Version: 2.0
Effective Date: October 26, 2026

Your privacy is important to us. This policy explains what information we collect on our website and in the Dog's Best Friend app, how we use it, which services help us process it, and your rights regarding that information.

1. Who We Are

Website: https://www.dogsbestfriend.club/

You can contact us at woof@dogsbestfriend.club for any questions or concerns about your data or this policy.

2. Information We Collect

We collect different information depending on whether you sign up on our website or use the Dog's Best Friend app:

Legal Basis for Processing

• We process your email, your dog's name, and your country from the website sign-up based on your consent so we can contact you about Dog's Best Friend and tailor future offers.
• We process your app account, dog profiles, photos, DNA test results, Journal, Chat conversations, talking avatar images and Premium subscription because we need them to provide the app you signed up for (performance of a contract).
• We only use your device's location if you turn on Share location, based on your consent. You can turn it off in Settings at any time.
• We only run website analytics and marketing tracking if you give us consent.
• We record app usage figures, and use pseudonymous app data for research as described in section 5, based on our legitimate interest in understanding and improving Dog's Best Friend and in learning more about dogs' everyday lives and behaviour. You can object at any time (see section 9).
• We may block an account to protect our users and service from abuse, fraud or misuse, based on our legitimate interest in keeping the app safe.
• We use strictly necessary technical storage (for example, remembering that you already submitted the form or keeping you signed in) because we need it to provide the basic service you asked for and make the website and app function.

3. How We Use AI

Some features in the app use Google's Gemini AI service. Google processes the content below on our behalf, only to produce the result we ask for:

• Breed suggestion and photo check: when you choose a photo of your dog, we send it to Gemini to suggest a breed and to check whether your dog's face is clearly visible. You always confirm the breed yourself. We do not keep the photo from this check unless you save the profile.
• Talking avatar: when you save a photo that shows your dog's face clearly, we send it to Gemini to find your dog's face and to create a few versions of the mouth area. We store the resulting images privately with your dog's profile.
• Chat: when you send a message, we send Gemini your message, your recent conversation with that dog and your dog's profile details (name, birthday, age, breed and sharing setting), so your dog can answer in its own voice. When your question needs it, Gemini can also read your dog's About answers, DNA test result, Journal events, behaviour survey answers and how they compare with similar dogs, achievements, exercises, and the captions of photos you posted (never the photos themselves). Your dog's reply is generated by AI. It can be wrong and is not veterinary or other professional advice (see section 4).
• Changes from Chat: if your dog suggests adding something to the Journal, changing an About answer, or marking an exercise as done, nothing is saved unless you approve it with Yes.
• Dog parks and vets in Chat: if you have turned on Share location and ask about places to go or for a vet, or describe what may be an emergency, we look up dog parks or vet clinics near you in our own copy of OpenStreetMap's public map data. Gemini receives the places we found, with their names, addresses and map locations, how far away and in which direction they are and, for vets, their public phone number, website and opening hours, but not your location itself. Your location is never sent to OpenStreetMap. If you open a map link, Google Maps or Apple Maps shows the place under their own privacy policies, and if you tap Call, your phone places the call as it would any other.
• DNA test reading: if you scan a screenshot or photo of your dog's DNA test result, we send the image to Gemini to read the breeds and percentages. You check and confirm them before anything is saved, and we do not keep the image.
• Chat on a shared profile: if you make a dog's profile public, visitors can chat with your dog. Gemini then receives only what the public profile shows and the visitor's messages, never your Journal, surveys, DNA test result or Chat conversations, and we do not store the visitor's conversation.

We do not use your content to train our own AI models.

AI usage limits: For each account we count, per day, how many times each AI feature was used and how much processing it took, never the content itself. We use these figures to keep each account within its plan's monthly AI allowance and to understand our costs. When the allowance is used up, AI features pause until the next month starts.

4. Chat Is Not Professional Advice

Your dog in Chat is an AI assistant, not a real person, and not a veterinarian, dog behaviourist, trainer, lawyer or other qualified professional. Its answers are generated automatically and can be incomplete, out of date or simply wrong, even when they sound confident.

Everything Chat tells you, including what it says about health, symptoms, food, medicine, behaviour, training, nearby vets or emergencies, is general information only. It is not veterinary, medical, legal or other professional advice, it is not a diagnosis, and it is not legally binding on us or on you.

• Always ask a veterinarian or another qualified professional before making decisions about your dog's health, treatment or wellbeing, and do not delay or ignore professional advice because of something Chat said.
• If you think your dog may be in an emergency, contact a vet or an emergency animal clinic straight away. Do not rely on Chat to judge how urgent it is.
• Check important details yourself, such as a clinic's opening hours or phone number, as the information Chat shows may not be current.

You decide what to do with Chat's answers and are responsible for your dog's care. To the extent the law allows, we are not responsible for decisions made or actions taken based on Chat's answers.

5. Usage Statistics and Research

Usage statistics: While you are signed in, the app tells our servers about once a minute that it is open on your screen. We add this up to minutes per day and combine it with the number of sign-ins that day. We use these figures to see things like how many people use the app each day, how long they use it and how many come back, and we only look at them in totals across all users.

