Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 2, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what information Pawlentine ("we," "us") collects when you use the Pawlentine app, how we use it, and the choices you have.

Information we collect

Account information

We use Firebase Authentication for sign-in. Depending on the sign-in method you choose, we process your phone number or email address and a unique account identifier. Phone verification is handled through Firebase/Google infrastructure.

Profile information

Your name, photos, bio, gender, pet information (species, breed), and dating preferences that you choose to add to your profile. This information is shown to other users as part of the core matching experience.

Location

We use your city and, when you grant location permission, device location to show you people nearby and to power Travel Mode (matching in another city ahead of a trip). Precise location data is stored separately from your public profile and is not shared with other users directly — only city-level matching results are.

Pet allergy preferences

If you answer the pet allergy question, we store the pet types you choose. You can control whether your allergies appear on your public profile. In Filters, you can choose pet types to hide people who have shared that they are allergic to those types. This does not hide pet owners.

Verification photos

If you choose to get a verified badge, you submit a photo for manual review. This photo is used only to confirm your profile photos are genuinely you and is reviewed by our admin team, not shown publicly.

Activity and content

Swipes, matches, and the messages you send in chat with your matches. Messages are visible to you and the person you're chatting with.

Support conversations

If you use in-app support chat, your messages are processed using Google's Gemini AI to generate responses, and may be stored as part of a support ticket if you choose to raise one.

Device and usage data

Push notification tokens (so we can notify you about matches and messages), crash reports, and basic usage analytics (e.g. which features you use) to help us fix bugs and improve the app.

On pawlentine.com, we record privacy-safe page, button, traffic-source, device-category, and approximate country or city events without storing your raw IP address. For visitors located in India, optional website measurement, including Google Analytics, may run by default and can be switched off at any time using “Measurement settings” in the footer. For visitors outside India, or when the country cannot be determined, optional measurement remains off unless the visitor selects “Allow measurement”. We do not use website measurement for advertising personalisation, and we do not send account user IDs or sensitive profile data.

Subscription status

Whether you have an active premium subscription. Payment itself is handled entirely by the Apple App Store or Google Play — we do not receive or store your payment card details.

We use RevenueCat to manage subscriptions and in-app purchase entitlements. Your app account identifier and purchase information are processed to connect purchases to your account, restore eligible purchases, and provide purchased features.

Pet Passport

If you use Pet Passport, we store the care notes, vaccination dates and record attachments you choose to add. These records are associated with your account and are not displayed on your dating profile. The sharing preview lets you choose which details to copy and share; it does not include private attachment links. Pet records are provided by you and are not independently verified by Pawlentine.

How we use your information

• To operate core features: matching, chat, and profile discovery
• To apply your pet allergy preferences in discovery and show allergies on your profile when that setting is enabled
• To verify your identity if you request a verified badge
• To send you notifications about matches, messages, and account activity
• To respond to support requests
• To store your private Pet Passport records and manage purchased features
• To detect and act on safety reports, blocking, and abuse
• To fix bugs and improve the app based on crash reports and usage patterns

Who we share information with

We don't sell your personal information. We share data with the following categories of service providers, only as needed to operate the app:

• Google / Firebase — hosting, authentication, database, storage, website measurement, crash reporting, and push notifications
• Google Gemini — with your optional permission, processes messages you send to in-app support chat and selected PawZone Guide questions (you choose this once, on the terms screen, and can change it anytime in Settings), and, with a separate permission, chat text you choose to use for Smart Replies. Guide questions are shortened, and phone numbers, email addresses, and links are removed before they are sent. With AI help enabled, support ticket analysis may also use account status and app diagnostics. Tickets written using the New ticket form are not sent to Gemini. Smart Replies may use the selected message or recent conversation context; follow-up suggestions may include the other person's name and bio. You can decline AI help and keep using the rest of Pawlentine.
• RevenueCat — manages subscription and in-app purchase information linked to your app account
• GIF search providers (GIPHY / Tenor) — processes your search terms if you search for a GIF to send in chat
• Other Pawlentine users — your public profile can appear in discovery, subject to your visibility settings. Messages are visible to participants in the shared chat.

Your choices

Blocking and reporting

You can block or report any user directly from their profile or your chat with them. Reporting someone also blocks them immediately.

Deleting your account

You can request permanent account deletion from Settings. Deletion closes your account, removes its sign-in identity and prevents further matching or messaging. Private account data, location records, verification records, Pet Passport records and files stored under that account are then cleaned up. File and data cleanup can continue in the background and be retried if a service is temporarily unavailable.

Deleting your account does not erase the other participant's conversation history. Existing conversations are marked unavailable, and a minimal deleted-account record is retained to prevent old conversations or cleanup requests from becoming associated with a new account.

Incognito Mode

Premium users can enable Incognito Mode to browse without appearing in other users' decks, except for people they have liked or Super Swiped.

Children's privacy

Pawlentine is not intended for anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

Data retention

We retain account information while your account is active. Account deletion starts the background cleanup described above. Conversation history retained for another participant and the minimal deleted-account record are not erased by that cleanup.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app changes. We'll update the "Last updated" date above when we do.

Contact us

Questions about this policy? Reach us at support@pawlentine.com or visit our Support page.