At NurturedPet, we believe caring for your pet is hard enough without worrying about your data. This policy explains how we handle your information with the same compassion we put into every part of our app. 💜
📱 1. Overview
NurturedPet ("we," "us," or "our") provides a pet medication management and wellness tracking application for iOS. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information when you use our mobile application ("App").
By using NurturedPet, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree with our practices, please do not use our App.
🗂️ 2. Information We Collect
2.1 Information You Provide
When you use NurturedPet, you may provide us with:
| Data Type | Examples | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Information | Name, species, breed, age, weight, photo, health conditions, allergies | Personalize care tracking and AI recommendations |
| Medication Data | Medication names, dosages, schedules, prescribing veterinarian | Medication tracking, reminders, and schedule management |
| Health Logs | Sleeping respiratory rate (SRR), wellness assessments, digestive tracking, symptom journal entries, notes | Health monitoring and pattern detection |
| Vaccination Records | Vaccine types, dates, proof documents (photos/PDFs) | Record keeping and Care Passport sharing |
| Caregiver Wellness Data | Self-reported mood check-ins, free-text journal entries, caregiver wellbeing observations | Power the Care Companion emotional support features; detect sustained distress patterns to surface appropriate resources. Mood check-ins and journal reflections are stored on your device, and crisis scanning happens entirely on-device. Content you choose to share in Care Companion conversations is sent to our AI service to generate a response (see Section 3). |
| Account Information | Name and email address from Sign in with Apple (Apple's private relay email is supported) | Create your NurturedPet account for sync, backup, and Care Circle sharing |
| Care Circle Data | Household membership, caregiver names, invitations you send or accept | Share pet care with the caregivers you invite |
| User Preferences | Notification settings, app preferences, accessibility options | Customize your experience |
2.2 Information Collected Automatically
We may automatically collect certain information when you use the App:
- Device Information: Device type, operating system version, unique device identifiers (for push notifications only)
- Usage Data: App feature usage, interaction patterns, crash reports
- Log Data: Access times, app version, and error logs to improve stability
🔒 Privacy-First Design: We do not collect or store your location data, contacts, browsing history, or any information unrelated to pet care.
2.3 Voice and Microphone Data
If you use our Voice Companion feature:
- Voice recordings are processed on your device using Apple's Speech Recognition framework
- Voice recordings are never stored — they are processed in real-time and immediately discarded
- Transcribed text may be sent to our AI service to generate responses, then cleared from memory
2.4 Phone Number & SMS/Voice Data (Care Reach)
If you enable our optional Care Reach feature for SMS medication reminders and voice calls:
- Phone Number: Your mobile phone number is stored locally on your device and transmitted to our server only when initiating an SMS or voice call. We do not store your phone number permanently on our servers.
- SMS Messages: Message content is generated based on your pet's medication schedule and wellness data. Message delivery logs are retained by our delivery provider (Twilio) for up to 30 days for delivery verification, then deleted.
- Voice Calls: Care Reach voice calls deliver pre-generated audio medication reminders. Keypad responses (e.g., pressing 1 to confirm a dose) are processed in real-time and stored temporarily to sync with the app. Call recordings are not made.
- Opt-In Required: SMS and voice communications are opt-in only. You must explicitly enable Care Reach and register your phone number within the app before any messages or calls are sent.
- Opt-Out: You can stop all SMS messages at any time by replying STOP to any message, or by disabling Care Reach in the app's Settings. Voice calls can be disabled in the app's Settings.
- No Marketing: We never use your phone number for marketing, promotional messages, or any purpose other than the pet care communications you have opted into.
For full details on how Care Reach communications work, see our SMS & Voice Consent page.
🤖 3. AI Care Companion & Third-Party Services
3.1 AI-Powered Features
NurturedPet includes an AI Care Companion powered by Anthropic's Claude API. When you interact with the AI:
- What We Send: Your pet's name, species, breed, health conditions, current medications, and the context of your conversation
- Why: To provide personalized, compassionate guidance about your pet's care
- Data Retention: Anthropic does not use your data to train their models and does not retain it beyond processing your request
- How It Travels: AI requests are routed through our secure backend to Anthropic. Conversation history may be stored with your account so your companion can remember context across sessions
- Spoken Replies: If you use voice features, the companion's reply text is sent to OpenAI to synthesize the audio you hear. OpenAI receives only the text being spoken, not your pet's records
⚠️ Important: AI responses are informational only and not a substitute for professional veterinary care. See our Medical Disclaimer for details.
3.2 Caregiver Wellness Features & Crisis Detection
NurturedPet includes a Care Companion check-in feature that periodically asks how you are doing as a caregiver. This feature includes a safety system that monitors free-text journal entries and check-in mood patterns for signals that may indicate emotional distress.
How it works:
- Free-text entries in the Care Companion check-in are scanned locally on your device for words or phrases that may indicate significant emotional distress
- This scanning happens entirely on-device — your free-text entries are never sent to any server for crisis analysis
- If concerning language is detected, the app surfaces a card with free, confidential support resources (988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, Crisis Text Line, pet loss support hotlines)
- If you complete 3 or more consecutive check-ins reporting significant distress, a similar resource card is gently surfaced at your next check-in
What this feature is not: This is not a mental health diagnostic tool, clinical assessment, or crisis service. NurturedPet is not a mental health provider. The app cannot contact emergency services on your behalf. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline directly by calling or texting 988, or text HOME to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line.
