Privacy Policy

BarkFind is intended for dog owners aged 18 and over in the United Kingdom. The app is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16.

We only collect what we need to run BarkFind. Specifically:

You can use BarkFind without an account. When you open the app without signing in, we create an anonymous session so the map, search and place pages work straight away. It is a random identifier, not your name or email. It is held on your device and against a record on our servers. Your searches and basic usage are recorded against it; nothing that needs an account, such as reviews, saved places or a dog profile, is created for a guest. If you sign in or create an account later, the guest session ends and your activity from then on is held against your account.

• Account information, your name and email address when you create an account or contact support. Authentication is handled through our backend provider; if you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive the basic identifiers you authorise.
• Location, with your permission, your device's precise location, used to show dog-friendly places near you and to power distance-based search. Location is optional: the map still works without it, and you can find any town using search. You can turn location access off at any time in your device settings.
• Content you create, reviews, ratings, photos you upload, your dog's profile (name, breed, size, temperament and similar details), saved favourites, and messages you send us through support.
• Search activity, the searches you run in the app, including questions you ask our AI assistant “Mylo”, so we can return results and improve the feature. When you are not signed in, these are recorded against your anonymous identifier rather than an account.
• Usage data, how you interact with the app (for example sessions, screens viewed and search counts) and basic device information, used for analytics and to keep the app working reliably. When you are not signed in, this is recorded against your anonymous identifier rather than an account.
• Purchase information, your subscription status and history. Payment itself is processed by Apple; we never see or store your card details.

We do not collect special category (sensitive) data, and we do not use any third-party advertising or cross-app tracking. BarkFind does not track you across other companies' apps or websites.

We use your data to: create and manage your account; show you nearby dog-friendly places and personalised recommendations; operate the Mylo AI assistant; publish and moderate community reviews; manage subscriptions and the free trial; provide customer support; keep the app secure and prevent abuse; and understand and improve how BarkFind is used.

We rely on: performance of a contract (to provide the app and your subscription); consent (for precise location access, which you can withdraw at any time); and our legitimate interests (to create and operate an anonymous session so the app works for you before you sign up, and to secure, maintain, analyse and improve the service, and to moderate community content), balanced against your rights.

We use trusted service providers ("processors") who handle data on our behalf under contract, only as needed to run BarkFind:

• Supabase, backend database, authentication and file storage.
• RevenueCat and Apple, subscription management and payment processing.
• Anthropic, powers the Mylo AI assistant; your search query (and limited dog-profile context) is processed to generate results. It is not used to train third-party models for advertising.
• Google Maps Platform, map display and place data.

Some of these providers process data outside the UK (including in the United States). Where they do, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum or equivalent mechanisms.

We do not sell your personal data. We may disclose data if required by law, or to protect our rights, users, or the public.

This section is about the barkfind.com website only, and is separate from the app data described above. The website uses Plausible, a cookieless analytics service hosted in the EU, to understand how the site is used. It records the page visited, the site you came from, your browser type and your country. It sets no cookies, does not identify you, and no email address or other personal data is sent to it.

Some place photos on our guides load directly from the venue's own website, which can see your device's IP address, as with any web page.

We keep your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymise your personal data within a reasonable period, except where we must retain limited records to meet legal, tax or fraud-prevention obligations. Community reviews may be retained in anonymised form.

If you have not signed in, we delete the anonymous session and its usage records after 30 days of inactivity, and any use of the app resets that period. Searches made during that session are kept without any identifier attached, so they can no longer be linked to you or your device. Opening the app again later simply starts a new anonymous session.

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our processing of your data, to data portability, and to withdraw consent. If you have an account, the app provides in-built tools to export and delete your data, and you can also email us at info@barkfind.com. If you have not signed in, deleting the app ends your anonymous session, the anonymous record is removed by the 30-day inactivity deletion described above, and you can email info@barkfind.com to have it removed sooner. You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

We protect your data with industry-standard measures including encryption in transit, access controls and row-level security on our database. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to keep your information safe.

BarkFind is not intended for children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the new version here and update the "Last updated" date; significant changes will be communicated in the app.