PHI Photography Awards is organised and operated by Babak Mehrafshar in the United Arab Emirates. The organiser is responsible for the personal information handled through phiphotoawards.com, competition participation and the related PHI services described in this Privacy Policy. For privacy questions or requests, email contact@phiphotoawards.com.
1. Information we handle
The information involved depends on how you use our services:
Accounts and profiles: name, username, email, verification and account information, together with profile details you provide, such as country, city, telephone number, biography, website and social links.
Competition participation: photographs and uploaded files, titles, descriptions, categories, competition editions, submission and validation status, judging records, results, awards, certificates and historical entry records.
Payment administration: account and entry references, amounts, currency, discounts or credits, payment status, transaction references, invoices, receipts and related correspondence. Information requested by a payment provider at checkout is also handled under that provider’s privacy notice.
Communications and support: enquiries and replies, service messages, subscription preferences and consent records, delivery records, and support and recovery history.
Website operation: information associated with requests to the website and its service providers, including network addresses, browser/request information, cookies, analytics and security records.
Photographs and embedded metadata can identify people or locations. Please provide only necessary personal information and obtain the permissions required by the competition rules. Do not assume that all metadata is removed from an uploaded or published image.
2. How and why information is used
Information comes from you, your use of the website, payment-service responses, competition staff and judges, and records from previous PHI editions.
We use relevant information to create and secure accounts; verify contact details; receive and validate entries; administer fees, credits and receipts; conduct judging; communicate about participation; issue and verify awards and certificates; publish permitted competition material; provide support; and maintain competition history. Subject to the relevant permissions and your marketing choices, we also share photography opportunities and announcements about other competitions organised by us, as described below.
Records also support error investigation, fraud and misuse prevention, dispute handling and applicable recordkeeping obligations. Required account, submission and payment fields are needed to provide the requested service. Without them, we may be unable to accept an entry, process a payment or resolve an account request. Optional promotional communications are addressed separately below; visiting the website is not treated as consent to every possible use of information.
3. Your photographs, credit and permitted publication
You retain copyright and ownership of your photographs. Entering the awards does not transfer ownership of your work to PHI. We do not sell or license individual photographs as standalone images or for unrelated use. Copies of authorised competition books and award-related printed publications may be sold as described below.
We use submitted photographs to administer and judge the competition and to present, preserve and promote our photography awards. Permitted publication can include official websites and social media, annual books and award-related printed publications, galleries, results, competition archives, certificates, interviews and coverage of our awards.
Photographs may also be displayed, with the photographer’s credited name, on other photography-award platforms operated by the same organiser and listed at PhotoAwards.AE, and in their award-related website and social-media coverage, where the applicable entry terms or separate permission allow this use. These platforms are not limited to PHI. Updating this notice or adding a platform to the directory does not expand permissions previously granted for an entry; any additional permission needed for an earlier entry must be obtained separately.
Whenever we publish or use a photograph publicly in these materials, we credit the photographer by their credited name. Entries may be reviewed anonymously during judging. Internal administration and judging do not require public disclosure of the photographer’s identity.
PHI is an independent photography festival. We may reproduce photographs in authorised competition books and award-related printed publications, and copies of these publications may be sold. Income from book sales is used to support production of the following year’s annual book. Publication and sale of a book do not transfer photographers’ copyright or grant purchasers a licence to republish individual photographs. Any publication must remain within the applicable entry terms or separate permission.
We do not use submitted photographs for unrelated advertising or give sponsors or partners independent rights to reuse them. Published competition material can include the photographer’s credited name, country, photographs, entry title, category, edition and award, in accordance with the competition rules and relevant permissions. Certificate-verification pages can display authenticity details such as credited name, entry title, competition, award, certificate number and issue details.
Public material may be viewed, indexed or copied by others. Public availability does not grant permission to reuse a photographer’s work. If a credit is missing or incorrect, or you believe a photograph or private information has been used improperly, contact contact@phiphotoawards.com with the relevant page or entry reference so the issue can be reviewed.
Previous editions form part of our competition history. Retaining historical entries, results and certificates does not entitle one photographer to access another photographer’s private account records.
