1. Who this policy applies to
This policy applies to Paw2Home accounts, pet QR profiles, Lost & Found community reports, people who scan or visit public finder profiles, finder features, support communications and related services. Paw2Home is a registered Australian business name operated by Brayden Terrence Rouen, ABN 62 144 654 542.
2. Information we collect
We may collect account details such as your name, email address and authentication information; pet profile information you choose to provide; owner and backup contact details; Lost & Found report information; purchase, transaction and any legacy subscription records; technical, security and usage information; and communications you send to us.
Pet information can include a pet's name, type, breed, photo, safety or behaviour notes, medication status, medical alerts, veterinary contact details, care records, reminders and other information you choose to enter. Information about an animal is not automatically personal information about a person, but a pet profile or community report can also contain or be linked to personal information about an identifiable owner, finder, household member or other person.
Lost & Found reports may include pet details, photographs, approximate location such as suburb, state or postcode, the date or circumstances of the report, description, collar details, report status and contact details supplied for the report. Some of this information is intended to be public as explained below.
When a person visits Paw2Home, Paw2Home or its service providers may process limited technical and security information normally associated with providing a website, such as request, device, browser, network, security and usage information.
If an owner enables finder location features, a finder may choose to share the location where the pet was found. Paw2Home does not request the finder's device location merely because the QR profile is opened. Location is requested after the finder chooses the location-sharing feature and the finder's browser or device asks for permission. If shared, the location is stored in connection with the relevant pet profile and made available to the account holder for the purpose of locating or recovering the pet.
3. Public finder profiles and Lost & Found reports
A Paw2Home QR opens a public finder profile. Anyone who scans, receives, photographs, copies or otherwise obtains the QR code or public link may be able to view information the owner has provided for finding and safely returning the pet. Depending on the plan and settings, this may include the pet's name, photo, suburb, owner name and contact options, backup contact, safety or behaviour information, selected medical alerts, medication status, veterinary details and reward information.
Lost & Found community reports are also designed for public viewing. Information submitted for a public report may be searchable or viewable by anyone visiting Paw2Home and may remain visible after a pet is marked reunited where Paw2Home displays reunion outcomes. Do not submit an exact home address, private finder address, unnecessary personal information or anything you do not want made public.
Do not place information in a public finder profile or community report that you do not want a person with access to Paw2Home to see. Detailed care records, vaccination and treatment history, appointments and private care notes are intended to remain inside the authenticated owner/household area unless Paw2Home clearly tells you otherwise.
A finder or community visitor should use owner contact and other personal information displayed through Paw2Home only for legitimate pet identification, safety and return purposes and should not misuse, republish or exploit it.
4. Community photographs and sensitive content
Photos submitted to public Lost & Found reports may be publicly displayed for identification and recovery purposes. Paw2Home may resize, process, moderate, hide or remove submitted images in accordance with our Terms and Community Guidelines. If Paw2Home permits photographs of pets that have passed away, those images may be hidden behind a sensitive-content warning or deliberate reveal control to reduce unexpected exposure to distressing material.
Users should avoid uploading photographs containing identifiable people or unnecessary personal information. Where a photograph includes another person or content belonging to someone else, the person submitting it is responsible for having an appropriate right or permission to do so.
5. Phone calls, text messages and finder privacy
Public profiles may provide buttons that open the finder's own phone or messaging application to contact an owner, backup contact or veterinarian. Paw2Home does not promise that these communications are anonymous. Depending on the finder's device, telecommunications provider, messaging service and settings, the recipient may see the finder's telephone number or other account information.
6. How we use information
- Provide, maintain and secure Paw2Home accounts and QR profiles.
- Operate the Lost & Found community board and help people identify, locate and reunite pets.
- Allow finders to contact owners and, where enabled, voluntarily share a found location.
- Moderate community reports, investigate reports of misuse and enforce our Terms and Community Guidelines.
- Manage plans, entitlements, physical tag orders, payments, support and account requests.
- Diagnose faults, prevent misuse, maintain security and improve the service.
- Comply with applicable legal obligations and protect users, Paw2Home and others.
