SNOUTZONE

Privacy

Last Updated: June 29, 2026

Welcome to SnoutZone! This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use our app. By using SnoutZone, you agree to this Privacy Policy.

SnoutZone uses Google OAuth for authentication. When you sign in with Google, we collect your name and email address to create and manage your user account. We do not use this data for any other purposes, and we do not share it with third parties except as described in this policy.

  1. Information We Collect
    1. Personal Information:
      • We may collect personal information, including but not limited to, your name, email address, and payment information when you register or make purchases through the app.
      • Google Data: When you use Google OAuth, we collect your Google ID, email, name, and profile picture URL.
    2. Usage Information:
      • We collect information about how you use the app, including your interactions with products, services, and social networking features.
    3. Media and Metadata:
      • When you upload photos or videos, we collect the media you provide and may process embedded metadata (such as timestamps, device information, and location data).
      • We may offer tools to remove metadata before sharing to reduce exposure of sensitive details.
      • With your explicit, optional consent, we store the approximate location where your pet's photos and videos were taken, in order to offer and improve nearby veterinary and pet-service recommendations. You can decline this permission and withdraw consent at any time in the app settings; declining does not affect any other feature. We do not sell this data. The legal basis for this processing is your consent.
      • For adoption listings, your location is required to power the nearby-adoption feed. It is used to show your listing to adopters near you and to show you listings near your location. Without location access, adoption listings cannot be posted or browsed by distance.
    4. Precise Location (Lost Pet Alerts):
      • With your explicit, optional consent, we collect your device's precise current location (latitude and longitude) to power lost-pet alerts. It is refreshed each time you open the app (while it is in use, in the foreground), as well as when you open the "Lost" feed or report a pet as lost, or by reusing a location permission you have already granted (for example, when posting an adoption listing); we never collect your location in the background. We use it to show the distance to nearby lost pets and to alert users near you when a pet is reported lost within a chosen radius (geo-targeting). We request precise (not approximate) location because relevance depends on where you are at that moment, often away from home.
      • This processing is based on your consent, which you can decline and withdraw at any time from the app's permission settings; declining does not affect any other feature. We do not sell or share this data with third parties, and we use it only for lost-pet geo-targeting (purpose limitation). Your location is stored with a limited retention period and expires and is purged automatically.
    5. Biometric or Unique Identifiers (If Enabled):
      • If you choose to use biometric features (such as pet recognition), we may process the biometric templates or identifiers needed to provide those features.
      • We do not use biometric data for advertising and do not store it longer than necessary to provide the feature, where permitted by law.
    6. Device Information:
      • Information about your device, including device type, operating system, and unique device identifiers, may be collected for optimization and troubleshooting purposes.
      • We also collect basic device and app information — including operating system version, device manufacturer and model, and app version — for analytics purposes, to understand our audience and improve the product.
    7. Cookies and Tracking:
      • We use cookies and similar technologies to track activity on our Service and hold certain information to improve and analyze our Service.
  2. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)
    1. Lawful Grounds:
      • Consent: You have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose.
      • Contract: The processing is necessary for a contract we have with you, or because you have asked us to take specific steps before entering into a contract (e.g., providing the Service).
      • Legal Obligation: The processing is necessary for us to comply with the law.
      • Legitimate Interests: The processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, unless there is a good reason to protect your personal data which overrides those legitimate interests (e.g., improving our service, ensuring security).
    2. Consent Choices:
      • Where required, we use opt-in consent for data collection and provide equal choices to accept or decline.
      • You can withdraw consent at any time through app settings or by contacting us.
  3. Use of Information
    1. Personalization:
      • We use the collected information to personalize your experience, including product recommendations and social network interactions.
    2. Transactional Purposes:
      • Information may be used to process transactions, provide services, and communicate with users regarding their accounts.
    3. Communication:
      • We may use your email address to send updates, newsletters, and promotional materials. You can opt-out of such communications through app settings or by following the unsubscribe link in any email we send.
    4. Improvement of Services:
      • Collected data helps us analyze app usage patterns, identify areas for improvement, and enhance overall user experience.
    5. AI and Automated Systems:
      • We may use automated systems to organize content, detect abuse, or improve features.
      • Recommendations may be personalized based on your activity and content interactions.
      • We process interaction data to generate preference vectors and personalize your feed and ranking.
      • If we use your content to train models, we will disclose it here and provide opt-out choices where required by law.
  4. Data Retention
    1. Retention Period:
      • We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes in this policy, to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements.
      • When data is no longer needed, we delete or anonymize it in accordance with our retention practices.
  5. Your Data Protection Rights (GDPR/CCPA/Global)
    1. User Rights:
        • The right to access: You can request copies of your personal data.
        • The right to rectification: You can request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate.
        • The right to erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You can request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
        • The right to restrict processing: You can request that we restrict the processing of your personal data.
        • The right to data portability: You can request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you.
        • The right to object: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data.
        • Right to non-discrimination (CCPA): We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights.
        • Automated Decision-Making: You have the right to not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing with legal effects.
      • Account deletion: Request from the app (Profile) after identity verification. Your account is disabled immediately; permanent data erasure is completed on a scheduled date (typically within 30 days) by our operations. For questions or to attempt cancellation before completion, email [email protected] from your registered address.
      • To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected].
    2. California Privacy Rights (CCPA):
      • Do Not Sell or Share: SnoutZone does not sell your personal information. If we engage in selling or sharing in the future, we will provide a clear opt-out mechanism.
      • Notice of Collection: At or before the point of collection, we inform you of the categories of personal information we collect and the purposes for which they are used.
    3. Targeted Advertising:
      • Where required, you may opt out of targeted advertising or profiling through app settings or by contacting us.
    4. Complaints:
      • If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK, you have the right to complain to a Data Protection Authority about our collection and use of your Personal Data. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority.
  6. International Data Transfer
    1. Consent to Transfer:
      • Your information, including Personal Data, may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction.
      • We process data on Google Cloud infrastructure in the United States under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and we use additional safeguards such as standard contractual clauses where required.
  7. Children's Privacy

    Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us data, contact us. If we learn we collected data without verified parental consent, we will delete it.

  8. Data Security
    1. Security Measures:
      • We use industry-standard measures to protect data, including encryption in transit and at rest where appropriate.
      • No method of transmission or storage is completely secure.
    2. Privacy by Design:
      • We aim to minimize data collection and provide choices that limit exposure of sensitive information.
    3. Breach Notification:
      • We will notify users and regulators of a data breach when required by law.
    4. Third-Party Services:
      • In certain instances, we may use third-party services to enhance app functionality. These services may have their own security measures, and users are encouraged to review their privacy policies.
  9. Sharing of Information
    1. No Distribution to Third Parties:
      • We do not sell customer data to third parties. Your privacy is important to us.
    2. Service Providers:
      • We may share information with third-party service providers for tasks such as payment processing, data analysis, and customer support. These providers are obligated not to disclose or use the information for any other purpose.
    3. Legal Requirements:
      • We may disclose user information if required by law or in response to valid requests from law enforcement or other government authorities.
  10. Relationship with Terms of Service
      • Your use of SnoutZone is also governed by our Terms and Conditions. The limitations of liability and disclaimers set forth therein—including those relating to pet health, adoption agreements, user and pet conduct, and offline interactions—apply to your use of the platform. SnoutZone is not responsible for the accuracy of information that users voluntarily provide in profiles or pet listings.
  11. Changes to Privacy Policy
    1. Notification:
      • We reserve the right to update our Privacy Policy. Users will be notified of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date.
  12. Contact Information
    1. Inquiries:
      • For questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, or to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us at: [email protected].
    2. Data Protection Contact:
      • If you have specific concerns about how your data is handled, you may reach our privacy team at [email protected].

Thank you for using SnoutZone! We value your trust and are committed to protecting your privacy.