Privacy Policy

About this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Pawstack ("Pawstack", "we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, discloses, stores, and protects personal information when you use our website, web application, public booking pages, software, and related services (collectively, the "Service").

Pawstack provides booking and administration software for pet grooming businesses. In this Privacy Policy, "Groomer" means a business or user that creates or manages a Pawstack workspace or public booking page, and "Customer" means a person who uses the Service to book with, communicate with, or manage profile or pet details for a Groomer.

By using the Service, you acknowledge that we collect and handle personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this Privacy Policy, you should not use the Service.

1. Interpretation and Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

• Account means a unique account created for you to access the Service or parts of the Service.
• Company means Pawstack.
• Country means New South Wales, Australia.
• Device means any computer, phone, tablet, or other device that can access the Service.
• Personal Data or personal information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
• Service Provider means a third party that processes information for us or helps us provide, secure, operate, bill for, support, or improve the Service.
• Usage Data means data collected automatically from your Device, browser, or interaction with the Service.
• You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the business or legal entity on behalf of which that individual accesses or uses the Service.

2. Personal Information We Collect

Account and contact information

We may collect your name, display name, email address, phone number, password or authentication credentials handled through Firebase Authentication, role information, timezone, and account settings.

Groomer business information

If you are a Groomer, we may collect business names, owner names, business email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, Google Place identifiers, address components, latitude and longitude for the business address, logos, public booking page settings, service menus, add-ons, prices, durations, availability settings, appointment rules, and onboarding or subscription status.

Customer and pet information

If you are a Customer, or if a Groomer enters information about you, we may collect customer profile details such as first name, last name, email address, phone number, groomer-scoped profile records, notes, and booking history.

We may also collect pet-related information linked to a Customer profile, such as pet name, breed, size, age, weight, coat, colour, pet photos, allergies, customer-visible pet notes, groomer-only pet notes, and whether a pet record is active.

Booking information

We collect information needed to create and manage appointments, including selected services and add-ons, appointment date and time, appointment duration, appointment status, booking totals, confirmation IDs, booking notes, and related availability records.

Billing information

For Groomer subscriptions, we collect and store subscription-related records such as Stripe customer IDs, Stripe subscription IDs, plan interval, currency, billing status, trial dates, current subscription period dates, cancellation status, invoice references, and webhook processing records. Payment card details and payment method data are handled by Stripe and are not stored directly by Pawstack.

Files and images

The Service may allow Groomers to upload business logos and pet photos. Pet photos are resized in the browser before upload where possible. Uploaded files are stored using Firebase Storage.

Usage Data and technical information

Usage Data may include your IP address, browser type, browser version, Device type, operating system, pages or screens viewed, dates and times of access, referring URLs, diagnostic data, authentication events, error information, and other technical information generated by your use of the Service or by our hosting and infrastructure providers.

Browser storage

The Service may use essential browser storage to keep you signed in, operate Firebase Authentication, preserve navigation state, and temporarily store the last booking confirmation ID in session storage. We do not currently use advertising cookies in the Pawstack app.

Support and communications

If you contact us, we may collect your name, email address, message contents, attachments, and any other information you choose to provide.

If we send or process emails through the Service, we may collect and process email addresses, sender and recipient details, message content, templates, booking or account details included in the message, delivery status, bounce and suppression data, spam complaint data, timestamps, and related email logs. If email tracking is enabled for a particular message, we may also process open, click, or similar engagement data.

3. How We Collect Personal Information

We collect personal information:

• directly from you when you create an account, complete onboarding, make a booking, upload files, configure a public booking page, use checkout, or contact us;
• from Groomers when they enter or manage Customer, pet, service, appointment, and note information;
• from Customers when they create accounts, save customer profiles, save pet profiles, or make bookings with a Groomer;
• automatically from your Device, browser, and interaction with the Service;
• from Service Providers such as Firebase, Google Maps Platform, Stripe, and Mailgun where needed to provide the Service; and
• from publicly available sources or third parties where lawful and relevant to the Service.

4. How We Use Personal Information

We may use personal information for the following purposes:

• to provide, operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Service;
• to create and manage Accounts for Groomers and Customers;
• to create, display, and manage Groomer workspaces and public booking pages;
• to create, update, and manage customer profiles, pet profiles, service menus, appointment availability, bookings, and booking confirmations;
• to process Groomer subscriptions, trials, billing status, checkout sessions, and billing portal access;
• to authenticate users, prevent unauthorised access, investigate suspicious activity, and enforce our Terms of Use;
• to provide customer support, respond to enquiries, and manage requests or complaints;
• to send transactional and service-related communications, including booking confirmations, booking updates, appointment reminders, cancellations, account, security, billing, and support messages;
• to send product updates or marketing communications where permitted by law, with the ability to opt out where required;
• to analyse usage trends, diagnose issues, test features, and improve the Service and user experience;
• to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and protect our rights, users, systems, and business; and
• to evaluate or conduct a merger, sale, financing, acquisition, restructure, or transfer of all or part of our business.

