Privacy Policy

Last updated 2026-08-14

Paw Watch ("we," "our," or "the app") is published by Cerminara Consulting LLC, a Virginia-based independent consulting practice. This policy explains what information Paw Watch collects, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. We designed Paw Watch to collect the minimum data needed to make dog-walking safer — and nothing else.

What we collect

Account information

When you sign in, we receive your name and email from your sign-in provider — either Apple (Sign in with Apple) or Google (Sign in with Google). We use your display name to attribute reports to you and to greet you in the app. We do not receive your Apple ID password or your Google password.

Location data

With your permission, Paw Watch uses your device's location to:

Verify your neighborhood. On first launch, we use your location once to confirm you live in the area you say you do. We do not store this location on your profile.
Tag the reports you submit. When you tap "Report a hazard," we attach your current latitude and longitude to the report so other walkers can see where it happened.
Show nearby hazards on the map. We use your location to fetch hazards within walking distance.
Track walks. If you start a walk, we record GPS points at regular intervals so you can review the route and distance afterward. Walks are stored in our database while your account is active, are visible only to you, and are deleted within 30 days of your account being deleted. You can end a walk at any time, and you can delete an individual walk from the Profile tab.
Send you alerts. If you've set a home radius, we compare new reports to your saved location and notify you when a hazard appears within your radius.

You can disable location at any time in iOS Settings. Paw Watch will continue to work for any features that don't require it.

Push notification tokens

If you grant notification permission, we receive a token from Apple/Google that lets us send you push notifications. We store this token on your profile and delete it when you sign out.

Photos (v1.0 ships without photo upload)

The current version of Paw Watch does not let you upload photos of hazards. The information we collect is limited to text descriptions, categories, and severity levels. A future version may add photo upload — if so, we'll update this policy before shipping.

Crash and performance data

We do not currently use a third-party crash reporter. If we add one (e.g., Sentry, Crashlytics), we'll update this policy and ask for your consent again.

What we don't collect

Your contacts list
Your photos or camera (v1.0 does not access either)
Your advertising identifier (IDFA)
Your purchase history
Your browsing history outside the app
Your microphone or audio

How we use your data

We use the data above to:

Show you hazards reported by other walkers in your area
Attribute reports and ratings to their authors
Send you push notifications when you have alerts enabled
Track your walks if you choose to use the walk feature
Improve the app's reliability and fix bugs

We do not use your data for advertising. We do not sell your data to third parties. We do not use your location history to build a profile of you.

Third-party services

Paw Watch relies on the following third-party services to operate. Each has its own privacy policy:

Supabase (backend): Stores your account, profile, reports, walk history, and notification tokens. Supabase's privacy policy: supabase.com/privacy.
Google Maps: Shows the map view and converts addresses to coordinates. Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy.
Apple (Sign in with Apple, Push): Handles authentication and push delivery on iOS. Apple's privacy policy: apple.com/legal/privacy.
Google (Sign in with Google): Handles authentication when you choose to sign in with Google. Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy.
Expo (push notifications): Routes push notifications from our backend to Apple/Google. Expo's privacy policy: expo.dev/privacy.

User-generated content and moderation

Hazard reports are user-generated content. To keep the map a safe and useful place to walk, Paw Watch provides:

Flag any report as offensive. Open any report and tap "Report this content." Choose a category (harassment, hate speech, off-topic, impersonation, or other) and add an optional note. Flagged reports are reviewed by a moderator within 24 hours.
Block another user. Open any report and tap "Block this user" at the bottom. You will not see that user's reports on the map or in any feed. You can unblock from Profile → Blocked users at any time.
Automated moderation on submission. Before a new report is shown to anyone, its text is checked by an automated moderation service. The service receives only the report text — never your location, account, or device information. Reports flagged by the service are hidden from public view until a moderator reviews them.

If a report you submit is removed after review, you can appeal the decision by emailing support@paw-watch.app. We will respond within five business days.

The full operational runbook — including how the automated moderation works, the 24-hour takedown SLA, and the appeal process — is published at github.com/cerminaraconsulting/pawwatch/docs/ugc-moderation-runbook.md. We make this public so the moderation behavior is auditable.

We do not use your reports, your reading history, or any other user-generated content to train AI models or to build advertising profiles. Paw Watch is published by a small independent consulting practice, not an ad network.

Children's privacy

Paw Watch is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us and we will delete it.

Your rights

Access, correction, and deletion

You can:

Update your profile (name, home location, alert radius) at any time in the Profile tab.
Delete your reports by tapping a report you submitted and selecting "Delete."
Delete your account from inside the app at any time: open the Profile tab, tap Account, then tap Delete account at the bottom. You'll be asked to type the word "delete" to confirm. Your profile, reports, walks, pets, alert history, and notification tokens are removed immediately. If you no longer have access to the app, you can also email privacy@paw-watch.app and we will delete your account within 30 days.
Export your data by contacting us at privacy@paw-watch.app. We'll send you a JSON archive of your account within 30 days.

California residents (CCPA / CPRA)

We honor the rights granted by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA / CPRA) — to know what personal information we collect, to delete it, to correct it, and to limit the use of any sensitive personal information — for every user regardless of residency. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. To exercise these rights, contact privacy@paw-watch.app.

European Union and United Kingdom (GDPR)

Paw Watch is not currently available to residents of the European Union, the United Kingdom, or other jurisdictions outside the United States. If you are in one of those jurisdictions, please do not create an account. The Apple App Store availability setting on this app is "United States only," and the Terms of Service require U.S. residency. Should we expand availability to additional jurisdictions in the future, this section will be updated with the applicable privacy-law disclosures (including, where required, a named EU Article 27 representative and an international-data-transfer mechanism).

Data retention

Active reports: 24 hours (low severity), 72 hours (medium), or 7 days (high), then auto-expired.
Walk history: retained on your account until you delete it or delete your account.
Account profile: retained until you delete your account.
Push notification tokens: deleted when you sign out or delete your account.

Security

We use TLS for all data in transit. Data at rest is stored in Supabase's encrypted Postgres database. We follow industry practices for secrets management and access control. That said, no system is perfectly secure — if you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy in a material way, we'll notify you through the app and update the "last updated" date above. If the changes are significant (e.g., a new category of data collection), we'll ask for your consent again.

Contact

Paw Watch is published by Cerminara Consulting LLC.

Email: privacy@paw-watch.app
Registered agent (legal address of record): Cerminara Consulting LLC
c/o Northwest Registered Agent LLC
8401 Mayland Dr, STE 4
Henrico, VA 23294
United States
Mailing address: Cerminara Consulting LLC
Attn: Paw Watch Privacy
PO Box 23
Studley, VA 23162-9997
United States