Privacy policy

Last Updated: 14/06/2026

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy ("Policy") explains how Dot Squad Ltd ("we," "our," or "us") collects, uses, stores, and discloses your personal data when you use the UnlostPaws platform ("the Platform"). We act as the Data Controller under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.

As a voluntary, free public service, we process your information with the sole aim of helping you find and reunify lost pets. We make every effort to minimize data collection and protect your privacy.

2. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data under the following legal bases:

1. Consent (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)): By creating a profile, submitting a pet report, uploading photographs, or accepting analytics cookies, you give us explicit consent to process that data.
2. Legitimate Interests (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)): It is in the legitimate interest of the community, pet parents, and finders to share public pet alert data to facilitate rapid reunifications.

3. Data We Collect and How We Use It

• Account Information: When you register, we collect your email address, username, and authentication details. This is used solely to manage your account and security.
• Pet Reports & Alert Data: When you report a lost or found pet, you voluntarily provide the pet's name, type, breed, physical descriptions, photographs, approximate last-seen location, and your preferred public contact method (e.g., email or phone number). This information is processed to run our automated AI matching engine.
• Location Data: We store approximate geographic coordinates of where a pet was lost or found. We strongly advise users not to submit precise private addresses (such as house numbers) in the public descriptions.

4. Public Nature of Pet Alerts and "Open Data"

• Public Visibility: The entire purpose of UnlostPaws is public visibility. By publishing an alert, you agree that your pet’s photos, descriptions, approximate location, and your designated contact details will be publicly visible to anyone on the internet.
• No Control Over Third Parties: Because this data is public, it may be crawled, indexed, and stored by search engines (e.g., Google, Bing) or third-party scrapers.
• Disclaimer of Scraper Actions: We accept no liability if a third party scrapes your public contact information or images from the Platform and uses them outside of UnlostPaws. Once you voluntarily publish data, you release Dot Squad Ltd from any claims regarding third-party usage, harassment, or replication of that data.

5. Automated AI Matching and Vector Processing

To perform matching, the photos and text you upload are converted into numerical representations (vector embeddings) and processed through automated matching models. By uploading photos, you grant us permission to process these images through our machine learning pipelines. We do not use these images for any commercial advertising purposes.

6. Cookie Policy (How We Use Cookies)

We use the term "cookies" to refer to cookies and similar local storage technologies.

• How We Manage Consent: We use an opt-in Cookie Consent Manager. No optional cookies are set unless you click "Accept All" or enable them in your preferences.
• Strictly Necessary Cookies (Always Active):
  • ulp_cookie_consent: Stores your cookie preferences.
  • better-auth.*: Cookies set by our authentication library to keep you securely logged in.
• Analytics Cookies (Opt-In Only):
  • Google Analytics / GTM (_ga, _gid, _gat): These cookies collect anonymous traffic data (pages visited, time on site) to help us understand platform usage. You can revoke this consent at any time by clicking the "Cookie Preferences" link in the footer.

7. Data Storage, Retention, and Deletion

• Hosting location: The Platform is hosted on secure cloud servers.
• Retention Period: We retain your account data and pet alerts for as long as your account remains active or until you delete the alert.
• Right to Erasure (Deletion): You can delete your pet alerts or delete your account at any time through your settings panel. Upon deletion, we will immediately erase or anonymize the data in our active databases.
• Cached Data Warning: Please note that while we delete the data from our systems immediately, cached results on search engines or third-party web archives may take time to update, and we have no control over their removal.

8. Your Data Protection Rights (UK GDPR)

As a UK resident, you have the following statutory rights:

• Right of Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You can update or correct inaccurate data.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You can request that we delete your data.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: You can withdraw your consent at any time (e.g., by deleting your posts or disabling analytics cookies).
• Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). However, as we provide this platform voluntarily, we ask that you contact us first to resolve any concerns.

9. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures (such as SSL encryption and access controls) to protect your data. However, no internet-based platform is 100% secure. You acknowledge that you share personal information at your own risk.

10. Minimizing Company Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by the laws of England and Wales, Dot Squad Ltd and its officers exclude all liability for:

• Any data breaches or unauthorized access resulting from third-party hacking.
• Any unauthorized scraping or misuse of contact details you voluntarily make public.
• Any inaccuracies in the database or matching errors.

11. Policy Updates

We may update this Privacy and Cookie Policy from time to time. Any changes will be published on this page with a revised "Last Updated" date. Continued use of the Platform signifies your acceptance of the updated terms.