The short version
Paw Grove is a pet care app. It stores the pets you add and the care you log so it can show you a health score, feeding targets and reminders. The app is free and shows ads from Google AdMob. Google’s ad SDK collects device data to serve those ads (see Advertising), but nothing you record about your pets is ever given to Google or any advertiser, and your data is never sold.
Who we are
Paw Grove (“we”, “us”) provides the Paw Grove mobile app. For any privacy question, or to exercise any right described below, contact babuparaman@gmail.com.
What we collect
Everything below is information you enter yourself. Apart from the ad SDK described under Advertising, nothing is collected in the background.
| Category | What it includes | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Name, email address, and optionally a phone number, location and avatar image URL. Your password is stored only as a bcrypt hash, never in readable form. | To create your account, sign you in and let you recover access. |
| Pet profiles | Name, species, breed, sex, date of birth, weight, height, neutered status, body condition, activity level and any photo you attach. | To identify each pet and calculate its calorie target and health score. |
| Care records | Vaccinations, deworming, treatments and check-ups with their dates, vet appointments, meals and water, walks, play and weigh-ins. | To show reminders, history and the health score. |
| Optional financial details | Expenses you record, and insurance policy details (provider, policy number, renewal date, limits) if you choose to add them. | Only to display them back to you. These are never used for anything else. |
| Reviews | Ratings and text you submit about vets. | To show your review in the app. |
What we do not collect
- No analytics SDKs. The only third-party SDK in the app is Google’s ad SDK, described below.
- No device location. The optional “location” on your profile is a free-text field you type, not a GPS reading.
- No contacts, photos library, microphone or camera access beyond images you explicitly attach.
- We never receive your advertising identifier ourselves. Only Google’s ad SDK reads it, as described below.
Advertising
Paw Grove shows ads from Google AdMob, provided by Google LLC. Ads appear at the end of some screens and occasionally full-screen after you finish logging something. They never appear inside forms, sign-in or medical records. Ads are limited to content rated suitable for general audiences.
What Google’s ad SDK collects
To choose, show and measure ads, and to prevent ad fraud, the Google Mobile Ads SDK in the app collects and sends to Google:
- your device’s advertising ID (Android Advertising ID, or the iOS IDFA if you allow tracking);
- your IP address, from which an approximate location may be inferred;
- device and app information, such as device model, operating system version, language and app version;
- ad interactions, such as which ads were shown and tapped, and crash and performance diagnostics of the SDK.
Google processes this under its own privacy policy. See How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and the Google Privacy Policy. Your name, email, pets and care records are never shared with Google or any advertiser.
Your choices
- Consent in the UK, EEA and Switzerland. The app asks for your consent through Google’s consent form before personalised ads are shown. You can change your choice at any time under More → Ad privacy choices.
- Reset or delete your advertising ID. On Android, go to Settings → Privacy → Ads (or Settings → Google → Ads) and reset or delete your advertising ID. Ads will then no longer be personalised.
- iPhone. If you decline the tracking prompt, the app never reads your IDFA.
If you decline personalised ads you may still see non-personalised ads, which are chosen from context such as the app itself and your approximate location.
Notifications
Reminders for vaccinations, treatments and feeding are scheduled locally on your device. No push notification tokens are sent to us and no reminder content leaves your phone. Declining the notification permission disables reminders and nothing else.
Where your data is stored
Account and care data is stored in a PostgreSQL database on a server we operate in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure's India South (Hyderabad) region, in India. Database backups are kept in Oracle Cloud Object Storage in the same region. If you use the app from outside India, your data is transferred there. All traffic between the app and our servers uses HTTPS.
Your sign-in tokens are stored on your own device so you stay signed in. They are removed when you sign out.
Who we share it with
We do not sell your data. Your account and pet data is disclosed only to:
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, which provides the server and backup storage the service runs on.
- Our email delivery provider, which receives your email address and the message only when we send you an account email.
- Law enforcement or regulators, where we are legally required to do so.
Separately, Google receives the device and ad data listed under Advertising directly from its SDK in the app. That data does not pass through our servers.
Email is used only for account matters such as password resets — never for marketing.
How long we keep it
We keep your data for as long as your account exists. When you delete your account, your profile, pets and all associated care records are removed from our production database. Encrypted backups may retain a copy for up to 90 days, after which they expire.
Your rights
You can, at any time:
- Access and correct your information — profile details are editable in the app under More → Account settings, and every pet and record can be edited or removed where it appears.
- Delete your account and data — immediately, in the app, under More → Account settings, or by email. See Delete your account.
- Request a copy of your data by emailing us.
- Object or complain — if you are in the UK, EU or another region with data protection law, you may also complain to your local supervisory authority.
We respond to requests within 30 days.
Security
Passwords are hashed with bcrypt and never stored or logged in readable form. Sessions use signed, expiring tokens. Traffic is encrypted in transit with HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure, but we do not store payment card details at all, which removes an entire category of risk.
Children
Paw Grove is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has given us data, email us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page, and for significant changes we will notify you in the app.
Contact
Questions, requests or complaints: babuparaman@gmail.com.