Your walks, your dogs, your data.

PackTales (“PackTales”, “we”, “us”) makes the PackTales app for iPhone, Android and the web, and this website. This policy explains what information we collect when you use them, what we do with it, who can see it, and the choices you have.

The app is a tool for dog owners: it records walks, stores dog profiles, lets you share memories and meet other owners, and helps neighbors find lost dogs. Almost everything below exists to make those features work.

To create an account we ask for:

Name

Shown to other members on your profile, posts, comments, chats and requests.

Email address

Used to sign in, confirm your account, reset your password and reply to you. Other members never see it.

Phone number

Required at sign-up. It is private: other members can’t read it. If your profile is public, a member who already knows your number can use it to find and add you as a friend (limited to 20 lookups an hour so numbers can’t be scanned).

Password

Handled by our sign-in provider and stored only in hashed form. We never see it. Accounts created with Google or Apple have no password.

Profile photo, interest tags and settings

Optional. Your photo and interest tags are shown to people allowed to see your profile. Settings such as units, notifications and privacy choices stay private.

Age confirmation

You confirm you are 18 or older when you sign up.

If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name (when the provider shares it), your email address and a unique account ID from that provider. We don’t receive your Google or Apple password. If the provider doesn’t share your name or you haven’t given a phone number, the app asks for them before you continue.

New accounts may answer a short, optional survey about which features interest them. Those answers are private to you and help us decide what to build.

You can add details about each dog: name, photo, age, breed, sex, weight, spay/neuter status, energy level, play style, social preferences, triggers and handling notes. These are shown to people allowed to see your profile, and, only if you switch on “Show to other owners” for that dog, to nearby owners looking for compatible playmates.

Some dog details are private to you and your dog’s household (co-owners and dog walkers you invite):

• medical conditions and health notes
• microchip ID
• emergency contact name and phone number
• vaccine due dates (rabies, DHPP, Bordetella, leptospirosis)
• care reminders (medication, flea & tick, feeding) and who ticked them off

Our database enforces this: other members’ accounts cannot read these fields at all. Health notes you flag on a memory are always private. Vet reports are generated on your device and only leave it if you choose to share them.

Daily check-ins (your dog’s mood and a short “dog thought”) are shown for 24 hours to the people your profile privacy allows.

PackTales is a map app, so location matters. We only use your phone’s location for the features below, and you can turn location access off in your phone’s settings at any time (walk recording and “near me” features then stop working).

Recording a walk

While you record a walk, the app collects your GPS position to draw the route and measure distance, pace and elevation. If you allow “Always” (iPhone) or “Allow all the time” (Android) location, it keeps collecting your location even when the app is closed or not in use, so the route keeps recording with your screen locked. We ask for this separately, before the phone does, and explain why. Background collection happens only while a walk is being recorded, and stops the moment you end or discard it. On Android a notification stays visible the whole time it is running. Your location is never used for advertising, never sold, and never shared with anyone except the friends you choose. The route is saved on your phone as you go and uploaded to your account when you save the walk.

Who sees your walks

Your trails follow your profile privacy (everyone, connections, or only you). A trail becomes visible on the community map only if you make it public, and becomes a Community Trail only if you publish it. A published trail shares the full recorded route, including where it starts, so consider that before publishing a walk that begins at your home.

Live location sharing (optional)

Off until you turn it on and accept a clear warning. When on, your current position is shared only with accepted friends and replaced as you move. With “Approximate” precision (the default) your position is rounded to about 110 meters (three decimal places); with “Exact” friends see your precise position. Turning it off deletes your shared position straight away.

Live trail broadcasts (optional)

You can let friends follow a walk while you record it. This ends when the walk ends.

Nearby content and search

Your position (or a place you type) is used to find nearby parks, vets, trails, memories, meetups and lost dog alerts. Place searches and nearby-place lookups are sent to the map services listed under “Services we rely on”.

My Area for playdate matching

If you use Dog Compatibility, you save an area rounded to about 1 km. Only you can read it; other owners see whole-mile distances only.

Lost dog alerts

An alert shows the last-seen location you pin, the time, your dog’s details and the contact name and phone number you enter, to all signed-in members, so neighbors can help. Sightings others add include the location they pin. Found alerts stay visible for 48 hours, then only to you.

Pack meetups and playdates

The place you choose for a meetup is shown to members who can see the post. Playdate details are shared only with the other owner.

Check On Me

If a walk timer runs out, the app prepares a text to your chosen safety contact with your last known location. It is sent from your own phone only when you press Send. We keep a record that an alert was triggered, and your safety contact’s details are private to you.

Photos are stored in two separate places:

Profile and dog photos

Stored with a public link under a random name, because they appear across the app (map markers, comments, requests). Anyone who has the exact link can open the image, but nobody can browse or list the photos.

Memory, post, health note, photo challenge and walk photos

Stored privately. The app shows them through temporary links that expire after six hours, and only people allowed to see that memory, post or walk can get a link.