5. When We Share Personal Information

We may disclose personal information in the following situations:

• Between Groomers and Customers: booking, customer, and pet information may be made available to the relevant Groomer and Customer as needed to provide the booking workflow and manage appointments.
• With Service Providers: we may share information with providers that help us host, authenticate, store, secure, bill for, support, or improve the Service.
• With Stripe: Groomer subscription checkout, payment processing, invoices, billing portal access, fraud prevention, and payment compliance are handled through Stripe.
• With Google and Firebase: we use Firebase and Google Cloud services for authentication, database, storage, functions, hosting, and related infrastructure, and Google Maps Platform for address autocomplete and place details.
• With Mailgun: we use Mailgun as our email delivery provider to send, route, track delivery of, troubleshoot, and secure transactional and service-related emails, and any marketing emails where permitted by law.
• For legal reasons: we may disclose information where required by law, court order, regulator request, or valid legal process, or where we believe disclosure is necessary to protect rights, safety, security, or legal liability.
• For business transfers: we may share or transfer information in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, restructure, sale of assets, or similar business transaction.
• With your consent: we may disclose information for other purposes with your consent or at your direction.

We do not sell personal information for advertising purposes.

6. Groomer Responsibilities

Groomers may collect, enter, upload, view, use, and export personal information about Customers and their pets through Pawstack. Groomers are responsible for having the rights, permissions, notices, and lawful basis required to collect and use that information, and for handling it appropriately outside Pawstack.

If you are a Customer and have questions about how a Groomer uses your information in connection with their grooming business, appointment policies, communications, or records outside Pawstack, you should contact that Groomer directly.

7. Third-Party Services

The Service may use or link to third-party services, including Firebase, Google Cloud, Google Maps Platform, Stripe, Mailgun, hosting providers, and other operational tools. These third parties may collect and process information under their own privacy policies and terms.

We encourage you to review the privacy policies of third-party services you interact with, especially when using Stripe checkout, Google-powered address lookup features, or email features delivered through Mailgun.

8. Retention of Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to provide the Service, maintain accurate business and booking records, comply with legal and accounting obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, prevent fraud or abuse, and maintain backups and security logs.

Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period, except where it is needed for security, diagnostics, legal compliance, dispute resolution, or Service improvement. Backup copies may remain for a limited period after deletion from active systems.

9. Transfer of Personal Information

Pawstack is operated from Australia. Your information may be processed in Australia and in other countries where we or our Service Providers operate, including countries that may have data protection laws different from those in your jurisdiction.

We take reasonable steps designed to ensure personal information is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy when it is transferred or processed outside Australia.

10. Access, Correction, and Deletion

You may be able to access, update, or delete certain information directly through the Service, such as profile details, business details, service menu items, and pet records. You may also contact us to request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information we hold about you.

We may need to verify your identity before responding. We may refuse or limit a request where permitted or required by law, including where retention is needed for legal obligations, billing records, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, backup integrity, security, or the rights of other users connected to the same records.

If you are a Customer, some records may also be held or controlled by the Groomer you booked with. You may need to contact the relevant Groomer for requests about their own records or offline use of your information.

11. Legal Disclosure

We may disclose personal information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities, courts, regulators, or law enforcement.

We may also disclose personal information in good faith where necessary to:

• comply with a legal obligation;
• protect and defend the rights, property, or safety of Pawstack, users, Groomers, Customers, animals, or the public;
• prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing, fraud, abuse, security incidents, or unauthorised access;
• enforce our Terms of Use or other agreements; or
• protect against legal liability.

12. Security of Personal Information

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information, including Firebase security rules, authenticated access controls, restricted billing collections, provider security controls, and operational safeguards.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for ensuring that information you enter into Pawstack is appropriate to store in the Service.

13. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will take reasonable steps to delete it where required.

Groomer account users must be at least 18 years old. Customers under 18 should use the Service only with involvement and permission from a parent or guardian.

14. Marketing Communications

We may send marketing or product update emails where permitted by law. You can opt out of marketing communications by following the unsubscribe instructions in the message or contacting us. We may still send transactional, account, billing, security, and Service-related messages.

Service-related emails, such as booking confirmations, appointment reminders, cancellations, account notices, password reset emails, security messages, support replies, and billing notices, are not treated as marketing emails when they are limited to factual information about the Service or a booking. If a message includes marketing content, we will handle it as a marketing communication where required by law.

15. Links to Other Websites

The Service may contain links to websites or services not operated by us. If you click a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We are not responsible for the content, privacy policies, or practices of third-party websites or services.

16. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated Privacy Policy on this page and update the "Last updated" date above. Changes are effective when posted, unless we state otherwise.

You should review this Privacy Policy periodically. Where required by law or where changes are material, we may provide additional notice, such as by email or a prominent notice in the Service.