Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 2026

1. Introduction

Welcome to Paws of London ("we", "our", or "us"). We are committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our website at pawsof.london and any related mobile application (collectively, the "Platform").

We are the data controller for the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. If you have questions or concerns, please contact us at privacy@pawsof.london.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

When you register for an account, use our features, or contact us, we may collect:

  • Account information: Username, display name, email address, and password
  • Profile information: Profile photo, bio, and public display preferences
  • Dog information: Your dog's name, breed, date of birth, photo, and bio
  • User-generated content: Reviews, ratings, photos, check-in captions, discussion posts, and comments
  • Venue information: If you register or claim a venue — business name, address, contact details, opening hours, and amenities
  • Communications: Messages you send via our contact form, feedback, or support requests

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you access our Platform, we automatically collect:

  • Device information: Device type, operating system, browser type and version, screen resolution
  • Usage data: Pages visited, features used, click patterns, search queries, and time spent on pages
  • Location data: With your explicit consent, we collect precise geolocation to show nearby venues, calculate distances, and enable check-ins. You can revoke location access at any time through your browser or device settings
  • Log data: IP address, access times, referring URLs, and error logs
  • Analytics events: Anonymised interaction data to help us improve the Platform (subject to rate limiting)

2.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information from third-party services we use to operate the Platform, including authentication providers, mapping services (Mapbox), and analytics tools.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we process your personal data on the following legal bases:

  • Contract: Processing necessary to provide our services to you (e.g., account management, venue discovery, check-ins)
  • Consent: Where you have given explicit consent (e.g., location data, push notifications, marketing communications)
  • Legitimate interests: Processing necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as improving the Platform, preventing fraud, and ensuring security, provided these do not override your rights
  • Legal obligation: Processing necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide, maintain, and improve our services, including venue discovery, reviews, check-ins, and walking routes
  • Create and manage your user account and profile
  • Personalise your experience, including venue recommendations and distance calculations
  • Process check-ins, award badges, and manage loyalty rewards
  • Enable social features such as following other users, activity feeds, and playdate requests
  • Send service-related notifications (check-in confirmations, badge awards, review responses)
  • Send optional communications such as weekly summaries and milestone notifications (you can opt out at any time)
  • Enable venue owners to manage their listings, respond to reviews, and view anonymised analytics
  • Monitor and analyse usage trends to improve the Platform
  • Detect, prevent, and address technical issues, fraud, and abuse
  • Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service

5. Information Sharing and Disclosure

We may share your information in the following circumstances:

  • Public profile: Your username, display name, profile photo, and public activity (reviews, check-in posts you choose to share, badges, dogs marked as public) are visible to other authenticated users
  • Venue owners: When you check in or leave a review at a venue, the venue owner and co-managers can see this activity in their dashboard
  • Service providers: We share data with trusted third-party providers who help us operate the Platform, including:
    • Cloud hosting and database services
    • Email delivery services (for transactional and notification emails)
    • Map and geolocation services (Mapbox)
    • Analytics and performance monitoring
  • Legal requirements: When required by law, court order, or governmental authority, or to protect our rights, safety, or property
  • Business transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your data may be transferred to the successor entity

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not share your personal data for third-party advertising purposes.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

  • Account data: Retained for the duration of your account and deleted within 30 days of account deletion
  • Check-in and activity data: Retained for the duration of your account
  • Analytics data: Aggregated and anonymised data may be retained indefinitely for statistical purposes
  • Legal and compliance data: Retained as required by applicable law
  • Contact form submissions: Retained for up to 2 years

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information, including:

  • Encryption of data in transit (TLS/SSL) and at rest
  • Secure authentication with password hashing and optional multi-factor authentication
  • Row-level security policies ensuring users can only access their own data
  • Regular security assessments and vulnerability monitoring
  • Access controls limiting employee access to personal data on a need-to-know basis
  • Rate limiting on API endpoints and analytics events to prevent abuse

While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. International Data Transfers

Your data may be processed in countries outside the United Kingdom. Where we transfer data internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including:

  • Adequacy decisions by the UK Secretary of State
  • Standard contractual clauses approved by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
  • Other legally recognised transfer mechanisms

9. Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, you have the following rights:

  • Right of access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
  • Right to rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
  • Right to erasure: Request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal exceptions)
  • Right to restrict processing: Request that we limit how we use your data
  • Right to data portability: Receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format
  • Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing
  • Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, withdraw at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing
  • Rights related to automated decision-making: Not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@pawsof.london. We will respond to your request within one month. This period may be extended by two further months for complex or multiple requests.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe your data protection rights have been violated. You can contact the ICO at ico.org.uk.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience:

  • Essential cookies: Required for the Platform to function (authentication sessions, security tokens). These cannot be disabled
  • Functional cookies: Remember your preferences such as location settings, filter selections, and theme preferences
  • Analytics cookies: Help us understand how the Platform is used so we can improve it. These are anonymised where possible

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies. You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may affect Platform functionality.

We also collect anonymous first-party usage statistics (such as page views and referrers) directly on our own infrastructure. These use no cookies and record no IP addresses or other personal identifiers.

11. Location Data

We collect precise geolocation data only with your explicit consent, granted through your browser or device location permissions. Location data is used to:

  • Show venues near you and calculate distances
  • Enable map-based venue discovery
  • Provide walking route directions
  • Validate check-ins at venues

Location data is stored in your browser session and is not permanently stored on our servers unless associated with a specific action (e.g., a check-in). You can revoke location access at any time through your browser or device settings.

12. Push Notifications

With your consent, we may send push notifications about:

  • New reviews on your venues
  • Badge awards and milestones
  • Responses to your reviews
  • Playdate requests

You can manage notification preferences in your account settings or disable push notifications entirely through your browser settings.

13. Children's Privacy

Our Platform is not intended for individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a person under 18, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe a child under 18 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@pawsof.london.

14. Third-Party Links

Our Platform may contain links to third-party websites, including venue websites, social media profiles, and mapping services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these third-party sites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

15. Venue Listing Verification

To keep our directory accurate, we periodically contact the venues we list — by email, and in future possibly by telephone — solely to confirm factual listing details (for example, whether dogs are still welcome and any house rules). These contacts are administrative accuracy checks, not marketing. If we ever call, the call will clearly identify itself at the start, including that it is automated, and will tell you if it is being recorded or transcribed.

  • Lawful basis: Legitimate interests — maintaining an accurate public directory. Contact details used are those the venue publishes or provided for its listing
  • What we keep: The structured outcome (e.g. "confirmed dog friendly, garden only" and the date). Any call recordings or transcripts are deleted within 90 days, and are never used for voice identification or training
  • Frequency: At most once or twice per year per venue
  • Opting out: Every verification email includes a one-click opt-out, and saying "don't contact us again" on any call is honoured permanently across all channels. You can also email privacy@pawsof.london at any time
  • Your rights: The rights in section 9 apply equally to this processing, including the right to object and to complain to the ICO

16. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. For significant changes, we may also send you a notification via email or through the Platform. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of the Platform after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your data protection rights, or have concerns about how we handle your data, please contact us at:

  • Email: privacy@pawsof.london
  • General enquiries: hello@pawsof.london

You can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you have concerns about how your data is being processed: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint