Draft. This document is a working draft and has not been reviewed by a Canadian lawyer. Petolina is reviewing it. By using the platform, you accept these terms in their current form; the final version will be linked here.

Privacy Policy

Last updated June 2026 · Effective for all users of petolina.com

In plain language: Petolina collects only what we need to run a Canadian neighbourhood pet platform. We don't sell your data. We never share veterinary records. You can download all your data or delete your account at any time.

1. About this policy

Petolina collects, uses, and discloses personal information in accordance with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act ("PIPEDA") and applicable provincial privacy laws.

2. What we collect

We collect three categories of information:

  • Account information you provide: name, username, email, phone, bio, avatar, password (stored hashed with bcrypt).
  • Service information you create: posts, comments, marketplace listings, sitter and vet profiles, reviews, questions, answers, lost-pet sightings, bookings, photos, and location data you choose to share.
  • Operational information: IP address, user agent, basic usage analytics, and rate-limit counters. We use Vercel Analytics, which is privacy-focused and does not set cookies.

3. Why we collect it

We collect personal information to (a) operate Petolina, (b) verify you and protect the platform from abuse, (c) connect pet owners with sitters and vets, (d) process payments, (e) communicate with you about the service, and (f) comply with Canadian law.

4. Sensitive information

We don't collect government IDs or financial account numbers directly. Payment information (credit card, bank account) is collected by our payment processor, Stripe, and never stored on our servers. Vet licence documents are stored privately on Cloudflare R2 and accessed only by Petolina admins for verification purposes.

5. Who we share it with

We share personal information only with:

  • Service providers who help us operate the platform: Vercel (hosting), Neon (database), Cloudflare (storage), Stripe (payments), Resend (email), Twilio (SMS), Google Maps (geocoding), Daily.co (video consultations).
  • Other users when you choose to: public profiles, public posts, reviews, and marketplace listings are visible to others.
  • Lawful authorities when required by a valid Canadian court order, subpoena, or other legal process.

We do not sell or rent personal information to advertisers or data brokers.

6. Where we store it

Personal information is stored on servers operated by Vercel and Neon in Canadian and U.S. data centres. By using Petolina you consent to cross-border transfer of your personal information for processing.

7. How long we keep it

  • Active account data: kept while your account is active.
  • Booking records: kept for 7 years after the booking date for tax and dispute purposes.
  • Deleted account data: removed from active systems within 30 days, and purged from backups within 90 days.
  • Aggregate, non-identifying statistics (e.g., total bookings per month) may be kept indefinitely.

8. Your rights

Under PIPEDA you have the right to:

  • Access a copy of your personal information. Use the export tool in your profile or email hello@petolina.com.
  • Correct inaccurate information by editing your profile or contacting us.
  • Delete your account and associated personal information. Use the delete tool in your profile or email us.
  • Withdraw consent for non-essential processing (notifications) in your profile settings.
  • File a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca).

9. Cookies

We use only cookies that are strictly necessary to operate the Service, such as the authentication session cookie. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

10. Children

Petolina is not directed at people under 18. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Security

We use encryption in transit (HTTPS) and at rest, bcrypt password hashing, two-factor login codes, rate limiting on sensitive endpoints, and access controls for administrators. No system is perfectly secure; if we ever discover a breach involving your personal information we will notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner without undue delay.

12. Changes

We may update this policy. Material changes will be communicated by email or in-product banner before they take effect.

13. Contact

Privacy questions, access requests, deletion requests: email hello@petolina.com.