Template for Attorney Review. This Privacy Policy is a working template and should be reviewed and finalized by qualified legal counsel before being relied upon.
1. Information We Collect
Information You Provide
- Account data: Name, email address, and password when you create an account.
- Reviews and reports: Content you submit about breeders, including text, ratings, and any uploaded photos.
- Breeder claims: Identity verification information and practice data when breeders claim their profiles.
- Dispute submissions: Contact information and supporting details submitted through our dispute process.
- Communications: Messages you send us via email, forms, or other channels.
Information We Collect Automatically
- Usage data: Pages visited, features used, search queries, and interaction patterns.
- Device information: Browser type, operating system, device type, and screen resolution.
- Log data: IP address, access times, referring URLs, and error logs.
Information From Third-Party Sources
- Public health databases: Health clearance records from the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) public database.
- Public reviews: Google Places (official rating, count, and attributed sample reviews) and Pawthentic-native submissions. Instagram and Facebook posts appear only for claimed, connected profiles.
- Public business information: Breeder names, locations, contact information, and descriptions from publicly available websites and social media pages.
- Adoption listings: Adoptable dog data from the RescueGroups.org API.
- Government records: USDA APHIS inspection and licensing data, which is federal public record.
2. Information We Display Publicly
Pawthentic displays publicly available business information about dog breeders, including business names, locations, breeds raised, health clearance records, customer reviews (attributed to their source), and Pawthentic Scores. This information is aggregated from public sources and is displayed for consumer reference, similar to business directories and review platforms.
If you are a breeder and believe publicly displayed information is inaccurate, you may request a correction through our dispute process.
3. How We Use Information
- Computing Pawthentic Scores using our published methodology.
- Displaying breeder profiles, health analytics, and customer reviews.
- Operating, maintaining, and improving the platform.
- Product development, feature improvement, and user experience optimization.
- Responding to disputes, corrections, and support requests.
- Detecting fraud, abuse, and violations of our Terms of Service.
- Sending service-related communications (account verification, dispute updates).
- Analyzing aggregate usage patterns to improve the user experience (no personal data is shared in aggregate analytics).
- Processing submitted documents and health records using artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to extract, verify, and analyze data.
- Creating aggregated, anonymized, or de-identified datasets for industry research, breed health insights, and trend analysis reports.
- Partnering with veterinary organizations, breed clubs, and research institutions to advance canine health outcomes, using anonymized or aggregated data.
- Marketing and promotional activities using anonymized or aggregated data (we do not use your personal information in marketing without your consent).
4. How We Share Information
We do not sell your personal information. We may share information with:
- Service providers: Hosting, analytics, email delivery, and cloud storage services that help operate the platform, under contractual obligations to protect your data.
- AI and machine learning providers: Third-party AI services that process submitted documents and content for data extraction, verification, and analysis. These providers are bound by data processing agreements.
- Payment processors: When you use deposit or payment features, your payment information is shared with our payment processor (currently Stripe) to facilitate the transaction. Pawthentic does not store your full payment card details.
- Research partners: Anonymized or aggregated data may be shared with veterinary organizations, breed clubs, academic institutions, and other research partners to advance canine health research.
- Legal requirements: When required by law, court order, or government request, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Pawthentic or others.
- Business transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity.
- Named insurers and clinics you choose: When you prepare a claim packet, we send only the receipts, invoices, and records you checked to the insurer or clinic you named. We do not file a claim until that party (or you, with their confirmation number) acknowledges it. Claim packets are not used to train AI models.
5. Cookies & Analytics
We use cookies and similar technologies to maintain session state, remember preferences, and understand how the platform is used. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though disabling them may affect platform functionality.
We use PostHog, a product analytics platform, to collect usage data such as page views, feature interactions, and user flows. For authenticated users, PostHog may associate analytics data with your user identity to provide a better experience. PostHog's privacy policy governs their handling of this data.
6. Data Retention
We retain account data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. We retain breeder profile data and health records as long as they serve a legitimate consumer information purpose. Dispute records are retained for a minimum of three years for legal compliance purposes.
You may request deletion of your account data by contacting us. Publicly available business information aggregated from third-party sources may continue to be displayed even after a deletion request, as this data is not personal data controlled by Pawthentic.
7. Your Rights
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you.
- Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
- Request deletion of your personal information.
- Object to or restrict certain processing of your information.
- Data portability (receive your data in a machine-readable format).
To exercise these rights, submit a request through our dispute process or contact us at privacy@pawthentic.com. We will respond within 30 days.
8. Data Security
We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. No method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Children's Privacy
The Service is not directed to children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete it promptly.
10. California Residents
If you are a California resident, you may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including the right to know what personal information is collected and how it is used, the right to request deletion, and the right to opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date. Your continued use of the Service after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
12. Contact
This Privacy Policy is issued by Pawthentic, LLC., a Delaware limited liability company. For questions about this Privacy Policy or to exercise your data rights, contact us at privacy@pawthentic.com.