PawFora (“PawFora”, “we”, “us”) provides an all-in-one platform for pet shops, grooming salons, and pet retailers. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. It applies to this website (pawfora.com), the PawFora application (app.pawfora.com), and related communications.

For questions, contact our privacy team at hello@pawfora.com.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us

  • Contact form. When you message us through our contact form, we collect your name, business name (optional), work email, country, and the message you send, plus your IP address and browser user-agent used to detect and filter spam.
  • Account and profile data. If you create a trial or paid account, we collect the details you provide at sign-up — such as your name, work email, business name, country, and subscription status — and use them to operate your account.
  • Data you enter into the service. As you use PawFora you may enter information about your shop, your staff, your clients (pet owners), and their pets — for example appointments, services, products, and notes. You control this data and we process it on your behalf to provide the service to you.

Payment information

When you subscribe, your payment details are collected and processed by a PCI-DSS-compliant payment provider. We do not store full card numbers; we retain only limited billing records such as the plan, amount, date, and (where shown) the last four digits needed to manage your subscription.

Information collected automatically

  • Device and usage data. We collect your IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, and similar technical data to keep the site secure, diagnose issues, and understand usage.
  • Cookies. See Section 5.

2. How we use information

We use personal information to:

  • Reply to your inquiries and provide customer support.
  • Create and operate your account and deliver the PawFora service.
  • Process subscriptions, payments, and send service-related notices (such as trial-ending or payment-failure emails).
  • Keep the service secure, prevent fraud and abuse, and enforce our Terms.
  • Improve, measure, and develop the product through analytics.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use the data you enter about your own customers or their pets for our own marketing.

3. Legal bases (for EEA and UK users)

Where the UK GDPR or EU GDPR applies, we rely on the following legal bases:

  • Contract. To provide the service you request and manage your account (Art. 6(1)(b)).
  • Legitimate interests. To secure the service, prevent abuse, and improve the product, balanced against your rights (Art. 6(1)(f)).
  • Consent. For non-essential analytics cookies, where required (Art. 6(1)(a)).
  • Legal obligation. To retain records or respond to lawful requests where required (Art. 6(1)(c)).

4. Cookies and similar technologies

We use essential cookies to keep you signed in and to maintain security. With your consent (where required), we use privacy-respecting analytics cookies to understand how the site is used so we can improve it. You can disable non-essential cookies in your browser settings; essential cookies are required for the service to function.

5. How we share information

We share personal information only with vetted service providers who help us operate PawFora, and only under contractual safeguards that limit their use:

  • Infrastructure & hosting that store and serve the service.
  • Email & messaging providers that deliver transactional and support email.
  • Payment processing to handle subscriptions.
  • Analytics to measure usage (where you have consented).

We may also disclose information (a) to comply with law or a lawful request, (b) to protect our rights, users, or the public, and (c) to a successor entity in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale. We require the buyer to honor this Policy.

6. International data transfers

PawFora is operated from the United States, and your information is hosted on servers located in the United States (Phoenix, Arizona, with backups in Boston, Massachusetts). If we transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland to the United States or another country without an adequacy decision, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, together with supplementary measures as needed.

7. Data retention

  • Contact-form inquiries. Retained for as long as needed to respond and for a reasonable support-records period, then deleted or anonymized. Spam or honeypot submissions are discarded without being stored.
  • Account data. Retained for the life of your account and for a limited period after closure to meet legal and accounting obligations.
  • Service data you enter. Retained while your account is active and until you delete it or request export/erasure; we delete or return it after termination as described in our Terms.
  • Payment records. Retained as required by tax and accounting law.

8. Data security

We use technical and organizational measures appropriate to the risk — including encryption in transit, access controls, and least-privilege internal access — to protect personal information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Your privacy rights

EEA and UK residents (GDPR)

You have the right to access, correct, delete, and port your personal data; to restrict or object to certain processing; and to withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent. You may also lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

United States residents

Depending on your state, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect and disclose, to correct it, to delete it, and to opt out of any “sale” or “sharing” (as those terms are defined by law). We do not sell personal information. You will not be discriminated against for exercising these rights.

How to exercise your rights

Email hello@pawfora.com with your request. We may verify your identity and may use an authorized agent where permitted by law. We respond within the timeframes required by applicable law (generally within one month under GDPR, and within the statutory period under US state law).

10. Children

PawFora is a business product not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Policy as the product and laws evolve. Material changes will be reflected by the “Last updated” date above, and we will notify you where required (for example, by email or an in-app notice).

12. Contact

Questions about privacy or this Policy? Email hello@pawfora.com and we will get back to you.