Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

PingPet is operated by PertLabs Inc., a Canadian company ("we", "us"). For account holders' own information, we decide how it is used. For pet owners' information, the grooming business decides what to collect and how to use it, and we process it on the business's instructions, as its service provider.

2. Information we collect

From account holders

• Sign-in details. If you sign in with Google, Google shares your name, email address and an account identifier with us. If you sign in with Facebook, Facebook shares your name, email address and an account identifier. If you create a password, we store it only as a one-way bcrypt hash, never as the password itself.
• Business details. Business name, phone number, country, the languages you serve customers in, timezone, working hours, services, and your booking page address.
• Team. Who belongs to your business and their role, and the email address of anyone you invite.
• Billing. Payments are handled by Stripe, and your card number goes directly to Stripe. We never see or store it. We keep your Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, plan, subscription status, billing email, and the records Stripe sends us about your subscription, which can include your billing name, email and address.
• Message templates you write for your reminder texts.

About pet owners, entered by a grooming business

• Name, email address, phone number and preferred language.
• Pets' names, species and notes, grooming history and notes, and appointments.
• Texting consent: whether the person has opted out of texts, when, and how.
• A copy of each text sent: the phone number, the message, and when it was sent.

From booking page visitors

• Your name and phone number, and your email address if you choose to give it.
• Your pet's name and, if you choose, whether it is a dog or a cat, its breed, its age and its size.
• An optional note for the groomer, and the appointment time and service you choose.
• If you arrived from a personal link in a text from the business, that link tells the business it is you, so you don't have to fill in your details.
• If your phone number is new to the business, PingPet won't send reminder texts to it until the business has confirmed with you that you want them.
• If you give an email address, PingPet uses it to send your booking confirmation and a reminder the day before, when it can't text you. These emails are about your booking only.

Collected automatically

• IP address. When a business signs up, we use the IP address to estimate its country, so we can show prices in the right currency. The lookup uses a database on our own server. The IP address isn't sent anywhere or stored, only the resulting country. The booking page also holds IP addresses briefly in memory to limit repeated booking attempts. They are never written to disk.
• Error logs. Our servers log errors to help us fix problems. Phone numbers in these logs are masked.
• Text replies. When someone replies STOP or START to a PingPet text, we record the change to their texting consent. We don't keep the text of replies.

3. How we use information

• To send reminder, confirmation and appointment texts on a grooming business's behalf, and booking emails to customers who can't be texted.
• To run booking pages and keep each business's calendar.
• To sign you in and keep your account secure.
• To bill for subscriptions and apply each plan's texting allowance.
• To check message templates for abusive or unrelated content before they can be sent. Only the template text is checked, never pet owners' details.
• To provide support and meet our legal obligations.

We don't sell personal information, use it for advertising, or use it to train AI models.

4. Text messages

PingPet sends texts on behalf of the grooming business named in each message. Businesses must have a customer's permission before texting them. Message frequency depends on the business and your appointments. Message and data rates may apply.

Reply STOP to any PingPet text to stop receiving texts from that business, and START to receive them again. A STOP can only be undone by you. The business can't turn your texts back on.

No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. All the categories of sharing described in this policy exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent. That information will not be shared with any third parties.

5. Who we share information with

The grooming business sees the details of its own customers and bookings, and its team members see what their role allows. Beyond that, we use these service providers to run PingPet. Each receives only what it needs for its job.

We will also disclose information when the law requires it. If PertLabs Inc. is merged or sold, this policy will continue to apply to the information transferred.

6. Where information is stored

PingPet's servers, database and backups are in the United States (Newark, New Jersey). PertLabs Inc. is based in Canada. Information stored in the United States is subject to US law and may be accessed by US authorities under that law. Our service providers may process information in other countries.

7. How long we keep information

• Account and business information is kept while the account is open.
• Pet owners' details are kept until the business deletes them or its account is closed.
• When we delete information at your request or after an account is closed, we remove it from our live systems within 30 days. Nightly backups are kept for 14 days, so deleted information is gone from backups within 14 days after that.
• Billing records are kept as long as tax law requires, which in Canada is generally six years.

8. How we protect information

All connections to PingPet are encrypted with HTTPS. Our database sits on a private network that can't be reached from the internet. Passwords are stored as bcrypt hashes. Booking and cancellation links use long random codes that can't be guessed. PertLabs staff access information only to run the service and help with support requests. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your information, we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires.

9. Your choices and rights

You can ask us for a copy of your information, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. You can also withdraw your consent, though some of the service may stop working without it. Account holders can view and change most of their details in the app. We respond to requests within 30 days, and we may need to confirm your identity first.

Pet owners: your grooming business controls your information in PingPet, so it is usually quickest to ask the business directly. You can also write to us, and we will work with the business to handle your request. To stop texts, reply STOP.

If you're not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or in Quebec to the Commission d'accès à l'information. We honour these requests wherever you live.

10. Deleting your account and data

To delete your PingPet account and its data, email contact@pert.pro from the address on your account, with the subject "Delete my account". We'll confirm the request, and complete it within 30 days as described in section 7. This applies however you signed in, including with Google or Facebook.

Removing PingPet from your Google or Facebook account settings stops it from using that sign-in. It doesn't delete your data, so please write to us as well.

11. Cookies and browser storage

PingPet sets one cookie, which keeps you signed in. It expires after 24 hours and is needed for the app to work. The app also uses your browser's own storage for small conveniences, such as remembering which customer rows you left open. That information stays on your device. The public booking page sets no cookies. We don't use advertising or analytics cookies.

12. Information from Google

PingPet uses information from your Google account (your name, email address and account identifier) only to sign you in and identify your account. PingPet's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

13. Children

PingPet is a tool for businesses and isn't meant for children under 16. We don't knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

14. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we'll tell account holders in the app or by email before it takes effect.

15. Contact

Privacy Officer, PertLabs Inc.
contact@pert.pro