4. Who receives information
Authorised competition staff, administrators and judges use information relevant to their roles. Providers supporting hosting, storage, email delivery, payments, website operation, security and support may process the information needed for those services. Service-provider access does not grant independent rights to sell or reuse photographers’ work. Published competition material is available to its intended audience, including the public where applicable, subject to the photograph-use limits above.
We do not provide entrants’ contact details to sponsors or partners for their own marketing. This is separate from publishing credited competition work and results.
Information may also be disclosed where required by a valid legal obligation or where necessary to handle a dispute or protect legitimate rights, subject to applicable law.
5. Cookies, analytics and external content
Authentication and preference mechanisms support sign-in and website functions. The sign-in page uses a short-lived security cookie, paf_auth_guest_challenge, configured to expire after 30 minutes. Blocking essential cookies can prevent requested features from working.
The website uses Koko Analytics to measure website usage. Its current tracking mode uses cookies, and analytics statistics are configured for automatic removal after 60 months. That setting applies to analytics statistics, not entries, payment records or certificates.
Some pages load external resources, including Google Fonts, YouTube video content or thumbnails, and images served by other websites. The PhotoAwards.AE footer logo is currently served from 12awards.com. Loading these resources can send network addresses and browser/request information to their providers, even before you click an external link. Those providers’ privacy notices govern their own processing.
The website does not currently provide an on-site cookie-settings or cookie-preferences panel. You can manage cookies through your browser’s own settings, including blocking or deleting them. Blocking cookies does not necessarily prevent requests for external fonts, images or embedded content. External websites linked from PHI operate under their own privacy notices. This notice does not itself change your browser settings or obtain consent.
6. Service messages and news from our competitions
Verification, account recovery, submission, payment and award-related messages support participation and account security. These are separate from optional promotional communications.
Our promotional emails may introduce photography opportunities, calls for entries, deadlines, awards news and other competitions organised by us across the photography platforms listed at PhotoAwards.AE. They are not limited to the competition in which you entered. These emails remain subject to your marketing choices and any applicable permission requirements; entering a competition or updating this notice does not automatically subscribe you to every platform’s marketing.
You can opt out using the unsubscribe or preference link provided in a marketing message, or request an opt-out from our competition marketing by emailing contact@phiphotoawards.com. Necessary service messages may still be sent. Limited opt-out evidence can remain so that your preference continues to be respected. We do not provide entrants’ contact details to sponsors or partners for their own marketing.
7. Retention, competition history and recovery
Retention depends on the purpose of the record, competition-history needs, transaction and dispute evidence, applicable obligations and the service’s retention settings. There is no single automatic deletion period covering every category of PHI information.
Accepted works remain part of PHI’s competition archive across editions, together with their results, awards and certificates.
Our policy is to remove works that are not accepted from PHI’s public and internal competition archives after the competition has concluded and its results are final. This includes the submitted image files and associated entry content.
Payment and accounting records, necessary administrative and dispute evidence, and marketing opt-out records are handled separately and may be retained for their relevant purposes. Backup and protected recovery copies may remain pending a separate deletion review.
You can request a review of information held about you, including a deletion or restriction request where applicable. Such requests need individual assessment; technical retention protections and the preservation of competition history do not override applicable privacy rights.
8. Your choices and privacy requests
You can update supported profile details through your account. Depending on applicable law, you may have rights to access or receive a copy of personal information, correct it, request deletion or restriction, object to certain uses, obtain a portable copy, or withdraw consent where consent is the relevant basis. You may also raise a complaint with the data-protection authority competent for your circumstances.
Send requests to contact@phiphotoawards.com, identifying the relevant account or entry and what you are requesting. Proportionate identity checks may be needed to protect your records. Do not email passwords, full payment-card details or identity documents unless specific evidence is requested through an appropriate process.
9. International access and participants under 18
PHI receives entries from different countries. Website service providers and external content services may process information outside your country, and published competition material is accessible internationally. For questions about the handling of a particular record or service, contact the privacy email above.
The published competition rules require entrants to be at least 18 years old. If you believe someone under 18 has provided personal information or entered the competition, contact us so that the matter can be reviewed.
10. Security and updates
The website uses HTTPS and account access controls to help protect information. No website, storage system or transmission can be guaranteed completely secure. Contact us about suspected account misuse or an exposure of personal information.
Changes to this notice will be reflected in the updated date above. A change to the notice does not by itself provide any consent required by applicable law.
