Privacy

What the early-access list collects

When you join the Homeward Pet early-access list, the form stores your email address, your first name if you choose to give one, whether you agreed to receive product updates (with the date and the wording you agreed to), whether you are interested in testing the early MVP, and any optional answers you provide about your pets or what would make Homeward Pet useful to you. A one-way technical fingerprint of your network address is stored briefly to limit spam submissions.

Why it is collected

The list exists so I can tell you when Homeward Pet launches, invite volunteers to test the private MVP, and understand what early users need. Joining the list does not create an application account. No automated marketing emails are being sent at this stage, and the information is never sold or shared with advertisers.

Missing-pet sighting reports

A person reporting a sighting provides a general location or may choose to share their phone's current latitude and longitude, along with a short description. They may also provide the date and time seen, direction of travel, a photo, their name, and a phone number or email address. A blank name is shown to the pet's guardian as “Anonymous” and does not create a Homeward Pet account.

Phone coordinates are collected only after the reporter presses the location button. They are not shown on the public missing-pet page. They are available only to the pet's authorized household and Homeward Pet administrators so they can assess the report. A device location is reporter-supplied and may be inaccurate.

Homeward Pet uses required report details, a hidden anti-bot field, and a short-window rate limit to reduce automated reports. Rate limiting uses a one-way keyed fingerprint of the reporter's network address; the raw network address is not stored with the sighting.

How it is stored

Signups are stored in a private database table that cannot be read, searched, edited, or downloaded from the public website. Submissions are written by a protected server-side function only. Pet profiles created inside the application are separate and remain private to their owner while a pet is Safe at Home. Private sighting details, reporter contact information, and shared phone coordinates are protected by household access rules and are not part of the public lost-profile data response.

Removing your information

Email hello@homewardpet.app from the address you signed up with and ask to be removed. Your entry will be deleted. You can also ask what information is held about you.