Privacy policy

Pawfect Match helps dog owners meet: playdates between dogs, group walks and training dates, and a map of dog-friendly places. This policy explains what personal information we process, why, who we share it with and what rights you have. It is written to meet the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 (POPIA) of South Africa, where the app is launching first, and also follows the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, where we are based.

1. What we collect

Information you give us

• Account: your email address and password (stored only as a secure hash). If you sign in with Google, Google shares your name, email address and profile picture with us.
• Profile: display name, photo, short bio and your experience level with dogs.
• Your dogs: name, breed, size, birth date, weight, energy level, temperament, confidence with other dogs, whether they are neutered, and photos.
• Phone number: only if you choose to verify one.
• Trusted contacts: the name, phone number and relationship of people you add, so they can follow a meetup when you ask them to. Please tell them before you add them.
• Content: chat messages, events you organise or join, place reviews, reports about a place's condition, safety ratings after a meetup, and reports about other members.

Information collected as you use the app

• Home area: rounded to about 1 km, never your exact address. We use it to show dogs, events and places near you.
• Device location: while you use the map or create an event, only if you allow it in your phone's settings.
• Live location: only while you share it with a trusted contact for a meetup. It stops when you end the share or when it expires.
• Activity: playdate swipes, matches, favourites, dog groups and the members you block.
• Device: a push notification token, so we can notify you about messages, matches and events.

Your email address and display name are required to have an account. Everything else is optional, but some features won't work without it: for example, playdates need a dog profile, and nearby results need a home area.

We do not ask for special personal information under POPIA (such as health, religion, race or biometric information). Please don't include it in your bio or messages.

2. Why we use it, and on what basis

• To provide the service you signed up for (POPIA section 11(1)(b)): your account, matching dogs nearby, chat, events, the map and notifications about your activity.
• To keep members safe (our legitimate interest and yours, section 11(1)(d) and (f)): verification, safety ratings, reports, blocks, the trusted contact features and investigating misuse.
• With your consent (section 11(1)(a)): location access, live location sharing and push notifications. You can withdraw consent at any time in the app or in your phone's settings, without affecting what was done before.
• To meet a legal obligation (section 11(1)(c)), for example answering a lawful request from an authority.

We use your information only for these purposes, or for purposes compatible with them. We do not sell your personal information, we do not show ads, and we do not send direct marketing. If we ever wanted to, we would ask for your consent first, as section 69 of POPIA requires.

The app suggests dogs to meet based on distance and your dog's profile. These suggestions are not decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you, and you always decide whom to meet.

3. What other members see

Other members see your display name, photo, bio, your dogs' profiles and photos, your safety score and an approximate distance. They never see your email, phone number or exact location. Messages are visible only to the people in the conversation. A trusted contact sees your live location only through the link you send them, while the share is active.

4. Who processes it for us

We use these service providers (operators under POPIA). Each one processes your information only on our instructions, under a written agreement that requires it to keep the information confidential and secure.

• Supabase hosts our database, sign-in and photo storage, in London, United Kingdom.
• Expo (650 Industries, United States) delivers push notifications to your device.
• Google provides Google sign-in, if you use it, and the map on Android.

We may also disclose information when the law requires it, or to protect someone's safety.

5. Transfers outside South Africa

Your information is stored and processed outside South Africa: in the United Kingdom, in the United States and in Switzerland. Under section 72 of POPIA we only transfer it where the recipient is bound by a law, binding agreement or binding corporate rules that give a level of protection substantially similar to POPIA, or where the transfer is needed to provide the service you asked for. The United Kingdom and Switzerland have data protection laws comparable to POPIA. Transfers to the United States rely on our providers' data processing agreements, including standard contractual clauses.

6. How long we keep it

• Account, profile, dogs and messages: as long as your account exists.
• Live location: only for the duration of a share.
• Place condition reports: they expire automatically, after a few hours to 14 days depending on the kind of report.
• When you delete your account, your information is deleted immediately from the live service, and from backups within 30 days. See deleting your account.
• We keep information longer only where the law requires it.

7. How we protect it

Information is encrypted in transit. Access is restricted per member at the database level, so each member can only read and change what is theirs, and shared items only with the people they are shared with. Only the people who run the service can reach the systems behind it.

If we believe your personal information has been accessed or acquired by an unauthorised person, we will tell the Information Regulator and you as soon as reasonably possible, as section 22 of POPIA requires, with enough information for you to protect yourself.

8. Your rights

Under POPIA you have the right to:

• Be informed that your information is being collected, which this policy does.
• Access your information: ask whether we hold information about you and get a copy of it, free of charge (sections 23 and 25, and the Promotion of Access to Information Act).
• Correct or delete information that is inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive, out of date, incomplete, misleading or unlawfully obtained (section 24). Most of your profile can be edited directly in the app.
• Delete your account at any time, in the app under Profile → Delete account.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests (section 11(3)), and withdraw your consent at any time.
• Not be subject to direct marketing without your consent.
• Complain to the Information Regulator, and to bring civil proceedings (section 99).

To use any of these rights, email hello@emergestudio.ch from the address of your account. We may ask you to confirm your identity, and we answer within 30 days.

We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first, but you can contact the Regulator at any time. Outside South Africa you can contact your own data protection authority, for example the Swiss FDPIC.

9. Children

Pawfect Match is for adults. You must be 18 or older to create an account, and we do not knowingly process information about children. If you believe a child has an account, tell us and we will delete it.

10. Changes

If we change this policy, we update the date above and, when the change matters, tell you in the app before it takes effect.