Our Data Protection Policy
Apparent Group Limited (“we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share and protect your information when you use our mobile application, DogCare (the “App”).
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using the App, you agree to the data practices described in it. If you do not agree, please do not use the App.
1. Data Controller
Apparent Group Limited is the data controller responsible for your personal data. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us using the details in Section 13.
2. Information We Collect
A. Information you provide
- Account details: your name and email address, and a password (stored only as a hash on our servers) if you register with email, or the basic profile your Google or Apple sign-in shares with us.
- Dog profiles: your dog’s name, photo, breed, age, sex, weight and any goals, health topics or interests you choose in onboarding or settings.
- Photos: pictures you take or choose for the daily scan, health checks (eyes, teeth, skin, poop), care log entries and Story memories, and your profile picture.
- Voice: when you dictate a chat message, your phone’s own speech recognition service turns your voice into text. We receive the text, not the recording.
- Care records and notes: meals, potty, weight and medicine entries, reminders, training progress, and the notes you add to a scan or memory.
- Walks: while a walk you started is running, your phone’s precise location, used to draw the route and count time and distance. The saved route, time and distance are kept with your account. Location is not collected outside a walk.
- Chat messages: what you type or dictate in Talk, and the answers you receive.
- Support messages: information contained in your correspondence with us, including the reason you choose when you delete your account.
B. Device and usage data
- Device identifiers: a random per-install device ID and a push notification token, kept with your account so reminders reach the right phone, plus a device attestation token the App sends to prove requests come from a genuine copy of the App.
- Usage data: scan history, streaks, walk goals, notification preferences and similar activity inside the App that is needed to run its features, plus app usage events sent to Google Analytics for Firebase so we can see which features are used and fix problems.
- Log data: IP address, device model, operating system version and request logs our servers keep to keep the App reliable and secure.
- Advertising and attribution data: the App includes the Meta (Facebook) SDK, but advertising measurement is switched off in the current version. If we switch it on, the App sends install and purchase events with your device model and operating system version to our servers, which pass them to Meta to measure our own advertising. On iPhone, advertising-ID use is switched on only if you allow tracking in the system prompt.
C. Permissions the App may ask for
- Camera: to photograph your dog for the daily scan and health checks.
- Photo library: to choose a photo, and to save cards and recaps if you ask it to.
- Microphone and speech recognition: to turn your voice into chat messages, only when you tap the microphone. Voice dictation uses your phone’s own speech recognition service.
- Notifications: for reminders, your daily plan and streak.
You control these in your device settings and can revoke any of them at any time.
3. How We Use Your Information
- Service delivery: to create your account, manage your dog profiles, generate daily scans and wellness insights, track walks, keep your history and sync it across sessions, and process subscriptions.
- Personalization: to tailor your daily plan, content and reminders to your dog.
- Improvement: to improve app performance and the quality of the experience.
- Communication: to send verification codes, security alerts, support replies and the reminders you switch on.
- Advertising measurement: to measure installs and purchases from our own advertising, as described in Section 2B.
- Compliance: to enforce our Terms of Service and comply with legal obligations.
4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), our legal basis for collecting and using your personal data depends on the context:
- Performance of a contract: we process your data to provide the App’s services as agreed in our Terms of Service.
- Legitimate interests: we process data for our legitimate interests, such as improving the App, measuring our advertising and ensuring security, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights.
- Consent: where we ask for it, such as for the camera, microphone, notifications or tracking permissions. You can withdraw consent at any time in your device settings.
- Legal obligation: we may process data to comply with applicable laws.
5. AI Analysis and How We Share Your Information
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only as needed to run the App:
- AI providers: when you run a scan, a health check or Talk, the text and images you submit are sent from our servers to our AI providers, Alibaba Qwen and DeepSeek, to generate the response. Please do not share sensitive personal information in AI conversations.
- Google Firebase / Google Cloud: account data, dog profiles, photos, scans, walks, care records, chat history, push notifications, usage analytics and backend hosting (Firestore, Authentication, Storage, Cloud Messaging, Analytics, App Check).
- Google Sign-In and Apple Sign-In: optional social login.
- ZeptoMail: sending verification codes and transactional emails.
- Adapty: managing and verifying your subscription status.
- Apple App Store and Google Play: subscription and purchase processing. We never receive your full card details.
- Meta: advertising and install attribution, only if switched on, as described in Section 2B.
- Business transfers and legal requirements: in connection with a merger, sale or acquisition of our business, or if required by law or to protect our rights or investigate fraud.
6. International Data Transfers
The App is operated by Apparent Group Limited, based in Hong Kong. Your information may be transferred to, stored and processed in Hong Kong or other countries where our servers or service providers are located, including the locations of the AI providers above.
If you are accessing the App from the EEA, please note that your data may be transferred outside the EEA. We take appropriate measures to ensure your data remains protected, such as relying on adequacy decisions or implementing Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission.
7. Data Retention
We keep your data while your account is active. Your dog profiles, photos, scans, walks, care records and chat history are kept until you delete them or delete your account. When you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal data, except where we must retain it for legal reasons.
8. Your Data Protection Rights
If you are a resident of the EEA, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of Access: request copies of your personal data.
- Right to Rectification: request correction of any information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Right to Erasure: request that we delete your personal data.
- Right to Restrict Processing: request that we restrict the processing of your personal data.
- Right to Object: object to our processing of your personal data.
- Right to Data Portability: request that we transfer the data we have collected to another organization, or to you.
You can update your profile, remove dog details, sign out or delete your account from inside the App. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@apparentgroup.co. We will respond to your request within one month.
9. Account and Data Deletion
You can delete your account and its data at any time from the App, or by emailing hello@apparentgroup.co. The steps, and exactly what is removed, are on our Delete your account page.
10. Security
We use administrative, technical and organizational safeguards to help protect your information. However, no mobile or cloud service can guarantee perfect security, so please keep your password private and use trusted devices.
11. Children’s Privacy
DogCare is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.
12. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the new version on this page, update the “Last Updated” date and, for material changes, notify you in the App.
13. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Apparent Group Limited
FLAT/RM 05-06, 18/F, HOLLYWOOD PLAZA
610 NATHAN ROAD, KL
Hong Kong
Email: hello@apparentgroup.co