Photos are resized before upload, and uploads are limited to images of 8 MB or less. We don’t use face recognition or analyze your photos. Photos you took with the camera may contain location data in their file details depending on your phone’s settings.

We store what you create so the app can show it: memories and their captions, comments, likes, trail reviews and ratings, place reviews and helpful votes, pack meetups and join requests, photo challenge entries and votes, friend requests, playdate requests, and messages in pack chats and playdate chats.

• Who can see a post depends on the audience you pick and your profile privacy.
• Pack chat messages are visible to the host and confirmed guests; playdate chats to the two owners. Chats are archived when the plan ends, and a repeating meetup’s messages are cleared when it moves to its next date.
• Your name and photo on posts are always copied from your profile, so nobody can post as you.
• We can see content when it is reported, when investigating abuse, or when you ask us for help. We don’t read your chats otherwise.

The app also records things it needs to work well: whether you’re online and when you were last active (you can hide this in Settings → Friends), badges, streaks, walk totals, and challenge progress (private unless you make it public).

When you report something we store the report, the reason, any details you add and a link to the content. The person you report isn’t told who reported them. When you block someone we store the block so neither of you sees the other.

Our moderators review reports in a private admin tool. To do that they can see the reported content and the reported account’s details. Every moderation action (such as hiding content, suspending or banning an account) is recorded with who took it and why, so decisions can be checked later. Banned or suspended accounts can’t sign in.

Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs (such as IP address, time and the request made) to run and protect the service. The app stores some data on your phone: your sign-in session, walks in progress, walks waiting to upload, cached map places and reminder schedules.

When you send a bug report or feature request, your email app is opened with your app version, device model and operating system added so we can help. Nothing is sent until you press Send, and you can remove those details first. The website’s contact form works the same way.

This website doesn’t use advertising or analytics cookies. The admin portal uses a sign-in cookie for moderators only.

• to provide the app: accounts, maps, walk tracking, dog profiles, social features, reminders and alerts
• to show your content to the people you chose
• to keep members safe: reviewing reports, enforcing our Terms and Community Guidelines, preventing spam and abuse
• to answer support requests and fix bugs
• to send account emails such as confirmations and password resets
• to meet legal obligations

What we don’t do: we don’t show ads, we don’t sell or rent your personal information, we don’t share it with data brokers or advertisers, and we don’t track you across other companies’ apps or websites.

We use a small number of outside services. Each receives only what it needs for its job, and none of them may use your information for advertising on our behalf.

Supabase

Hosts our database, sign-in and photo storage. Your account, content and photos are stored there.

Google Sign-In and Sign in with Apple

Only if you choose them. They confirm who you are and share your name and email with us under their own privacy policies.

OpenStreetMap (map tiles), Nominatim (place and address search) and Overpass (parks, vets, water and waste bins)

Receive the map area you’re viewing, the place you search for, or coordinates near you, along with your IP address, as any website request does.

OSRM

Receives the start, stops and end of a route when you ask for walking directions.

Open-Meteo

Receives your approximate position during a walk to return the local temperature for the hot pavement warning.

Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons

Provide place descriptions and photos. They receive the name of the place being looked up.

Apple Maps and Google Maps

Only when you tap a navigation or directions button, which opens that app with the destination.

Apple and Google (app stores and notifications)

Deliver the app and on-device reminder notifications under their own terms.

Expo (EAS)

Builds the app and delivers over-the-air updates to it. Its push service passes notifications we send to Apple’s and Google’s delivery services; it receives a device push token and the notification text, not your account details.

We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect someone’s safety (for example, a real threat of harm), or as part of a merger or sale of PackTales, in which case this policy continues to apply.

• Account, dog and content data: until you delete it or delete your account.
• Live location and live trail broadcasts: replaced as you move, deleted immediately when you stop sharing, and in any case deleted one day after their last update.
• Lost dog alerts: public while active, and for 48 hours after the dog is found; then visible only to you until you delete your account.
• Safety alerts and trail heads-ups: 180 days.
• Chats: archived when the plan or one-off meetup ends; repeating meetup chats are cleared each time the meetup moves on. Playdate requests that were never accepted are deleted after 90 days.
• Error and crash reports: 30 days.
• Photos no longer used by anything (replaced avatars, deleted posts, abandoned uploads) are removed automatically after about a week. Links to private photos expire after 6 hours.
• Phone-number lookup records: deleted after one day.
• Reports and moderation records: kept as long as needed to keep the community safe and handle appeals. If a reported account is deleted, the report stays but the link to that account is removed.
• Server logs and backups kept by our hosting provider are deleted on their normal schedule.

Content you published to the community — trails, reviews, submitted places and listings — stays on the map after you delete your account, with your name and photo removed. The Terms of Use explain why.

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, data protection law requires us to have a legal basis for each use. Ours are:

To perform our contract with you

Running your account, saving your walks and dogs, delivering your posts and messages, and showing you places. Without this we can’t provide the Service you signed up for.

