Privacy Policy
How the current My Paw Finder website handles search and location information.
Updated September 11, 2026
Site activity statistics
We record page views, successful submitted searches, and links clicked within Support & Giving. These records contain an event identifier, page or link identifier, and date/time, not your account ID, name, email, search criteria, ZIP code, coordinates, or network address. We retain these non-identifying counts to understand use over time. Animal detail views are grouped together. Repeated views and clicks are counted; these totals are not unique people or proof of donations. Admin traffic and excluded browsers are not included. Operational health records contain service names, outcomes and whether requests were visitor, admin, excluded-device, or system activity. You can exclude this browser using the setting below; it uses local storage and a first-party preference cookie lasting up to one year. Clearing browser data removes that preference. Browser blocking and network failures may prevent some events from being recorded.
My Paw Match
Matching does not require an account. Applied answers are stored in this browser tab’s session storage when available, or temporarily in memory if storage is blocked. Session storage may survive refreshes and browser session restores; use Clear tab answers to remove the active answers. Guest tab answers and signed-in tab answers are kept separately. If you optionally save a match profile to your account, we store your selected species, household age groups, existing pet categories, home and care preferences, and requirements with your account. These answers are private and are not sent to rescues or the animal-listing provider. Matching runs in your browser using listing information. You can edit or delete your profile in My Paw Match; deleting your account also removes it. We do not ask for children’s names, birth dates, medical diagnoses, or your exact home address for the match profile.
Shelter suggestions and corrections
The shelter suggestion form sends your email address and submitted organization details to our server, which forwards them to the My Paw Finder admin through Microsoft 365. Messages are held in the admin mailbox for review and follow-up. We store a hashed network-address rate-limit key, a request count, and a timestamp to limit abuse. Form contents are not saved in the website database. Include only public organization information and contact us to ask about a submission.
Location and search information
When you enter a ZIP code or city, or allow browser location access, the website sends that location and your search settings to our server to find nearby organizations or animals. Browser location access is optional. You can deny or revoke permission in your browser and use a ZIP code or city instead.
Services used to answer searches
Location and directory requests may be sent to Zippopotam.us, OpenStreetMap Nominatim, and the configured Overpass servers. When live adoption search is enabled, relevant search settings and location are sent to the adoption provider, currently RescueGroups.org. These services process requests under their own policies.
Temporary search storage
To help during outages, directory results and their matching location/radius search are kept in browser session storage for the current tab and in a limited server memory cache. Older results may be reused for up to seven days and are labeled. Session storage generally clears when the tab session ends; your browser may restore sessions. You can clear site data in browser settings.
Hosting and external content
Hosting and service providers may process IP addresses, request URLs, and technical connection information when serving requests. Search URLs can include location information. Provider log retention is governed by their policies. External images can contact their image hosts. Opening an organization website or map search takes you to another service; map-search links include your selected location.
Current features and your choices
Accounts are optional. Sign in using a one-time code sent to your email through Microsoft 365. Better Auth manages verification and secure session cookies; there are no My Paw Finder passwords. Verification codes are hashed in storage and expire after ten minutes. Authentication records include sessions and security rate limits. When you create an account we store its identity ID, email, optional display name, favorite animal IDs and names, saved search criteria (including location), and email preferences in the hosting database. Alert history records animal IDs and delivery status to prevent repeats. Delete your My Paw Finder account in My Account to remove those application records. Account deletion also removes your sign-in identity and sessions. Browser-only favorites can be cleared using browser site-data settings. We do not collect payments or medical information directly, and we do not use advertising trackers. You do not need to submit veteran status or medical information to search. Avoid entering sensitive personal information in search fields.
Saved-search emails
Emails require both account and saved-search opt-in. When delivery is enabled, Resend processes the recipient email and matching-animal content to send notifications. Disable emails in My Account or use the unsubscribe link in a message. Email delivery and provider retention are governed by the sending provider’s policies. No email alerts are sent while delivery is disabled.
Policy updates
This policy describes the current site. We will update this page as features or data practices change.