Effective November 6, 2026. This policy explains what the Paw & Collar app and website collect, why, who sees it and how to delete it. We don't sell your information or use it for advertising.
What we collect
| What | From whom | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Name, email, mobile phone, ZIP code | Everyone | Your account, and contact between owner and sitter on a booking |
| Your legal name, and for sitters the first name you go by | Everyone | Sitters' background and ID checks use the legal name. The app shows the name a sitter goes by with their last initial |
| Password | Everyone | Logging in. We store only a scrambled version that can't be turned back into the password |
| A record each time you agree to our terms: date, version, IP address and device type | Everyone | Proof of what you agreed to and when |
| People you add to your account: their name, email and password | Owners who add them | Their own login to your account |
| Pet details: name, type, photo, breed, age, weight, sex, spay/neuter and microchip status, house-training, how the pet gets along with dogs, cats and children, energy level, feeding and potty schedule, medications, bite history, vaccine records and their expiry dates, vet name and phone, care notes | Owners, and sitters who list their own pets | So sitters know how to care for your pet. Vaccine record files are private: only you and the sitter on one of that pet's bookings can open them |
| Home access: entry instructions, lockbox, door and alarm codes, Wi-Fi, parking | Owners who add them | Shown only to the sitter on a confirmed booking at your home, from the day before it starts until it ends. We log each day they were shown |
| Home pin: your home's location, saved from your phone when you choose | Owners who add it | Showing whether a sitter checked in at your home, and centering a lost-pet alert. Never shown to sitters |
| Card brand, last 4 digits and expiry. Stripe stores the card itself | Owners | Paying when the sitter accepts, one-tap payments, weekly bookings and approved booking changes |
| Profile photos, headline, bio, home ZIP, travel distance, services, rates, add-ons, discount codes, weekly hours, days off, busy hours, away and unavailable dates, daily pet limit, whether you take repeat clients only, the vaccines you require, experience and skills, the pets you take, details about your home | Sitters | Your public sitter profile and search results |
| Insurance and credentials: insurer, policy number and certificate; license, clinic or certification details | Sitters who add them | Checking them with the insurer, the state or the certifying group, and showing the badge |
| Business details you choose to add, such as your Washington UBI number, and your confirmation that you run your own business | Sitters who add them | Confirming you work as an independent business |
| Safety course answers and completion date | Sitters | Approval |
| Notices about your account and your appeals | Sitters who get a notice | The written notice and appeal process |
| References from past clients: the client's name and email, how long they were a client and what they wrote | Sitters, and the clients they invite | Showing references on the sitter's profile with the client's first name and last initial. The client's email is used only to send the invite |
| Location while a walk or visit is running, from when the sitter taps Start until they tap End | Sitters | Drawing the walk map in the owner's report card. It's sent when the walk ends and is never shared live |
| Location when a walk, drop-in or house sit starts, if the sitter's phone already shares location with the app | Sitters | Check-in at the home. The owner sees whether the sitter was at the home, or how far away, not the location itself |
| Report cards: start and end times, safety checks, potty, food, water and medication taps, photos, notes | Sitters | The owner's record of each walk or visit, and proof of service for weekly bookings |
| Bookings: dates, visit times, services, pets, prices, status, booking changes, tips, and reviews and replies from both sides | Everyone | Running and paying for bookings |
| Messages and photos sent in a booking chat; a sitter's quick replies and private notes about a client | Everyone | Communication and updates during a booking. A sitter's notes about a client are never shown to that client |
| Favorites, blocks, and which sitter's invite link you joined with | Owners | Your saved sitters, keeping blocked people apart, and showing the inviting sitter first |
| Reports you send about another user | Everyone | Safety. Only Paw & Collar staff see reports, and the person reported isn't told who sent one |
| Emergency info: a backup contact's name, phone and relationship, your emergency vet, how much vet care a sitter may approve, other emergency notes | Owners | Shown to the sitter on your accepted and paid bookings, so they can act if something goes wrong and you can't be reached |
| Incident reports: what happened, the pets, photos and whether a vet is involved, and how we resolved it | Owners and sitters on the booking | Safety, and following up |
| Lost-pet alerts: the pet, where and when it was last seen, and sightings with a note, the location if the person's phone shares it, and an optional phone number | Owners and sitters on the booking, and anyone who reports a sighting | Finding the pet |
| Photo ID check result: whether it passed, the name on your ID and the number of tries | Sitters | Confirming each sitter is who they say they are. Stripe keeps the ID photo and selfie (see below) |
| Problem reports: what went wrong, the refund asked for, the sitter's response and our decision | Owners and sitters on the booking | Settling problems and refunds |
| A private calendar link, if you turn on calendar sync | Everyone who turns it on | Adding confirmed bookings to your calendar app. It doesn't include addresses or home access details |
| Wrong-password attempts by email and IP address, and email confirmation codes | Everyone | Blocking password guessing and confirming your email. Attempts only count for 15 minutes |
| Error reports when something breaks: the error, the screen or request, phone type, app version and your account ID | Everyone | Finding and fixing bugs. Sent to Sentry |
| On-demand walk requests: your dogs, price limit, note and ZIP-code area | Owners | Sending the request to nearby walkers |
| Notification token for your phone, and which kinds of notices you want | Everyone who allows notifications | Sending booking and message alerts |
We use your phone's location only for what's listed above: walk maps, check-in when a visit starts, a home pin you choose to save, and lost-pet alerts and sightings. Search distance comes from ZIP codes, and sitters appear on the map near the middle of their ZIP code, never at their home.
