Privacy policy

Last updated: May 21, 2026

1. Who we are

HelpPet is a platform that connects people with rescue animal shelters and helps reunite lost pets with their families. This policy describes how we handle the information we receive when you use help-pet.com or our mobile app.

2. Information we collect

• From shelters that register: contact person name, email, WhatsApp/phone, shelter details (name, country, city, reference address, story, needs, social media links, photos you voluntarily upload).
• Location: when you opt to use the Google Maps picker in the form, we store the exact coordinates (lat/lng) you select. This lets us show the shelter on a public map.
• From app users: data needed to create your account and use app features (lost pets, sightings, comments, posts).
• Donations: if you donate through the platform, we record the amount, date and optional message. Your identity may be shown or remain anonymous depending on your choice in the app.
• Technical info: browser type, IP address (used only for rate limiting and spam prevention, not stored permanently), and basic usage data to improve the experience.

3. How we use your information

We use the data only to: (a) manually verify the shelter's authenticity before publishing, (b) contact you about your application or case, (c) display your public content (shelter profile, lost pet cases, adoptions) on the app and website, (d) facilitate contact between donors and case authors via external deep links (Yape, WhatsApp). HelpPet does NOT process, store, or receive payments — donations go directly from donor to case author, outside our servers. (e) improve the service through aggregated analytics. We do not sell or share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

4. Storage

Data is stored in Google Cloud Firestore (Firebase) and images in Google Cloud Storage, with access restricted to authorized HelpPet personnel. We use Resend for transactional emails and Vercel Analytics + Sentry for anonymized technical monitoring.

5. Public vs private data

Approved shelters are public by design: name, location, story, photos, social media, and contact (WhatsApp/phone) appear on the site so the community can support you. Your email is NOT public. Pending applications are not published until we approve them.

6. Your rights

You can request access, correction, or full deletion of your data by writing to hola@help-pet.com from the email you registered with. We delete within 30 days max.

7. Changes to this policy

If we make substantive changes we'll let registered shelters know via email and show a site-wide banner.

8. Device permissions (mobile app)

• Camera and gallery: only when you choose to upload a photo of your lost pet, medical case, abuse report, or shelter. The app does NOT access your camera in the background.
• Location: optional, to auto-detect your city and filter the feed by zone. You can deny it and type your city manually. We NEVER send your exact GPS to our servers except when you explicitly post a sighting or a shelter with explicit coordinates.
• Push notifications: to alert you about sightings of your pet, comments on your posts, donations received, and updates on cases you follow. You can disable them from system settings at any time.
• Phone calls: the app does not make calls; it only opens the system dialer with the other user's number when you tap «Call» on a post.

9. Ads and in-app purchases

HelpPet may show discreet ads via Google AdMob between feed posts. Users who pay for «Remove ads» (one-time, single purchase) stop seeing them. You may also pin your own post via an optional payment («pinned post»). These purchases are processed via Google Play Billing — HelpPet receives the net payment and does NOT store your card data.