Privacy notice

Last updated: 12 August 2026

DogNear is the controller of the information described below. This notice covers live discovery, dog profiles, saved places, community checks, business claims, PawQuest private-alpha testing, privacy-limited product and affiliate measurement, and our launch forms. We designed the service to collect only what it needs.

What we collect

For dog owners, we collect the dog profile, saved places and community checks you choose to submit. A random essential identifier keeps those choices connected on your device without requiring an account. If you join launch updates, we collect your email address and optional postcode. For business claims, we collect your name, role, work email, listing details and verification evidence. We also receive limited technical records needed to deliver and protect the website.

Why we use it

We use profile and saved-place data to provide the personalised service you request. Community checks help us review freshness; they do not automatically overwrite a source. We use owner signups for requested launch updates and business details to review ownership claims and improve accurate listings. We rely on your consent for launch marketing, performance of the requested service for profiles and saves, and our legitimate interests to operate, secure and improve DogNear.

Location and external data

If you allow device location, the browser supplies coordinates for the search you requested. DogNear does not save that precise location in your profile. Search terms or coordinates are sent to the relevant location, weather and open-map services to return the requested result. Current providers include Postcodes.io, Open-Meteo, OpenStreetMap and OpenFreeMap; their own notices apply when their services receive a request. The optional Bins & bags layer rounds the current search point to roughly 100 metres and sends it to the public OpenStreetMap Overpass API only when you switch that layer on. Rounded query results may be cached for up to one hour to reduce repeated requests.

PawQuest private alpha: location is requested only when an authorised tester actively chooses Verify arrival. The browser gathers two fresh readings over a few seconds and sends them securely so DogNear can check proximity to a separately reviewed arrival point. Raw coordinates are processed for that decision and are not stored as a route, ordinary visit history or analytics payload. We retain the verified or unverified result, the place and arrival-point configuration used, the server time and coarse distance/accuracy bands for security, duplicate prevention and alpha debugging. Alpha verification-attempt records are set to expire after 90 days, subject to formal privacy review. PawQuest does not collect continuous or background location. A tester can record a clearly labelled manual memory without sharing location.

How long we keep it

We plan to review early-access records every 12 months and delete inactive launch records within 24 months, unless we must keep information for a legal reason or you become an active DogNear customer.

Who receives it

We use vetted hosting and technology providers to run DogNear. They may process information for us under contractual controls. We do not sell personal information. If a provider processes information outside the UK, we will use an appropriate UK transfer safeguard. When you choose an Amazon affiliate link, your browser leaves DogNear and Amazon receives the request under its own privacy notice.

Affiliate measurement

When an affiliate recommendation becomes substantially visible, or you choose its Amazon link, DogNear records a limited first-party event. It includes the page path and category, module, product identifier for a click, CTA position, destination identifier, event time, a random page-view attribution token and whether the event came from staging or production. The token pairs a module view with a click on that page; it is not saved in a cookie or browser storage. The event does not include your name, email, precise location, dog profile, IP address or a cross-site advertising identifier. We use this to understand whether contextual recommendations are useful and to reconcile aggregate Amazon Associates reporting.

30-day product measurement

During product validation, DogNear records limited first-party events for genuine sessions, completed discovery journeys, place opens, operator-link clicks, saves and profile completion. We store the page path without its search string, broad referral source, explicitly supplied UTM labels, event time and privacy-safe search context where relevant: category, radius band, result count, list or map view, permitted filter labels and mapped versus details-only result totals. We do not store free-text searches, requested location, precise GPS, dog profile contents, names, emails or full referring-page URLs in product analytics. Test and non-production traffic is kept separate, and reasonably identifiable bots are filtered.

Product-measurement events expire after 180 days. The pseudonymous hash is used only to calculate privacy-safe aggregate return cohorts; it is not an advertising identifier and is not shared with retailers. Search Console and affiliate orders or revenue remain separate aggregate reports from their respective networks.

Your choices and rights

You can withdraw marketing consent at any time. Depending on the circumstances, you may also ask to access, correct, erase, restrict or transfer your information, or object to our use of it. To make a request, email privacy@dognear.co.uk.

Your right to object: you can object at any time to our use of your information for direct marketing. We will stop using it for that purpose.

Cookies and local storage

DogNear uses an essential first-party cookie containing a random identifier so profiles, saved places and checks work without an account. It lasts up to one year and is not an advertising identifier. During the validation sprint, a one-way hash of that identifier supports aggregate return measurement; the cookie itself is not stored in the analytics table. A temporary per-tab session identifier prevents duplicate session events and disappears when the tab session ends. Affiliate module-view and outbound-click events do not set or read a cookie of their own. DogNear does not use third-party advertising cookies.

Questions or complaints

Contact privacy@dognear.co.uk first so we can help. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.