Your caregiver wellness data:
- All mood check-in data and journal entries are stored locally on your device only
- This data is never transmitted to our servers, shared with third parties, or used for any purpose other than powering your in-app experience
- You can delete all caregiver check-in data at any time in Settings > Delete All Data
3.3 Other Third-Party Services
| Service | Purpose | Data Shared |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Push Notification Service | Medication reminders | Device token only |
| Apple iCloud | Optional data sync | Your encrypted app data (if enabled) |
| App Store Connect / TestFlight | App distribution, crash reports | Anonymous crash data, device info |
| Supabase | Cloud database for your account and synced pet care data | Account information and the synced records described in Section 4.2 |
| Vercel | Hosts the secure backend that routes AI and communication requests | Request content in transit only |
| OpenAI | Voice synthesis for spoken companion replies | The reply text being spoken |
| Twilio (SMS & Voice) | SMS medication reminders and voice call delivery via Care Reach | Phone number (for delivery only), message content |
| Upstash (Redis / QStash) | Scheduled message delivery and temporary dose confirmation storage | Medication schedule timing, dose confirmation status |
💾 4. How We Store Your Data
4.1 Local-First Architecture
NurturedPet is designed with privacy at its core:
- Primary Storage: Your data lives locally on your device using Apple's SwiftData framework, and the App keeps working offline
- Your NurturedPet Account: The App uses Sign in with Apple to create your account. Apple shares your name and email address with us (you may choose Apple's private relay email). We use your account only to operate sync, backup, and Care Circle features
- You Control Your Data: Caregiver wellness check-ins and journal reflections stay on your device. Pet care records sync to your account as described below, and nothing is shared with other people unless you invite them
4.2 Cloud Sync & Care Circle
To keep your care records consistent across your devices and shared with the caregivers you invite, your pet care data (pets, medications, dose history, health journal entries, vaccination records, and Care Circle membership) syncs to our secure cloud database, hosted by Supabase:
- Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest
- Access controls ensure that only you and the Care Circle members you invite can read your household's records
- Your local copy remains on your device, and the App reconciles changes when you reconnect
4.3 Data Security
We implement industry-standard security measures:
- Local data is protected by iOS device encryption
- All network communications use TLS/HTTPS encryption
- API keys and sensitive credentials are securely managed
- We do not store payment information (handled by Apple)
📤 5. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Provide Core Services: Medication tracking, reminders, scheduling, and health monitoring
- Power AI Features: Generate personalized insights and responses through the Care Companion
- Send Notifications: Medication reminders, check-ins, and (optionally) encouragement messages
- Send SMS & Voice Reminders: If you opt into Care Reach, deliver medication reminders and wellness check-ins via text message and phone call
- Improve the App: Analyze anonymous usage patterns to enhance features and fix bugs
- Provide Support: Respond to your questions and help resolve issues
🚫 What We Never Do: We never sell your data. We never use your pet's health information for advertising. We never share identifiable information with third parties for marketing purposes.
🤝 6. Information Sharing
6.1 Sharing You Control
NurturedPet lets you share your pet's information when you choose:
- Care Passport: Generate shareable cards for groomers, boarding facilities, pet sitters, or veterinarians
- Export Features: Create PDF reports to share with your veterinarian
- Screenshots/Exports: Any sharing you initiate through iOS share sheets
- Care Circle: If you invite caregivers to your household, they can see your shared pets' care records, including doses logged and health journal entries with the name of the caregiver who logged them. Invite only people you trust
We do not share your information without your explicit action.
6.2 Limited Disclosures
We may disclose information in these limited circumstances:
- Legal Requirements: If required by law, court order, or government request
- Safety: To protect the rights, safety, or property of NurturedPet, our users, or the public
- Business Transfers: In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets (you would be notified)
🎛️ 7. Your Rights and Choices
7.1 Access and Control
You have full control over your data:
- Access: View all your stored data within the App
- Edit: Update or correct any information at any time
- Delete: Remove individual records or all data entirely
- Export: Generate reports and exports of your data
7.2 Notification & Communication Preferences
You can customize or disable:
- Medication reminder notifications
- Check-in prompts
- Encouragement messages
- All push notifications (via iOS Settings)
- SMS medication reminders (via Care Reach settings in the app, or reply STOP to any message)
- Voice call reminders (via Care Reach settings in the app)
For SMS communications specifically: text STOP to +1 (855) 924-4340 to immediately stop all text messages. Text HELP for assistance. Standard message and data rates may apply.
7.3 Data Deletion
To delete all your data:
- Go to Settings within the App
- Select "Delete All Data"
- Confirm your choice
This action is immediate and irreversible on your device. To also delete your account and its synced data from our cloud database, contact us at privacy@nurturedpet.com and we will remove them.
7.4 California Residents (CCPA)
California residents have additional rights under the CCPA:
- Right to know what personal information we collect
- Right to delete personal information
- Right to opt-out of the sale of personal information (note: we do not sell personal information)
- Right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights
👶 8. Children's Privacy
NurturedPet is designed for adult pet caregivers. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
🌍 9. International Users
NurturedPet is based in the United States. If you use the App from outside the US:
- Your data may be transferred to and processed in the United States
- By using the App, you consent to this transfer
- We process data in compliance with applicable laws
📝 10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make changes:
- We will update the "Last Updated" date at the top
- For significant changes, we will notify you through the App or via push notification
- Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy
📬 11. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our practices, we'd love to hear from you:
- Email: privacy@nurturedpet.com
- Website: nurturedpet.com/contact
We aim to respond to all privacy inquiries within 30 days.