Your consent

Location while the app is open, background location while recording a walk, live location sharing with friends, photo access, and push notifications. You give each one separately, and you can withdraw any of them at any time in your phone’s settings or in the app — without losing your account.

Our legitimate interests

Keeping the community safe (moderation, reports, blocking, rate limits), preventing abuse and fraud, fixing crashes, and improving the Service. We balance these against your rights, and we don’t use them for advertising or profiling.

Legal obligation

Responding to lawful requests, and keeping records we are required to keep.

Vital interests

Rarely — where sharing is needed to prevent a serious risk to someone’s life or safety.

• Edit your profile and dog details at any time in the app.
• Choose who sees your profile and trails: everyone, connections or only you (Settings → Preferences).
• Choose approximate or exact location, and turn live location off at any time.
• Hide when you’re online (Settings → Friends).
• Keep challenge progress private, and each dog hidden from playdate matching, unless you opt in.
• Block people and manage your block list (Settings → Blocked accounts).
• Turn off location, photo and notification access in your phone’s settings.

Wherever you live, you may ask us to access, correct, download or delete your personal information, or object to how it is used. To ask for a copy of your data, or for anything you can’t do in the app, email Shane9020@icloud.com from your account’s email address. We confirm it’s you before acting and reply within 30 days (45 days for requests under California law, extendable once where the law allows). We never charge for this, and we never treat you differently for asking.

PackTales is the controller of your personal information. You have these rights under the GDPR and the UK GDPR:

• Access — a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Rectification — correct anything inaccurate or incomplete.
• Erasure — delete your account and personal information (see “Deleting your account”).
• Restriction — ask us to pause using your information while a dispute is sorted out.
• Portability — receive the information you gave us in a machine-readable form.
• Objection — object to uses based on our legitimate interests.
• Withdraw consent — at any time, for anything you consented to, without affecting what we did before you withdrew it.

Use Shane9020@icloud.com for any of these. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority — in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office — though we’d appreciate the chance to put it right first.

We don’t make decisions about you by automated means that produce legal or similarly significant effects, and we don’t profile you for advertising.

Under the CCPA, as amended by the CPRA, these are the categories of personal information we have collected in the last 12 months, and who we disclose each to. We disclose them only to the service providers listed under “Services we rely on”, and to other members where you chose to share.

We do not sell or share your personal information, as those terms are defined by the CCPA, and we have not done so in the last 12 months. We do not sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16. We do not use or disclose your information for cross-context behavioural advertising.

Sensitive personal information. Precise geolocation is treated as sensitive under the CPRA. We use it only to provide the features you asked for — recording your walk, showing places near you, and sharing your position with friends when you turn that on. We never use it to infer characteristics about you. Because we use it only for these permitted purposes, the right to limit its use does not apply; you can still turn location off in your phone’s settings at any time.

You have the right to know, delete, correct and opt out, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising them. Exercise any of them in the app, or by emailing Shane9020@icloud.com. An authorised agent may make a request for you with your written permission and proof of their authority; we may still contact you to confirm it.

You can delete your account at any time in the app, under Settings → Danger zone → Delete Account, or from this website if you don’t have the app installed. You confirm twice (with your password, or by typing DELETE if you use Google or Apple sign-in). Deletion is permanent and removes:

• your profile, contact details, settings and survey answers
• your dogs and their care details, reminders and walk logs (dogs shared with you stay with their primary owner)
• your trails, adventures, memories, comments, likes, reviews, ratings and votes
• your pack meetups, join requests, invites, playdates and chat messages
• your friends, friend requests, blocks, live location and lost dog alerts with their threads
• the photos you uploaded

If some photos can’t be removed at that moment, your account is still deleted and we clear the remaining files. Reports you filed and reports about you may be kept without a link to your account, as described above. Trails, reviews, places and listings you published to the community stay on the map with your name and photo removed — the Terms of Use explain why. If you can’t sign in, email Shane9020@icloud.com and we’ll delete the account for you after confirming it’s yours.

PackTales is for adults. You must be 18 or older to create an account or use the app. We don’t knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn an account belongs to someone under 18, we remove it and its content. If you believe a child is using PackTales, tell us at Shane9020@icloud.com.

We protect your information with measures including:

• encrypted connections (HTTPS) between the app and our servers
• row-level security in our database, so each account can read only what it is allowed to see; signed-out visitors can read nothing
• private columns for contact and care details, and a private photo store with short-lived links
• secure sign-in with one-time codes for Google and Apple sign-in
• restricted, logged access to the moderation tools

No system is perfectly secure. Use a strong, unique password, and tell us at Shane9020@icloud.com if you think your account or our service has a security problem. If a breach affects your information, we’ll notify you as the law requires.

Our service providers may store and process information in the United States and other countries whose data protection laws may differ from yours. We rely on their contractual and technical safeguards to protect it.

If we change this policy, we’ll update the effective date and version at the top of this page. For significant changes, we’ll tell you in the app or by email before they take effect. The current version took effect on September 19, 2026.

Questions or requests about privacy: Shane9020@icloud.com. See also our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines.