Privacy policy

How Dogfolk collects, uses, shares and protects personal information, and the choices and rights you have. Last updated October 2026.

Who we are

Dogfolk ("we", "us") runs dogfolk.co.uk, an independent UK online community for dog owners and a directory of dog businesses and dog-friendly places. We are the controller of the personal information described here. You can reach us through our contact form (choose "Privacy or data request").

Information we collect

Account information — your email address and a securely hashed password, or the basic details shared by Google if you sign in with Google. Used to create and secure your account.
Profile information — username, display name, and optionally a bio, location and profile photo.
Dog profiles — your dogs' names, photos, breed, sex, date of birth, location, bio and food notes, as you choose to add them.
Content you share — posts, photos, comments and likes.
Group participation — which groups you join.
Business information — if you add or claim a listing: business details, contact details you choose to publish, photos, your role at the business, claim messages and team invitations (including the invited person's email address).
Enquiries — the name, email address, business details and message you send through our Contact or Advertise forms.
Safety records — reports you make, people you block, and moderation decisions about content or accounts.
Technical information — limited information needed to run the service securely, such as server and security logs, and simple totals of listing views and website clicks (these totals are not linked to you).

What is public

Your username, display name, bio, location (if added), profile photo, dog profiles, posts, comments and approved business listings can be seen by anyone, including people who are not signed in. Group membership is visible only to signed-in members. Your email address, password, reports, blocks and enquiries are never shown publicly. Please think before sharing anything that could identify where you or your dog live.

How we use information and our lawful bases

To provide the service (accounts, profiles, posts, groups, directory listings and business tools) — necessary to perform our contract with you.
To keep the community safe (moderation, reports, blocks, preventing spam and abuse, securing accounts) — our legitimate interests in running a safe, trustworthy platform, and where relevant to comply with the law.
To reply to enquiries and manage advertising or business relationships — our legitimate interests, or steps taken at your request before entering into a contract.
To improve Dogfolk using aggregated, non-identifying statistics — our legitimate interests.
To meet legal obligations, for example responding to lawful requests from authorities.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for third-party advertising profiles.

Cookies and local storage

We use only what is needed to make Dogfolk work: your browser's storage keeps you signed in, remembers which business you're managing and remembers whether you signed in as a member or a business. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies. Our fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which means your browser connects to Google's servers when pages load.

Who we share information with

Service providers who host and run Dogfolk for us (cloud hosting, database, file storage, authentication and email delivery), under contracts that require them to protect it.
Other members and visitors, for the information you choose to make public.
Authorities or others where required by law or to protect someone's safety.

Some providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as UK adequacy regulations or approved contractual clauses.

How long we keep information

Account, profile, dog and content data — while your account is active. You can delete posts, comments, dogs and photos at any time.
When you ask us to delete your account, we delete or anonymise your personal information within 30 days, unless we need to keep a limited record for safety, legal or fraud-prevention reasons.
Reports and moderation records — for as long as needed to keep the community safe, normally up to two years.
Contact and advertising enquiries — normally up to two years after our last contact.

Your rights under UK GDPR

You have the right to access your information, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, and receive a copy in a portable format. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. To make a request, use our contact form. We will reply within one month. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

Age

Dogfolk is for people aged 16 and over. We do not knowingly collect information from younger children. If you believe a child under 16 has an account, please contact us and we will remove it.

Security

We use encryption in transit, hashed passwords and access rules that limit who can see or change data. No service is completely secure, so please use a strong, unique password.

Changes

We'll update this policy as Dogfolk grows and tell members about significant changes.

Launch draft — this policy has not yet been reviewed by a solicitor and is not legal advice.