PawCheck

by Canine Products

1. Who We Are

PawCheck is an AI-powered pet wellness screening application developed and operated by Canine Products, based in Mumbai, India. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data when you use the PawCheck app or visit pawcheck.in.

If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please contact us at support@pawcheck.in or reach our Grievance Officer (details in Section 15).

2. Data We Collect

We collect the minimum data necessary to operate PawCheck. The following table summarises what we collect, why, and how long we retain it.

What we do NOT collect

• We do not collect your email address unless you choose to provide it.
• We do not collect your full name, date of birth, or government ID.
• We do not track your location in the background or store location history.
• We do not access your contacts, camera roll, or microphone for any purpose other than scanning.

3. How We Use Your Data

• Provide the service — run AI health screening, display scan history, calculate health scores, and show nearby vets.
• Personalise results — your pet's species, breed, age, and weight are passed to the AI to improve screening accuracy.
• Send reminders — vaccination, deworming, and parasite prevention reminders via push notification (only if you grant permission).
• Show relevant products — condition-matched over-the-counter products in the marketplace. Affiliate commissions apply (disclosed in-app).
• Improve PawCheck AI — only if you have explicitly opted in via the "Help improve PawCheck AI" setting. Opted-in scan images are used to train and improve our on-device AI models. Images are anonymised before use and never shared with third parties.
• Comply with the law — consent records, grievance responses, and breach notifications as required under the DPDP Act 2023 and IT Rules 2021.

4. AI Processing — How Your Pet Photos Are Analysed

When you submit a pet photo for scanning, the image is transmitted over an encrypted connection to our backend server (Google Cloud Run, asia-south1 region, Mumbai). The image is then processed by one or both of the following:

• Google Gemini 2.5 Flash — a large multimodal AI model operated by Google LLC. Images are sent to Google's API and processed in accordance with Google AI Studio Terms of Service. Images submitted to Gemini are not used to train Google's models unless you have separately opted in to Google's data sharing policies.
• On-device TFLite model — a lightweight model that runs entirely on your device for certain scan types. No data leaves your device during on-device inference.

Scan results are generated by AI and carry an inherent uncertainty. The confidence score displayed with every result reflects this uncertainty. PawCheck's AI output is for awareness and triage purposes only.

5. Third-Party Services

PawCheck uses the following third-party services. Each has its own privacy policy, linked below.

For data shared with Google services, please refer to Google's Privacy Policy. For data stored in Supabase, it is hosted on AWS servers. Cross-border data transfers are subject to standard contractual clauses in compliance with applicable law.

6. Advertising and Consent (AdMob)

PawCheck displays advertisements via Google AdMob on the free tier. Ads are not shown on scan results marked as Urgent severity.

Before AdMob is initialised, PawCheck requests your consent in accordance with Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP) requirements. Users in India are not subject to GDPR, but PawCheck still obtains consent before showing personalised ads.

You can withdraw ad personalisation consent at any time in Settings → Privacy within the app.

7. Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary:

• Account data, pet data, scan data — retained until you delete your account.
• Consent records — retained for 7 years as required under the DPDP Act 2023.
• Anonymised analytics — retained for 26 months in line with Google Analytics defaults.
• Location data — not retained. Used in real time for vet locator only.

When you delete your account (Settings → Account → Delete account), all personal data including pet profiles, scan images, scan history, FCM tokens, and Firebase Auth records is permanently deleted. This process completes within 30 days.

8. Your Rights Under the DPDP Act 2023

As a data principal under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (India), you have the following rights:

• Right to access — you can view all your personal data within the app at any time (pet profiles, scan history, health records).
• Right to correction — you can edit your pet profiles and health records within the app.
• Right to erasure — you can permanently delete your account and all associated data via Settings → Account → Delete account.
• Right to withdraw consent — you can withdraw consent for AI training data use and push notifications within Settings → Privacy at any time.
• Right to grievance redressal — you may raise a complaint with our Grievance Officer (Section 15). We will acknowledge within 24 hours and resolve within 15 days.
• Right to nominate — you may nominate another individual to exercise your data rights in the event of your death or incapacity, as provided under the DPDP Act.

To exercise any right, contact us at grievance@pawcheck.in.

9. Children's Privacy

PawCheck is intended for users aged 18 and above. We do not knowingly collect personal data from individuals under 18 without verifiable parental or guardian consent, as required under the DPDP Act 2023.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 18 has used PawCheck without your consent, please contact grievance@pawcheck.in immediately so we can delete the relevant account and data.

10. AI Training Data — Optional Consent

We may ask you to voluntarily opt in to share anonymised scan images to help improve PawCheck's on-device AI models. This consent is:

• Entirely optional — you can use PawCheck fully without opting in.
• Explicitly requested — presented as an unchecked opt-in in the app settings.
• Withdrawable at any time — via Settings → Privacy → Help improve PawCheck AI.

Opted-in images are anonymised (EXIF metadata stripped, phone number not linked) before any use in model training. Images are never shared with or sold to third parties, and never used to train third-party AI models.

11. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data:

• All data transmission is encrypted using TLS 1.2 or higher.
• Scan images are stored in Supabase Storage with row-level security (RLS) — only you can access your images.
• Firebase Auth tokens are short-lived and renewed automatically.
• Sensitive credentials (API keys, database passwords) are never stored in the app or accessible to users.
• Our backend server is deployed on Google Cloud Run (asia-south1, Mumbai region).

In the event of a data breach, we will notify the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI) within 72 hours and affected users as soon as practicable, as required by the DPDP Act 2023.

12. Marketplace and Affiliate Links

PawCheck's marketplace shows over-the-counter pet health products. These are affiliate links — if you purchase a product via PawCheck, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. All affiliate and sponsored content is clearly labelled within the app.

We do not share your personal health data with product brands. Product recommendations are matched by condition type only (e.g., "eye health products" for eye scan results).

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the services we use, or legal requirements. When we make a material change, we will:

• Update the "Effective date" at the top of this page.
• Notify you via a prompt in the app on your next launch.
• Request fresh consent if the change affects how we use your personal data.

The consent version number is managed via Firebase Remote Config and incremented whenever re-consent is required.

14. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of India, including the Information Technology Act 2000, the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. Any disputes arising under this policy are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

15. Grievance Officer

16. Contact Us

For general privacy questions, data access requests, or to withdraw consent:

• Email: support@pawcheck.in
• Grievance: grievance@pawcheck.in
• Website: pawcheck.in

You may also raise a complaint with the Data Protection Board of India if you believe your rights under the DPDP Act 2023 have been violated.