PawCheck

Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 27, 2026

PawCheck ("the app") is made by VOLTAIXGROUP LLC, a Florida limited liability company (also called Voltaix Group on this site; "we", "us"). This policy explains what the PawCheck iPhone and Android apps and this website collect, why, who else handles it, how long we keep it, and how to delete it.

The short version

1. Information we collect

Account information

You sign in with Apple, Google, or an email address and password. We receive your name and email address from the method you choose. If you use Sign in with Apple's "Hide My Email", we receive Apple's relay address instead. Passwords, verification emails and password resets are handled by Google Firebase Authentication; passwords are never stored in our database. With your account we store your name, email address, sign-in method, account ID, whether your email is verified, your subscription status, your app version, and when you signed up, last signed in and last synced.

Pet profiles

For each pet (dog, cat or small pet), the name, species, breed, age, weight, allergies and health conditions (including anything you type under "Other"), goals, shopping preferences, how strict you want scoring to be, notes, and a photo if you add one. This is what personalizes scores and tips. Pet profiles sync to your account so they're there on a new phone; a pet photo syncs as a small thumbnail.

Scan history and activity

The products you scan (brand, product name, ingredients and other label details), their scores, the date, and whether you favorited them or added them to your shelf. Your most recent scans (up to 150) sync to your account, without photos. We also keep simple activity counts (such as total scans and the last product scanned), whether you've rated the app, and your in-app preferences (such as dark mode, the recall alerts setting, and whether we've asked for notification and tracking permission).

Label photos

When you scan, the photo is resized on your phone and sent securely to our scanning service, which passes it to Google's Gemini API to identify the product and read the label. Our servers use photos for that scan only and do not store them. A small thumbnail stays on your phone in your scan history; it is not uploaded to your account.

When our server reads a scan's photos, it also saves a short diagnostic record so we can fix scanning problems, such as the brand, product name and barcode it read, how many ingredients it read, how sure the reading was and how the scan was made. It doesn't include your account ID or your photos.

Barcodes

Barcodes are read on your phone. The barcode number is sent to our server to look up the product. If the app asks "Is this the product you scanned?" and you tap Yes, that link between the barcode and the product is added to the shared product catalogue.

The shared product catalogue

When a scan identifies a product, the product information (such as brand, product name, recipe or variant, category, species, ingredients, guaranteed analysis, a few short claims printed on the pack, and the barcode where we have one) may be saved in our shared catalogue and used to identify that product and fill in its details when anyone scans it later. Catalogue entries never include your photos, name or email. We store your account ID with the readings you contribute, and with the product when you report it, so we can check quality and prevent abuse.

Online product look-ups

When we need more information about a product (for example, if you only photographed the front), our server sends its brand and product name (and barcode, if one was read) to Google's Gemini API with Google Search to look it up. Your photo and nothing about you is sent. Look-up results are cached as product information for up to 30 days. The looked-up details may also be saved in the shared product catalogue described above, including under the barcode when the scan included one.

Recall checks and the recall watch list

When you scan, the app sends the product's details (brand, name, variant, category and barcode, if known) to our server to check them against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recall notices in our database. Our server may also send the brand and product name to Gemini with Google Search to look for recall information; that search result is for information only and never marks a product as recalled.

Our server also keeps a watch list, linked to your account, of the products you scan: brand, product name, recipe or variant, category, and when you first and last scanned them. We regularly collect public recall notices from the FDA and the CPSC and compare them with watched products, using Google's Gemini AI to check whether a notice really covers a product. Only product details and the public notice text are sent to Gemini, but never your name, email or pets. We keep this list to check the products you've scanned against new recall notices and, once recall alerts are working, to notify you. Recall alerts are not yet reliable, so please don't depend on them; the official FDA and CPSC recall lists are the authority.

While recall alerts are being tested, when a new notice appears to match a product you've scanned, our server may save a test copy of the alert that would have been sent (with your account ID, the product and the notice) for us to review, instead of sending it to you.

Notifications

The app registers your device for push notifications and sends us its push token (from Apple Push Notification service, delivered through Google Firebase Cloud Messaging), whether notifications are allowed, your platform and your app version. We use it to send recall alerts once they're working, and we keep a record of any alert sent to you, so you never get the same alert twice and we can send a correction if one turns out to be wrong.

"Not right?" reports

When you tap "Not right?" on a result, the app sends the product details shown (brand, product name, variant and barcode, if known), the reason, your app version and your account ID. The product is then marked for review in the shared catalogue. If the report can't be sent, the app opens an email to us instead, which you can edit before sending.

Alternatives and price comparison

If you ask for alternatives to a product, our server sends its brand, name and category, and your pet's species and allergens (including any you typed under "Other"), to Gemini with Google Search. Your account details and pet names are not sent.

"Compare prices online" opens Google Shopping inside the app (in Apple's in-app Safari view), searching for the product's brand, name and variant; Google handles that search under its own Privacy Policy. "Where to buy" buttons open a search on a retailer's website (such as Chewy, Amazon, Petco, PetSmart or Walmart) in Safari. These are plain links: there are no affiliate tags and we take no cut. Once you're on a retailer's or Google's site, their privacy policy applies.

Creator codes

If a creator gave you a code and you enter it, our server checks the code, and we store it (and when you entered it) on your account and on your RevenueCat subscription record. That is how we credit the creator. We also record in PostHog when a code is checked or saved, including the code. Creators only see counts and commission amounts: customers appear as "Customer 1", "Customer 2", never your name, email or anything else about you.

