

5. Targeting Cookies

Please note: If you are located in the EEA, we will not use targeting cookies or allow our partners to use them on you, unless we have your consent. We will ask for your consent before using targeting cookies on you. The following section will only apply to website users located in the EEA who have given this consent.

For website users located outside the EEA, we use targeting cookies to record your visit to our Website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will also use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.

Trusted partners like Google and DoubleClick help us serve advertising on and off the Websites, and analytics companies like Google Analytics may also place cookies on your device. Please read our partners’ privacy and cookies policies (linked below) to ensure that you’re comfortable with how they use cookies:

• Google Analytics
• Type of Google Cookies
• DoubleClick

We also use Google Analytics to help monitor and analyze use of the Websites. Google Analytics is a type of performance cookie, which collects standard internet log information and visitor behavior information in an anonymous form. The information collected by this cookie is transmitted to Google who then used it to evaluate visitors’ use of the Websites and to compile statistical reports on the Websites activity. These cookies remain on your device even after you have logged out of the session. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit Google Analytics opt-out..

We use DoubleClick cookies to monitor our online advertisements and to help us see which advertisements visitors click on and interact with. Google provides a method of permanently opting out of DoubleClick cookies. If you opt out in this way you will also be opting out for any other sites that use DoubleClick tags. These cookies remain on your device even after you have logged out of the session. To permanently opt out of being tracked by Double Click visit DoubleClick opt-out.

We may partner with third party advertising companies to better provide advertisements about our goods and services that may be of interest to you. These third party advertisers may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use the Websites. They may collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based advertising or other targeted content. These online advertising partners do not have access to or use your name, address, e-mail address, telephone number or other personally identifiable information from us, without your consent. They may, however, use persistent identifiers to anonymously track your Internet usage across other websites in their networks beyond these Websites. While we restrict their further use of such information, such third parties may, with sufficient data from other sources, be able to personally identify you, unknown to us. We may add or change the list of third party ad servers from time to time and we encourage you to check this section for changes. You can learn more about online advertising at www.aboutads.info/consumers.

Many of the third party advertisers that place tracking tools on our Websites are members of programs that offer you additional choices regarding the collection and use of your information. You can learn more about online advertising at www.aboutads.info/consumers. You can also learn more about the options available to limit these third parties’ collection and use of your information by visiting the websites for the Network Advertising Initiative and the Digital Advertising Alliance.

Similarly, you can learn about your options to opt-out of mobile app tracking by certain advertising networks through your device settings. For more information about how to change these settings for Apple, Android or Windows devices, see:

• Apple:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4228
• Android:http://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/
• Windows:http://choice.microsoft.com/en-US/opt-out

Please note that opting-out of advertising networks services does not stop you from receiving advertising while using our Websites or on other websites, nor will it prevent the receipt of interest-based advertising from third parties that do not participate in these programs. It will, however, exclude you from interest-based advertising conducted through participating networks, as provided by their policies and choice mechanisms.

Disabling Cookies

You can opt-out of cookies by utilizing the settings provided in your browser. If you use more devices and/or browsers you will need to disable cookies on each device and on each browser separately. Here are the locations of the cookie settings for all major web browsers:

• Internet Explorer - Tools > Internet Options > Privacy tab.
• Mozilla Firefox - Tools > Options > Privacy menu.
• Safari Users - Edit > Preferences > Privacy menu.
• Chrome Users - Settings > Content Settings > Privacy > Cookies.

Are the images I upload to PicMonkey public?

No, they are not public. The only images that other PicMonkey users can view are those that you upload through the Collaborations Feature, which may be viewed by the other PicMonkey users on that project.

Can anyone use the images I upload to PicMonkey?

Generally, no. Unless you agreed otherwise with someone (e.g., related to the Collaborations Feature), you own your images and videos. The copyright for the image and video remains with you even after you use PicMonkey. We will never use your images or videos without your consent other than for the purposes of providing services to you via the PicMonkey Services or otherwise in accordance with our Terms of Use (please see further details in the Terms of Use). For example, if we want to feature one of your public images on our blog, or use your photography or video on our site, then PicMonkey will contact you before ever publishing your work.

Will this Privacy and Cookies Policy change?

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy and Cookies Policy at any time. Any changes to this Privacy and Cookies Policy will be posted on the PicMonkey Services so you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.