Paw Map India ("Paw Map", "we", "us") helps feeders, volunteers, shelters, NGOs, veterinarians, animal ambulance services and legal professionals coordinate stray dog care across India. This policy explains what information the app collects, why, and how it's protected.
Who this app is for
Paw Map is intended for users aged 18 and above. We do not knowingly collect information from children, and the app is not directed at or marketed to minors.
Information we collect
- Account information: your name, email address, and password (or your Google account details if you sign in with Google) — used to create and secure your account.
- Location: for feeders, an approximate feeding-area location; for shelters and vets, the location of your shelter or clinic. Ambulance services and legal professionals are listed by city only — we do not save a map location for them. We also request your device's live location briefly to verify daily check-ins, to detect your area during onboarding, and, for ambulance services, to fill in your city (that location is not saved).
- Phone number: collected from shelters, vets, ambulance services and legal professionals so people can contact them through their public listing; from emergency reporters (optional); and from volunteers who sign up for a task. See "How we share information" below for exactly who sees each number.
- Activity you create: feeding check-ins, streaks, emergency reports and responses, support requests, volunteer task posts and signups, and listing details (services offered, areas of practice, coverage radius, dogs currently sheltering, and your Available/Busy or Accepting New Cases status).
- Photos: if you attach a photo to an emergency report, it is uploaded and shown on that report to app users who can see it, and is removed when the report is removed. Feeders who care for a large number of dogs may be asked for a one-time photo of their feeding area, which is stored privately and not shown to other users. We only use your camera when you choose to take one of these photos.
- Verification documents (optional): if you apply for the Verified badge, you submit documents such as a registration certificate, licence, Bar Council enrollment details or vehicle registration, along with your name and registered email, through a Google Form. See "Verification" below.
- Device and diagnostic information: basic technical data needed to keep the app running reliably.
How we use this information
To operate the core features of the app: showing feeding zones and listings on the community map and Directory, matching emergency reports with nearby shelters, vets and ambulance services, coordinating volunteer signups, and maintaining your streak and check-in history.
How we share information
We do not sell your information. Some information is shown publicly within the app because the app's purpose is a shared community map and directory; other information is shared only between specific people once both sides have taken an action. Specifically:
- Shown to everyone using the app: a feeder's approximate feeding zone and daily dog count (never your name or exact address); the public listing of a shelter, vet, ambulance service or legal professional — name, city, services or areas of practice, coverage, availability status, verification status and contact phone number, since a directory exists so people can reach them; and active emergency markers (type, note and any photo — not the reporter's identity).
- Hidden when unavailable: an ambulance service marked Busy, or a legal professional marked Not Accepting New Cases, is removed from the Directory until they switch back.
- Shared only between consenting parties: when a shelter, vet or ambulance service confirms they are responding to an emergency, their name and phone number are shown to the person who reported it. A volunteer's name and phone number are shared with a shelter only after the volunteer signs up for that shelter's specific task. An emergency reporter's phone number (if provided) is shared only with a shelter or vet who has confirmed they're responding to that report.
- Service providers: we use Supabase for authentication and data storage, and OpenStreetMap for map tiles. If you sign in with Google, Google processes your OAuth sign-in. Verification documents are collected through Google Forms and stored in Google Drive. These providers process data on our behalf and do not use it for their own purposes.
Verification
The Verified badge is optional. If you apply, we use your documents only to confirm that your organisation, clinic, service or practice is genuine, and we delete the uploaded documents once the review is complete. Only the resulting Verified badge stays on your listing. Submitting the form requires signing in to a Google account, because it accepts file uploads.
How we protect your information
Your session is stored on your device using hardware-backed encryption, not in plain text. Access to data in our database is controlled by row-level security policies, meaning accounts can only read or write the data they're actually permitted to. Verification documents are kept in a private folder that only we can access. We continue to review and tighten these protections as the app grows.
We're a small, independent team still actively hardening these protections. If you ever notice something that looks like a security or privacy issue, please tell us — see the Contact page.
Your choices
- You can update your feeding area, average dog count, and shelter, vet, ambulance or legal listing details from your Profile at any time (some fields, like your registered name and shelter location, are locked after registration to keep the map trustworthy, and location changes are limited to once every 30 days).
- Ambulance services and legal professionals can switch their Available or Accepting New Cases status on and off at any time to show or hide their listing.
- You can request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time — see our Account Deletion page.
Data retention
Emergency reports, including any attached photo, are automatically removed 24 hours after being marked resolved or reported, whichever comes first. Support requests expire after 7 days. Verification documents are deleted once your review is complete. Your profile, check-in history, and listing information are kept until you request deletion.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the app evolves. Continued use of the app after an update means you accept the revised policy. Meaningful changes will be reflected here with an updated date.
Paw Map India