Research: To learn more about dogs and improve Dog's Best Friend, our team studies patterns across all dog profiles and Journals, for example which kinds of events are logged for different breeds and ages, or how often our breed suggestions match the breed owners choose. For this we use a pseudonymous version of the data:

• Each dog is shown under a random-looking research ID instead of its real ID, and only we hold the key that links the two.
• It includes the dog's breed, size group, age in months, when the profile was created, whether it is public, and the type and time of its Journal events, how many Chat messages were sent, its behaviour survey answers, and the breeds and percentages from its DNA test result if you added one. It never includes your name, email address, your dog's name, photos, talking avatar images or the text of Chat conversations.
• Journal notes are left out by default, because they are written in your own words and can contain personal details. They are only included when a specific research question needs them, and are then treated with the same care as the rest of your data.

Pseudonymous data is still personal data under data protection law, so we protect it in the same way and only a small number of authorised team members can create research exports. We may share pseudonymous research exports with research partners, such as universities or animal behaviour researchers, under a written agreement that only allows use for the agreed research, requires the data to be kept secure, and forbids any attempt to identify you or your dog. We may publish research results, but only as statistics or findings that cannot identify you or your dog.

Breed comparisons: To show how your dog's behaviour survey answers compare with other dogs, we use a public research dataset from the Darwin's Ark project, released for anyone to use, together with totals from the latest survey answers of Dog's Best Friend dogs. Dogs with a DNA test result count towards each of their breeds by percentage. Each night we work out how many dogs gave each answer, per breed, and only keep these totals for breeds with at least 50 dogs and questions with at least 30 answers. The totals never include individual answers and cannot identify you or your dog. We do not send any of your data to Darwin's Ark.

Account administration: Authorised team members can look up an account by email address to help with support requests and, where needed, block an account that is used for abuse, fraud or misuse. A blocked account is signed out on all devices and cannot sign in again until it is unblocked. We keep a record of who blocked or unblocked an account, when and why. We do not use this access to look through your dog's Journal or Chat conversations.

6. How We Use and Store Your Information

Personal Data: Your submitted personal details are securely transferred to and stored in our database. We use website sign-up data to analyze demand for our products and tailor our communications to your reported interests, and app data only to provide the app's features.

Public Dog Profiles: Dog profiles are private by default. If you turn on sharing for a dog, anyone with the link or QR code can see that dog's name, birthday, breed, photo and when the profile was created. Your Journal, Chat conversations and talking avatar images are never shown on a public profile.

Technical Values: These strictly necessary values are stored locally on your device to make the website and app work (for example, so we don't ask you to fill the same form twice, or so you stay signed in). They do not require consent. We will only place non-essential analytics or marketing cookies if you choose to accept them. Signing out of the app removes your sign-in session from the device.

Retention: We keep your website contact details (email, dog's name, and country) until they are no longer needed to contact you about Dog's Best Friend, or until you ask us to delete them, whichever comes first. We keep your app account, dog profiles, photos, DNA test results, Journal, Chat conversations, talking avatar images and Premium subscription status for as long as you have your account. When you replace a dog's photo, we delete its previous talking avatar images. We never store your location or the image of a DNA test. Apple and Google keep their own records of your purchases under their own terms. If you ask us to delete your data, we will do so. We keep your daily app usage figures for as long as you have your account, and delete them with it. Research exports that were made before you deleted your account or objected cannot be recalled from research partners, but they never contain your name, email, dog's name or photos, and the research ID cannot be linked back to you once your account is deleted. Behaviour survey answers are an exception: when a dog or your account is deleted, we keep its survey answers for research but remove the link to the dog, so they no longer belong to any account and cannot be traced back to you.

7. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information to third parties, and we do not use it for advertising. We may share your data only with the following types of trusted partners strictly to operate our business:

Service Providers: Trusted third-party services that help us run our website and app and securely store your data. These partners are contractually obligated to protect your data:

• Neon, which hosts our database.
• Vercel, which hosts our servers and stores dog photos and talking avatar images privately (Vercel Blob).
• Google, which provides the Gemini AI service described above and Google sign-in if you choose to use it.
• Audienceful, which stores website sign-ups, and Posthog, which provides website analytics if you consent.
• Google Cloud, which delivers Google Play's notifications about changes to your subscription to our servers.

Data Processors and Transfers: Some of these processors may store or process data outside the EU/EEA. When this happens, we use approved safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses to ensure adequate protection of your personal data.

App Stores: If you subscribe to Premium, you buy it from Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play), who handle the payment under their own terms and privacy policies. We attach a random code made from your account to the purchase so we can match it to you, and we ask Apple or Google for the status of your subscription. The code does not reveal your name or email to them.

Research Partners: Pseudonymous research data, as described in section 5, under a written agreement that forbids any attempt to identify you or your dog.

Legal Requirements: If required by law, court order, or governmental regulation.

8. Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures, such as data encryption, multi-factor authentication for staff, and regular security audits, to protect your data stored in our system from unauthorized access, disclosure, or alteration.

9. Your Data Rights & Contact Information

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Ask that your information be corrected, updated, or deleted.
• Limit or object to certain uses of your data.
• Object to us recording your app usage figures or including your dog in research. Email us and we will stop doing so for your account.
• Receive a copy of your data (data portability).
• Withdraw your consent at any time (without affecting prior processing).

If you're unhappy with how we handle your data, you can contact us at woof@dogsbestfriend.club or file a complaint with Datatilsynet (the Danish Data Protection Authority).

To Delete Your Data: If you wish to have your data permanently deleted from our system, including your Chat conversations, photos or your whole account, please send an email request to: woof@dogsbestfriend.club

Other Inquiries: For all other questions about this Privacy Policy or your data rights, please contact us at the same email.

10. Children

Our service is not intended for children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you believe a child has given us personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Effective Date" above. If we make material changes to what we collect or how we use it, we will highlight that before it applies to you.