Last updated: 2026-06-17
Astro Gallery is a personal hobby project — an online gallery showcasing astrophotography images. Signing in is optional; you can browse the gallery anonymously without providing any personal information. If you choose to sign in, a small amount of account information is stored so the gallery can remember your preferences.
When you sign in using Google, we receive your email address from Google and store it alongside basic usage information: when you first signed in, when you last visited, and which photos you have marked as favorites. No other personal data is collected.
We do not collect your name, profile photo, phone number, or any other information from your Google account. We do not use cookies beyond what is strictly necessary to keep you signed in during a session.
Your email address is used to identify your account, and — if you are a registered astrophotographer — to send you the automated notifications described below. It is never displayed publicly and is never shown to other users: requests from visitors are addressed and delivered by the server, so no one else sees your address. Usage information is used to maintain your favorites and to give the site owner a general sense of how the gallery is being used. It is not used for advertising, profiling, or any automated decision-making.
Registered astrophotographers may receive automated email from Astro Gallery. Today that means a request from a signed-in visitor asking you to mark some of your images as favorites so your gallery isn't empty for them. The visitor is identified to you by their username only — we do not share their email address with you, just as we do not share yours with them.
These messages are rate-limited so no one can use them to send you repeated mail. Every message includes a one-click link to turn notifications off, and you can turn them back on at any time from your Settings page. Opting out stops all automated email from this site. We record when a message is sent, to whom, and whether it was delivered, so the limits can be enforced and abuse investigated.
Registered astrophotographers may separately connect a Google Drive folder so their images
can be shown in the gallery. This is a distinct, optional step from ordinary sign-in and asks
for read-only access to Google Drive (drive.readonly). It is requested only from
photographers who choose to connect a folder — never from ordinary visitors.
This access is used solely to read image files from the photographer's own connected folder so they can be displayed in their gallery. We do not read, modify, or delete any other files in the photographer's Drive, and the access token is never shared with other users. A photographer may disconnect Drive access at any time from their settings page, which stops all further access immediately.
Print ordering is an experimental feature currently limited to the site owner while it is being tested — it is not yet available to the general public. This section describes how it will work once opened up: if you place a print order, the shipping address and contact details you provide, along with your payment, are collected and processed directly by Stripe on its own hosted checkout page — Astro Gallery never receives or stores your full payment card details. Your shipping details are shared with our print fulfillment partner, Prodigi, solely to produce and ship your order. Order records (items, status, and shipping address) are retained so you can view your order history and receive support if something goes wrong.
Only the site owner has access to account information. Your data is never sold, rented, shared with third parties, or used for any purpose outside of operating this gallery — except where this policy describes sharing with Google, Stripe, or Prodigi to provide the features above.
Account data is stored in a private, access-controlled database hosted on secure cloud infrastructure. Access is restricted to the site owner.
You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time by contacting dmayo77@gmail.com. Requests are handled within a reasonable time.
You can also simply stop signing in — browsing the gallery anonymously leaves no data behind.
Sign-in is handled by Google. When you choose to sign in, Google processes your authentication under Google's own Privacy Policy. Print orders involve Stripe and Prodigi, as described above. Beyond these handoffs, Astro Gallery operates independently of these providers.
This policy may be updated occasionally. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes.
Questions about this policy or requests to delete your data: dmayo77@gmail.com