Privacy Policy
At KoaPet we look after your data the way you look after your pet. This document explains, plainly, what information we collect, why we need it, who we share it with and what you can do to control it.
1. Who is the controller
The controller of your data is KoaPet, based in Milan, Lombardy (Italy), with contact email support@koapet.app.
2. What data we collect and what permissions we ask for
Your account data
Your name, your email address and an internal account identifier. If you sign up with email and password, the password is stored encrypted: we cannot read it. To confirm the email is yours, we send you a verification message.
If you prefer to sign in with Google, Google gives us your name and your email. We don't see your Google password or access your contacts, your email or your files.
Your pets' data
The information you enter: name, species, breed, date of birth, color, weight, chip number, allergies, health history, vaccines, treatments, symptoms, visits, meal times, appointments and reminders, expenses, memories and any note or photo you add. Also the emergency phone number you put on their profile and the vets you mark as «trusted».
When you share a pet
You can invite other people to look after a pet with you. To do so you enter their email and we keep the invitation until they accept or decline it. Whoever accepts can see and edit everything about that pet (health, weights, schedule, expenses and memories) and can also see the name and email of the other people with access. What each person logs appears with their name, for example «Ana fed them».
The pet's owner can remove access at any time, and any guest can leave whenever they want. Your other pets are not shared: each one has its own list of people.
Camera
KoaPet uses the camera to take photos instantly, scan expense receipts and digitize health documents. It is only activated when you open the scanner or take a photo.
Reading the vaccination booklet happens on your iPhone: the image doesn't leave the device to be analyzed, and before saving anything we show you what we read so you can confirm it.
Photo library
KoaPet needs access to your photo library so you can personalize profiles, create memory albums and attach medical files. We also ask for permission to save to your device the images the app generates: missing-pet posters, collages and QR codes.
That access is used only on the files you select. We don't read your library in the background or access photos you haven't chosen.
A note about the profile's QR code: it contains your pet's emergency details (their name, breed and color, the phone number you entered, the chip and allergies). Anyone who scans it can read them, which is exactly what it's for. You decide where you stick it or who you send it to.
Location
KoaPet uses your location for two things: to give you the weather in your area with matching care tips, and to show you nearby vets on the emergency screen.
We ask for location only while you use the app («while using»). We never track you in the background.
We don't store your location in your account or build a history of where you've been. The coordinates are sent at the time of the request to the weather service or to the vet search, without your name or email, and that is the end of their use.
Vets and Google Maps
The vet search works with Google Maps. When you open it or search for a clinic by name, we send Google your position at that moment and the text you type, and Google returns the clinics, their opening hours, phone numbers, ratings and photos. That processing is also governed by the Google Privacy Policy.
If you save a clinic as «your vet», your account keeps what you confirm (name, phone and address) together with its position on the map, so you can call or go there even without a connection.
Receipts and expenses
If you use the Wallet's receipt scanner, the image of the receipt is sent to a Google artificial intelligence service to automatically extract the amount, the date and the description. The result is saved in your account as another expense, which you can correct or delete.
Notifications
If you allow it, we schedule alerts on your device (vaccines, medication, appointments, meal times). These reminders are generated on your iPhone.
To let you know what happens with a shared pet (a new invitation, a visit someone has logged), the app may store with your account a technical notification identifier for your iPhone. It is deleted when you sign out or delete your account.
What we don't do
KoaPet has no advertising, includes no analytics or tracking tools and doesn't access your contacts. This website doesn't use advertising cookies either; it only loads fonts from Google Fonts and, on your account page, what is needed to verify your email or change your password.
If you write to us from the website
The contact form on koapet.app sends us the name, email and message you write, and we only use them to reply to you.
3. What we use your data for
- Creating and maintaining your account and syncing your data across devices.
- Showing you your pets' information, their history and their memories.
- Sharing a pet with the people you invite.
- Sending you the reminders you set up yourself.
- Giving you care tips adapted to your animal and to the weather in your area.
- Finding nearby vets when you ask.
- Automatically extracting the data from the receipts you scan.
- Sending you the essential account emails: verification and password change.
- Replying when you write to us and preventing abuse of the service.
We don't sell your data. We don't give it to advertisers or use it to build advertising profiles. We don't send you marketing emails either.
4. Legal basis
We process your data to perform the contract you accept when you use the app (providing the service) and on the basis of your consent where the app asks for your express permission (location, camera, photo library, notifications). We rely on our legitimate interest to keep the service secure, for example by limiting how many verification emails can be requested in a row, and on compliance with legal obligations when an authority requires it.
5. Who we share data with
Only with the technical providers essential for the app to work. Some work on our behalf and follow our instructions (Firebase, Brevo, Web3Forms, Netlify); others provide their own service under their own policies (Apple, Google Maps, Open-Meteo).
| Provider | What for | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase | Accounts, database and photo storage | Name, email, pet data, images |
| Google (sign-in) | Signing in with your Google account, if you choose that option | Knows that you use KoaPet with that account |
| Google (generative AI) | Automatic reading of receipts | The image of the receipt you scan |
| Google Maps Platform | Searching for vets and their details | Your position at the time of the search and the search text |
| Brevo | Sending verification and password change emails | Your name and your email |
| Open-Meteo | Checking the weather in your area | The coordinates of the request, without identifying you |
| Apple | Your city's name next to the weather | The coordinates of the request |
| Web3Forms | This website's contact form | The name, email and message you write |
| Netlify | Hosting this website | The technical data of any web visit (IP address, browser) |
Apart from this list, your data is only seen by the people you decide to share a pet with.
6. Where it is stored and international transfers
The data is hosted on Google Firebase infrastructure. Some of these providers may store or process information on servers located outside the European Economic Area, mainly in the United States. Those transfers are covered by the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework or by the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission.
7. How long we keep it
For as long as your account is active. When you delete your account from the app, we delete your profile, your pets, their photos and your invitations at that very moment; any technical copies that may remain in our providers' systems disappear within a maximum of 30 days.
One logical exception: if you shared a pet you owned, it is not deleted. It passes to another of the people who already had access, and you are no longer listed among them. If you'd rather it disappear completely, delete the pet before deleting your account.
8. Your rights
At any time and free of charge, you can:
- Access the data we hold about you.
- Rectify any that is inaccurate.
- Erase your account and all its content.
- Port your data to another service in a readable format.
- Object to or restrict certain processing.
- Withdraw your consent for camera, photo library, location or notifications from your iPhone Settings.
You can delete your account yourself from the app, in Your account › Delete account, or by writing to us at support@koapet.app. For any other request, write to that same address: we will reply within a maximum of 30 days. If you believe we haven't handled your request properly, you can lodge a complaint with the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (the Italian data protection authority) or with the authority of your country of residence.
9. Minors
KoaPet is not aimed at children under 14. We don't knowingly collect data from children under that age. If we detect that an account has been created this way, we will delete it.
10. Security
All communication between the app and our servers is encrypted (HTTPS/TLS). Passwords are stored encrypted, we ask you to verify your email before using the account, and access to data is restricted by security rules: a pet's information can only be read by its owner and the people they have invited. No system is infallible, but we take this very seriously.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top and, if the change is significant, we will let you know in the app before it takes effect.
12. Contact
Questions about your data? Write to us at support@koapet.app. Real people answer, not robots.