Privacy Policy

The data controller responsible for your personal data is Paw Matcher. For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your rights, contact us at info@pawmatcher.app.

Depending on how you use the Services, we may collect the following categories of data:

• Account and authentication data: name, email address, password (stored in hashed form), country and city, and email verification or password-reset codes. We currently offer email-and-password registration only (no social login).
• Profile and adoption preference data: phone number, bio, profile photo, uploaded documents (such as references or adoption-related files), lifestyle preferences, and living-condition information you choose to provide (for example housing type, yard, other pets, household children and their ages, dog experience, work schedule, employment status, and income range).
• Location data: city/country you enter and, where you use map or location features, approximate coordinates derived from geocoding.
• Usage and interaction data: swipes (likes and dislikes), matches, favourites or pins, and in-app activity related to browsing adoptable dogs.
• Communication data: messages you send to shelters or adoption partners through the app, and messages or emails you send us for support. Shelter replies may be received by email and shown in your in-app chat.
• Technical data: IP address and device or browser information (including for security events such as admin login alerts), session tokens, and standard server logs generated when you access the Services.
• Cookie and similar technology data: as described in Section 9 below.

We do not intentionally collect special categories of personal data (such as health data) unless you voluntarily provide such information in your profile or in communications with shelters. Please only share information that is necessary for adoption purposes.

We use personal data only where we have a valid legal basis under the GDPR:

• Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)): to create and manage your account, verify your email, provide matching and messaging features, and facilitate contact with adoption partners.
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): to improve and secure the Services, prevent fraud and abuse, operate email bridging with shelters, analyse aggregated usage, and communicate important service updates — balanced against your rights and freedoms.
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): for optional marketing communications and any non-essential cookies where required. You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)): where we must comply with applicable law, regulatory requests, or court orders.

Our matching features may use automated processing to suggest dogs that may fit your stated preferences and lifestyle. This profiling is intended to improve your experience and does not produce legal or similarly significant effects on you without human involvement in the adoption process itself.

We may also use automated tools to help classify or translate shelter communications so they can be shown in the app. Final adoption decisions remain with the relevant shelter or adoption partner.

You have the right to object to profiling used for direct marketing and, in certain cases, to request human review of automated decisions that significantly affect you. Contact us at info@pawmatcher.app to exercise this right.

We may share personal data with:

• Adoption partners and shelters when you express interest in a dog or initiate contact through the app. Depending on what you have provided, this may include your name, email, phone number, location, bio, living conditions, preferences, documents, and profile photo, as well as the content of your messages. Message content may be sent by email to the shelter, and shelter replies may be retrieved by email into your chat.
• Shelter data providers such as Animal Care Austria, which supply adoptable dog listings that appear in the Services.
• Service providers (processors) who help us host, operate, or support the Services — including cloud hosting, database hosting, email delivery, and map/geocoding providers — under arrangements that meet GDPR requirements where applicable.
• Authorities where required by law or to protect rights, safety, and security.

Other users of the app cannot browse your profile. Matching is between you and adoptable dogs / shelters, not between end users.

We do not sell your personal data.

Our application infrastructure is primarily hosted in Switzerland (currently on Exoscale in the Geneva region). Database and email providers may process data in the EEA, Switzerland, or other countries depending on configuration.

If we transfer personal data outside the EEA, UK, or Switzerland to a country without an adequacy decision, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission, unless another valid transfer mechanism applies.

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including to comply with legal obligations and resolve disputes.

• Account and profile data is kept while your account is active.
• After you delete your account, we delete or anonymise personal data held in our systems within a reasonable period, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate legal claims.
• Information already shared with shelters by email (including interest notifications and chat messages) may remain in their inboxes outside our control.
• Technical logs are typically retained for a limited period for security purposes.

If you are in the EEA, UK, Switzerland, or another jurisdiction with similar rights, you may have the right to:

• Access your personal data and receive a copy (Art. 15)
• Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data (Art. 16)
• Erase your data in certain circumstances (Art. 17)
• Restrict processing in certain circumstances (Art. 18)
• Data portability for data you provided (Art. 20)
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21)
• Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting prior lawful processing
• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority. A list of EU authorities is available at edpb.europa.eu.

You can update much of your profile data in the app, and you may delete your account from your profile settings where available. To exercise your rights, email info@pawmatcher.app. We will respond within one month, as required by the GDPR, and may request information to verify your identity.

On the web application we use essential cookies and similar technologies necessary for the Services to function — in particular authentication session cookies. The mobile app stores session tokens locally on your device instead of cookies.

We do not currently use third-party advertising or analytics cookies on the swipe application. Map and geocoding features may load content from OpenStreetMap / Nominatim, which can involve network requests from your browser or device.

Where we introduce non-essential cookies (such as analytics or marketing) in the future, we will request your consent before placing them, in line with the ePrivacy Directive and applicable national laws. You can manage cookies through your browser settings; blocking essential cookies may affect how the Services work.

The Services are not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16 without parental consent. Profile questions about household children (for example ages of children living with you) relate to adoption suitability and are about your household, not registration of child users. If you believe we have collected data from a child user, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it.

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction, including hashed passwords, HTTPS, and access controls for administrative accounts. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page and update the "Last updated" date. Where changes are material, we will provide additional notice where required by law.

For privacy enquiries or to exercise your data protection rights, contact us at info@pawmatcher.app.