Privacy Policy

Locate My Pet (“we”, “us”) is operated by Greater Western Sydney Lost & Roaming Pet Capture Services (GWSLRPCS), based in Greater Western Sydney, NSW, Australia. We provide a community platform for reporting lost pets and sightings to help reunite pets with their families.

Locate My Pet is a global platform used by pet owners and community members around the world. Because we offer our services to users in the European Union and elsewhere outside Australia, this Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal data in accordance with both the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation 2016/679) and the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (including the Australian Privacy Principles). Where you are an EU/UK resident, the GDPR applies to your data; where you are an Australian resident, the Australian Privacy Act applies. In all cases, we apply the same high standard of protection described below.

When you use Locate My Pet, we may collect:

• Account data: name, email address, and password (when you register).
• Contact details you provide: phone number and email included in a lost pet report or sighting, so community members and we can reach you.
• Pet & sighting information: pet details, location, photos, and descriptions you submit.
• Usage data: anonymised analytics about how you use the app (only collected with your consent — see Section 5).
• Technical data: IP address and device information processed to deliver the service and ensure security.
• Payments: Locate My Pet currently has no subscription or paid-listing feature and does not collect or process payment-card data through the Platform.

Under GDPR Article 6, we process your data on the following legal bases:

• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): when you voluntarily submit a lost pet report or sighting, and when you consent to analytics cookies.
• Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)): to provide the service you requested (e.g. listing your lost pet).
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): to operate, secure, and improve the platform, and to facilitate pet reunions — the core purpose of the app.
• Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)): where we are required to retain data by law.

• To display lost pet listings and sightings so the community can help reunite pets.
• To notify pet owners when a sighting of their pet is reported.
• To provide your dashboard with updates on your reported pets.
• To maintain the security and integrity of the platform.
• To improve the service (only with your consent for analytics).

We use two categories of cookies/trackers:

• Essential: required for the app to function (e.g. keeping you logged in). These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics: help us understand usage and improve the app. These are only activated after you give consent via the cookie banner.

You can change your cookie preferences or withdraw consent at any time by clearing your browser storage and revisiting the banner.

We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described above:

• Active lost pet listings and sightings are retained while the case is open.
• When a pet is marked as reunited or the report is deleted, associated data is removed or anonymised.
• Account data is retained until you delete your account via the “Delete account” option in your dashboard.

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access (Art. 15): request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification (Art. 16): correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure (Art. 17): request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”).
• Right to restrict processing (Art. 18): limit how we use your data.
• Right to data portability (Art. 20): receive your data in a structured format.
• Right to object (Art. 21): object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Right to withdraw consent (Art. 7(3)): withdraw consent at any time without affecting prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 10.

You can delete your account and associated data at any time from your dashboard using the “Delete account” button. You can also remove individual lost pet listings from your dashboard.

For data removal requests, contact us using the details below.

We take the security of your personal data seriously:

• Passwords are never visible to anyone — including administrators. Your password is cryptographically hashed before it is stored. No app administrator, staff member, or support agent can view, retrieve, or recover your password in plain text.
• Admin accounts can only manage your account role (e.g. user vs. admin) and basic profile fields (name and email). They have no access to your password or authentication credentials.
• All authentication is handled through a secure, industry-standard backend with encrypted token-based sessions.
• Data is transmitted over encrypted (HTTPS) connections.
• Access to administrative tools is restricted to authorised personnel only.

If you ever forget your password, use the “Forgot password” page to securely reset it — this does not reveal your old password, because we never store it in a readable form.

If you have questions about this policy or wish to exercise your data rights, contact us via the Contact page.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. A list of EU supervisory authorities is available on the European Data Protection Board website.