Privacy Policy
Effective date: July 20, 2026 · Last updated: July 27, 2026
Privacy Policy
Effective date: 20 July 2026 Last updated: 27 July 2026
This Privacy Policy describes how PawPals ("we," "us," "our"), operated by Orange Blossom Media, collects, uses, and shares information about you when you use our service at pawpals.place.
1. Information We Collect
Information you provide directly
- Account information: username, display name, email address, password (stored as a bcrypt hash — we never store your plaintext password)
- Profile content: bio, avatar, header image, social links, tags, gallery images, and any other content you add to your profile
- Business profile information: business name, tagline, website, commission status
- Communications: if you contact us by email, we retain those messages
Information collected automatically
- Usage data: pages visited, features used, timestamps — collected in server logs
- IP address: logged with each request; used for rate limiting and abuse prevention
- Session data: a session token stored in a cookie to keep you logged in
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Operate and maintain PawPals
- Display your public profile to other users
- Send transactional email (email verification, password reset) via Resend
- Detect and prevent abuse, spam, and policy violations
- Respond to support requests and moderation reports
- Comply with legal obligations
We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your data to serve third-party advertising.
3. How We Share Your Information
Public profile data. If your profile visibility is set to Public, your display name, username, bio, social links, tags, gallery, and profile images are visible to anyone on the internet, including search engines.
Service providers. We share data with vendors who help us operate the Service:
| Provider | Purpose | Data shared |
|---|---|---|
| Laravel Forge | Server hosting | All application data |
| Cloudflare R2 | Image storage | Uploaded images |
| Resend | Transactional email | Your email address |
Legal requests. We may disclose information if required by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or if we have a good-faith belief that disclosure is necessary to protect rights, property, or safety.
Business transfers. If PawPals is acquired or merged, your information may be transferred. We'll notify you via email or a prominent notice before that occurs.
4. Data Retention
We retain your account data for as long as your account exists. If you delete your account, we remove your profile and personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate fraud prevention purposes.
Server logs (including IP addresses) are retained for 90 days.
5. Cookies and Local Storage
We use a session cookie to keep you logged in. We do not use third-party advertising or tracking cookies.
We may use third-party analytics services to improve our service.
6. Your Rights and Choices
Access and correction. You can view and update most of your profile information from the profile editor and account settings at any time.
Deletion. You can delete your account from Account Settings. This permanently removes your profile and associated data.
Email opt-out. Transactional emails (verification, password reset) are necessary for account operation and cannot be opted out of while your account is active.
Data export. We can provide a data export upon request at moderation@pawpals.place.
7. Children's Privacy
PawPals is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
8. Security
We use industry-standard security practices including HTTPS, hashed passwords, and access controls. No system is perfectly secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We'll notify you by updating the "Last updated" date above. Material changes will be communicated via email or an in-app notice.
10. Contact
Questions, requests, or concerns? Contact us at privacy@pawpals.place.