What our partners collect directly
- Stripe handles payments. Your card number goes to Stripe, never to Paw & Collar. We receive the payment's amount and status. For sitter payouts, Stripe collects your identity and bank details, and we learn only whether payouts are set up.
- Stripe Identity runs the sitter photo ID check. Stripe collects a photo of your government ID and a live selfie under its own privacy policy, and tells us whether they match and the name on the ID. Paw & Collar staff can view the check in Stripe. When you delete your account, we ask Stripe to erase it.
- Checkr runs sitter background checks. Checkr collects your Social Security number, date of birth and other details under its own disclosures and your consent. We receive the check's status, result and completion date, and Paw & Collar staff can read the full report in Checkr's system. Checks are renewed every 12 months.
Who sees what
- Anyone searching: a sitter's first name (the name they go by) and last initial, photos, city, a map pin near the middle of their ZIP code, headline, bio, rates, distance, skills, home details, the pets they take, their own pets' names, photos and breeds, availability, vaccine requirements, badges, references from past clients, and reviews with the sitter's replies. Reviews and references show the writer's first name and last initial.
- Sitters who get your request: your first name and last initial, your rating and reviews from past sitters, and your pets' profiles, including bite history and vaccine records.
- The other person on your booking: your first name and last initial, the booking details, the pets on it and your messages. Phone numbers are shared once the booking is paid. Sitters also see the owner's emergency info once they accept, and home access details as described above. Owners see whether the sitter checked in at the home.
- People on an owner's account see that account's pets, bookings, messages and saved cards.
- People who get a lost-pet alert: the pet's name, photo and description, when and roughly where it was last seen, and whether it's been found. Sightings, and any phone number left with one, are shown only to the owner, the sitter and Paw & Collar staff.
- Paw & Collar staff: account details, bookings and messages, to run the service, handle support and keep people and pets safe.
- Service providers who run the app for us: Cloudflare (hosting, database and photo storage), Stripe, Checkr, Resend (email), Sentry (error reports), Twilio (text-message codes, if we turn them on), Apple and Google (notifications, and the maps in the app), and Expo (notifications). They may use your information only to provide their service.
- When the law requires it, for example in response to a valid court order, or to protect someone's safety.
Keeping and deleting
You can delete your account in Account → Delete account once you have no open bookings. Deleting removes your name, legal name, email, phone number, pets and their vaccine records, emergency info, home access details, home pin, the people on your account, your calendar link, sitter profile, busy hours, profile photos, insurance certificate and credentials, references from past clients, and your private notes about clients, and we ask Stripe to erase your ID check. Records of past bookings, payments, reviews, problem reports, incident reports and messages stay, shown as "Deleted user," because we need them for taxes, refunds and disputes. Photos you sent in booking chats stay in the other person's chat history. We keep those records for 7 years. Error reports stay with Sentry for up to 90 days. Stripe and Checkr keep their records under their own policies and the law.
Your choices
- Edit your details anytime in the app.
- Choose which kinds of notices you get on the app's Notifications screen, or turn them all off in your phone's settings. Account and safety notices, such as security and payment problems, always send.
- Location is always your choice. If you don't allow it, walks go without a map and visits without a check-in.
- Email us for a copy of your information or with any privacy question.
Security
All traffic is encrypted, passwords are stored scrambled, repeated wrong passwords pause sign-in for 15 minutes, and only Paw & Collar staff can reach the admin tools. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects you, we'll tell you as the law requires.
Children
Paw & Collar is for adults 18 and over. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone younger.
Changes and contact
If we change this policy in a significant way, we'll tell you in the app first. Questions: support@thepawandcollar.com.