7. Service providers and overseas processing
We use third-party technology providers for hosting, database and authentication services, analytics, email delivery, monitoring and payments. These providers may process information in Australia, the United States and other countries in which their infrastructure, personnel or subprocessors operate. The exact locations used by global cloud providers can change. We take reasonable steps appropriate to the service when selecting and configuring providers and review our information-handling arrangements as Paw2Home changes. We do not sell your personal information.
8. Payments
Payment card details are collected and processed by our payment provider rather than stored directly by Paw2Home. We may retain transaction identifiers, purchase and plan status, billing history, customer identifiers, legacy subscription identifiers where applicable, physical-order records and other records reasonably needed to manage one-time purchases, any legacy subscriptions, fulfilment, refunds, disputes and legal obligations.
9. Security and data breaches
We take reasonable technical and organisational steps appropriate to the service to protect information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These include access controls, account authentication, database access rules, private storage for appropriate records, server-side payment verification, rate limiting for appropriate public functions and security monitoring. No online system can guarantee absolute security.
If we suspect a data breach, we will take reasonable steps to contain and assess it, protect affected accounts and credentials, preserve information needed to investigate, and determine whether notification is required under applicable Australian law. Where the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme applies to us and an eligible data breach occurs, we will follow the applicable notification requirements.
10. Retention and deletion
We keep information for as long as reasonably needed to provide the service, maintain legitimate business and transaction records, resolve disputes, prevent fraud, moderate misuse and meet legal obligations. Public Lost & Found reports may be retained after resolution to record reunion outcomes, prevent abuse or maintain legitimate service records, but users may contact us about removal of personal information. Location submissions and security records should not be retained longer than reasonably needed for their relevant purpose.
You can ask us to correct information or request deletion of your account and associated personal information. Some records may need to be retained where required or permitted by law. New Paw2Home Digital purchases are one-time payments and do not renew automatically. The account-deletion process attempts to cancel linked legacy recurring subscriptions before deleting account data. If cancellation cannot be confirmed, account deletion is stopped and the user is asked to try again or contact support.
11. Analytics, advertising measurement, service messages and marketing
We may use privacy-conscious analytics and similar technologies to understand use of Paw2Home, diagnose problems and improve the service. We may also use the Meta Pixel on selected marketing and purchase-flow pages to measure advertising performance and whether advertising results in visits or completed purchases. That technology may provide Meta Platforms with limited browser, device, page, referral and conversion information needed for that measurement.
Paw2Home does not intentionally load Meta advertising tracking on public pet finder profiles or public Lost & Found board and report pages. We do not intentionally send pet profile contents, finder-shared locations, owner phone numbers or public Lost & Found report contents to Meta through this advertising measurement integration. Meta may process information it receives under its own privacy terms and settings.
Service messages about your account, security, purchase or pet profile are not marketing. If we send commercial marketing by email or SMS, we will obtain any consent required by law, identify the sender and provide a clear unsubscribe method. Marketing consent is separate from accepting our Terms or creating an account.
Email notifications and downloads
You can opt in to care reminder and finder location emails in your account settings and turn them off at any time. Order dispatch emails are service messages relating to a purchase. We use an email delivery provider to send these messages and retain limited delivery records to avoid duplicates and investigate delivery failures. Care reminders follow dates entered in your account; they are not veterinary advice. Calendar files, care summaries and posters are copies you choose to download or share and do not update automatically when the website changes.
12. Access and correction
You may request access to personal information we hold about you or ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request and may refuse a request where Australian law permits or requires us to do so.
13. Privacy complaints and content reports
If you believe Paw2Home has mishandled your personal information, email support@paw2home.com.au with enough information for us to investigate. We aim to acknowledge genuine privacy complaints promptly and to investigate and respond within a reasonable time. If applicable law gives you a right to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner after giving us a reasonable opportunity to respond, that right is not affected by this process.
Concerns about a public Lost & Found report or photograph may also be reported using any content-reporting function Paw2Home makes available or by emailing support.
14. Contact and alternative formats
For privacy questions, access or correction requests, account deletion requests, privacy complaints, or to request this policy in another reasonably available format, email support@paw2home.com.au. We may need to verify identity before acting on a request involving account information.
15. Changes to this policy
We review this policy as Paw2Home's information-handling practices change and may update it from time to time. The current version and updated date will be published here. Where a change materially affects how we handle information, we will take reasonable steps to bring it to affected users' attention.