Usage analytics (PostHog)

We use PostHog (US cloud) to understand how the app is used. The app sends events directly to PostHog, such as onboarding steps completed, pets added (species only), sign-in method, permission prompts and answers, paywall views, purchases and restores started, completed, cancelled or failed, scans completed (the score, whether a recall was found, the product's brand, how many ingredients were read and how the scan was made), "Not right?" reports (the product's brand and name), rating prompts, creator codes, errors (which can include technical error text) and account deletion, along with the app version and platform. Before you sign in, events carry a random ID created on your phone. Once you sign in, they are linked to your PawCheck account ID, so they are tied to your account rather than anonymous. We don't send your name, email, pet names, photos or barcode numbers to PostHog, and we don't use session recording. Like any internet service, PostHog receives your IP address when events are sent.

Advertising measurement (Meta)

The app includes Meta's (Facebook's) SDK so we can tell whether our ads on Facebook and Instagram lead to installs and subscriptions. The SDK automatically logs some app events, such as installs, app opens and in-app purchases, and the app also logs when you start a free trial or subscribe, with the plan's price and currency. These events are sent to Meta with a Meta anonymous ID (a random ID the SDK creates for this install) and device information such as device model, iOS version, language, time zone and IP address. Meta handles this information under its own Privacy Policy.

Before onboarding starts, iOS asks whether PawCheck may track you:

Apple's SKAdNetwork may also report ad-driven installs to Meta without identifying you.

Subscriptions (Apple and RevenueCat)

Subscriptions are bought through your Apple ID and Apple processes the payment; we never see your card or payment details. We use RevenueCat to validate purchases and manage your subscription. RevenueCat receives your PawCheck account ID; your purchase and subscription history from Apple (plan, price, trial and renewal status); your email address, name and sign-in method; any creator code you entered; the Meta anonymous ID; and device identifiers: your IP address and Apple's identifier for vendor (IDFV), whatever you chose in the tracking prompt, plus the IDFA only if you allowed tracking. RevenueCat sends subscription events to our servers so we can credit creators accurately. Your access is checked on your phone, by RevenueCat.

Support emails

If you email us, we keep the conversation and your email address so we can help.

This website

pawcheck.co has no analytics or advertising trackers. Pages load fonts from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address, and the site remembers your light/dark choice in your browser. Opening a creator's invite link (pawcheck.co/r/…) sends that code to our server to check it. The site doesn't respond to browser "Do Not Track" signals, because it has no tracking to switch off.

1A. PawCheck for Android

The Android app collects the same account, pet-profile, scan-history, label-photo, barcode, recall, notification and support information described in section 1, through the same servers. What differs on Android:

2. Creator Program applicants

If you apply to the PawCheck Creator Program, we collect the name you'd like shown, your email address, the platform you post on, your profile link or handle, your follower range, the code you'd like, your browser's time zone (used to check the program's US-only eligibility), and a record of which versions of our terms you accepted, with the date and your browser's user-agent. Your display name is shown to people who open your invite link. If you're accepted, we keep records of the customers credited to your code (without their identities) and of your commissions. If you use the creator Discord invite, we create a single-use invite for you and record whether it was used, and we may record the Discord account that joined; Discord handles your information under its own privacy policy. If we pay you, we collect what's needed to do that (such as your PayPal address and, where the law requires, tax details such as your legal name, address and a Form W-9), and we share payment details with PayPal.

3. How we use information

We do not use your photos for advertising, and we do not show your pets' information to other users.

4. Who handles your data

We collect public recall notices from the FDA and the CPSC; we don't send them anything about you.

We do not sell personal data. We share app events and identifiers with Meta for ad measurement, as described above. We may also disclose information when the law requires it, to protect someone's safety or our rights, or to a buyer of the PawCheck business, who would remain bound by this policy.

5. Where your data lives

Our database and servers are Google Cloud services in the United States; our other providers may process data in the US and elsewhere. If you use PawCheck from outside the US, your information is transferred to the US. Data is encrypted in transit (TLS), and our database only lets a signed-in user read or write their own account records.

6. How long we keep it

7. Your choices, and deleting your account

8. Children

PawCheck is not directed to children, and you must be at least 13 years old to use it. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, email us and we'll delete it. The Creator Program is only open to adults 18 and over.

9. Your US state privacy rights

Depending on where you live (for example California, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Virginia or another state with a consumer privacy law), you may have the right to:

What we collect, in the categories these laws use: identifiers (name, email address, account ID, device identifiers, IP address); commercial information (subscription and purchase history); internet or other electronic activity (how you use the app); and the other information described in section 1, such as your pets' profiles and scan history. The sources, purposes and recipients are described in sections 1 to 4, and how long we keep each kind in section 6. We do not sell personal information for money. We do send app events and identifiers to Meta to measure our ads (section 1), which some state laws may treat as "sharing" or targeted advertising. You can limit this by choosing Ask App Not to Track, and you can ask us to opt you out by emailing us with "Opt out" in the subject.

How to make a request: email team@pawcheck.co from the address on your account. We'll confirm the request comes from you before acting on it, and we'll answer within the time the law requires. You can use an authorized agent; we may ask for proof that they're acting for you. If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying with "Appeal" in the subject. If you're not satisfied with the result, you can contact your state's attorney general.

10. Changes

If this policy changes, we'll post the new version here with a new "Last updated" date, and for significant changes we'll take reasonable steps to let you know.

11. Contact

VOLTAIXGROUP LLC, a Florida limited liability company
Questions, privacy requests or deletion requests: team@pawcheck.co