🐾 Privacy Policy

Last updated: 7 October 2026 · Applies to the PetSignal iOS app

PetSignal is built local-first: the most private place for your data is your own phone, so that is where it lives and where the app reads and writes it. The app works fully offline and no account is required to use it.

Optional online features use our PetSignal VPS hosted in Malaysia. Before signing in or syncing community reports, the app asks you to agree to this storage location. You can continue using walks, weather and maps without agreeing. Hosted AI has a separate opt-in and sends selected context through the same server.

What is backed up to your account (only if you sign in)

  • Walk routes and history — including the route itself, which is precise location data.
  • Dog profiles and photos — as you entered them.

After you agree and sign in, your Apple account identifier and the email/name Apple shares are sent to our VPS in Malaysia to verify your sign-in and create your account. Dog profiles and walk history, including precise route coordinates, are backed up only when you are signed in. They are protected by account checks and are readable only by that account. Signing out leaves your on-device copy untouched. Deleting your account removes its VPS account and backups.

PetSignal AI (the hosted assistant)

Service status, 11 November 2026: Hosted AI is currently unavailable. The description below explains the data flow when that service is enabled; on-device answers and the bundled guide do not use this hosted service.

Most questions are answered on your phone — by Apple’s on-device model where the device supports it, and otherwise from the guide bundled with the app. Neither sends anything anywhere.

When those can’t answer, the question goes to PetSignal AI. That means it leaves your phone. Sent with it: your question, your dog’s name, size, vibe, breed, life stage, weight and any health notes you chose to record, and a short summary of how your dog is actually walked — how often over the last four weeks, a typical walk’s length and distance, their usual walking pace, roughly how much of a walk they spend stopped, your walking goal and today’s progress against it, and the current temperature and pavement reading. It goes to our PetSignal VPS in Malaysia and then to OpenRouter in the United States, which routes it to one of several model providers.

That summary is what lets the assistant answer “is she getting enough exercise?” with your dog’s own figures instead of a paragraph of general advice. It is counts and averages only: no coordinates, no routes, no place or suburb names, no dates, and no times of day. We do not send your name, your account, your photos or your videos, and we do not keep the conversation.

The request carries an anonymous per-install identifier so the daily allowance can be counted. It is not your account and it is not linked to one, it is used only to count the allowance, and it is deleted after seven days. The same path writes the daily tip on the home screen, which is generated once a day without you asking — the card says whether the words came from PetSignal AI or from the bundled guide.

You can turn all of this off. Under Dogs → PetSignal AI, switching it off means nothing is sent for questions or the daily tip, and the guide on your phone answers instead.

What stays on your device (never uploaded)

  • Saved and smart places — the places your walks tend to end, kept only on your phone.
  • Park community drafts and media — drafts and attached media stay on your phone. This app version does not upload post photos or videos.
  • Reports and blocks — when you report a hazard, a lost & found listing or a Park post, or block another author, that flag is recorded only on your device (to hide the content for you immediately) and is never uploaded. Synced community content is separately reviewed by us within 24 hours of a report — see Support for how to reach us.

What is shared with the community (only when you post it)

  • Hazard reports (snake, tick, glass, plant sightings…): the pin location, category and note you write.
  • Lost & found reports: the details you enter, including a contact number if you choose to add one — its whole purpose is to be seen by nearby owners.
  • Dog-friendly places you add, with their amenity tags.

If you agree to VPS storage, hazard, lost & found and place reports you submit are synced to our VPS in Malaysia. They may contain the pin location, note and contact details you choose to add. In this release, newly synced reports remain pending and are not shown to other users until approved. Hazards expire according to their type and lost & found reports after 14 days. You can keep using the local app without enabling this sync.

Location

Location is used to show conditions where you are, find nearby off-leash areas, and record your walk. We ask only for “When In Use” permission and never for always-on background access; while a walk is actually recording, location continues in the background so the route isn’t broken when your screen locks, which iOS shows you with its status indicator. No other user is ever shown your precise location. If you are signed in, the recorded route is backed up to your own account as described above.

Weather

Conditions use Apple WeatherKit first. If Apple Weather is temporarily unavailable, PetSignal falls back to Open-Meteo. Weather requests contain approximate coordinates and no account identity. Open-Meteo data is provided under CC BY 4.0. PetSignal clearly labels its separate pavement-temperature estimate.

What we don’t do

  • No account is required. If you choose Sign in with Apple, we receive Apple’s private account identifier and the email/name you choose to share, solely for account functionality.
  • No tracking and no advertising SDKs.
  • No selling of your data, and no sharing of it for advertising. Account and report data is hosted by our VPS provider in Malaysia. OpenRouter receives AI request content only when you switch the assistant on and consent.
  • No analytics that identify you.

Deleting your data

Deleting the app deletes everything stored on your device — and, because that copy is the only one when you are signed out, it cannot be recovered. Optional accounts can be permanently deleted inside PetSignal under Dogs → Account; deleting the account also deletes the dogs and walks backed up to it. See data deletion.

Children

PetSignal is not directed at children under 16.

Contact

Privacy questions: support@petsignal.com.au

For privacy questions or requests, contact support@petsignal.com.au.