Privacy Policy

How PetBG Journal handles information in guest and signed-in modes

Effective Date: November 20, 2025 · Last Updated: August 9, 2026

About This Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how information is handled when you use the PetBG Journal mobile application (the “App”).

PetBG Journal is developed and operated by Phil​ipp She​sta​kov (“we”, “us”, or “our”). We are the controller of personal data processed through signed-in accounts, synchronization, subscriptions, optional analytics, and support. Our postal contact details are available in the Impressum.

The App stores information about an animal, but that information can still be personal data when it is linked to you or another identifiable person. This includes account details, Care Team relationships, entry attribution, and anything about a person that you include in a note.

The Short Version

  • You can use the App as a guest without sending your pet data to PetBG Journal’s online services.
  • If you sign in, the information you choose to synchronize is stored online so it can appear on your supported devices and be shared with Care Team members you invite.
  • Optional usage analytics are sent only when analytics are enabled in the App.
  • Pet care data and personal details stay separate from optional analytics.
  • We do not sell personal data or use your pet data for advertising.
  • You can export your information, manage sharing, and delete your account from the App.

Guest Mode and Signed-In Mode

Guest Mode

In guest mode, pet profiles, entries, photos, schedules, preferences, and notes are stored in the App’s private storage on your device. We do not receive this information through PetBG Journal’s sync service and cannot normally view or recover it.

Guest mode does not provide PetBG Journal cloud synchronization or recovery. Your Apple device or backup settings may still include App data in a device backup managed by Apple. If you export your pet data as CSV or generate a PDF report, it is sent only to the destination you choose through the system sharing controls.

Optional analytics and App Store purchase services are separate from pet data synchronization. They may process the limited information described below even while you use the App as a guest.

Signed-In Mode

When you sign in, the App synchronizes account and pet-care information with our online service. This makes it possible to use the same profile on supported devices, recover synchronized data after reinstalling, and share care with people you invite.

Signing out stops synchronization for that account on the device. It does not delete information already stored online or remove local information automatically.

Information We Handle

Account Information

When you use Sign in with Apple, we process:

  • An account identifier
  • The email address Apple provides, which may be a private relay address
  • Your display name, when provided or added in the App
  • Authentication method and account creation/update dates

Apple handles the sign-in interaction under its own terms and privacy policy. We do not receive your Apple Account password.

Pet Profiles and Care Information

Information you may add includes:

  • Pet name, species, breed, photo, date of birth, and diagnosis date
  • Glucose ranges, preferred units, insulin type, routine times, and a default insulin amount
  • Glucose readings, insulin amounts, weight, timestamps, and notes
  • Information needed to keep edits and deletions consistent across devices
  • The account that created an entry and the Care Team member name shown beside it

In guest mode, this stays in the App’s local storage. In signed-in mode, it is also processed by our online service and made available to Care Team members who have access to that pet.

We do not use pet-care information for advertising or train machine-learning models on it. Charts, categories, statistics, and reports are generated by the App from the pet care data you enter.

Shared-Care Information

When you invite or manage another Care Team member, we may process:

  • Care Team member name and email address
  • Account and pet identifiers
  • Owner or Care Team member role
  • Access start and end dates
  • Invitation, sharing-link, and ownership-transfer status
  • Who created or changed a shared entry

Care Team members with access to a pet can see its shared profile and history and may be able to add or change information. Only invite people you trust and who are involved in caring for that pet.

Notifications and Device Information

If notification features are available and enabled, we process a device notification token and related registration status. This lets us send service notifications, including background updates for shared-care changes. Apple processes notification delivery.

Medication reminders and some safety alerts are scheduled on your device. Notification previews may be visible on a locked screen depending on your device settings.

Subscriptions and Purchases

Apple processes App Store purchases and payment information. We and our subscription-management provider receive information needed to verify access, such as:

  • An anonymous App customer identifier or, after sign-in, an account-linked identifier
  • Product, entitlement, purchase, renewal, expiration, and restore status
  • Limited device and App information used to operate the purchase service

We do not receive your full payment-card details.

Optional Usage Analytics

Analytics are disabled unless you enable them in the App. You can change this choice at any time in Settings → Privacy.

When enabled, analytics may include:

  • App sessions, screens or features used, onboarding progress, and interaction timing
  • App version, device type, operating-system version, and an anonymous installation identifier
  • Purchase-flow and error categories
  • Broad feature context such as pet species, selected report period, glucose category, and whether an entry included insulin or observations

Exact glucose readings, insulin amounts, weight, pet names, Care Team member names, email addresses, note text, photos, and exported reports stay separate from analytics. IP-address, city, and region tracking are disabled in the analytics configuration.

Withdrawing analytics consent stops future analytics collection. It does not affect the core App, your account, or your subscription.

Support and Service Communications

If you contact us, we process your email address, the content of your message, attachments you choose to send, and information needed to answer or investigate the request. Please do not send more pet care or personal information than is necessary.

Connection, Security, and Reliability Data

When the App communicates with our online service, limited technical records may be created. These can include the time of a request, IP address, App/client version, account or device identifier, request identifier, response status, and error category. We use this information to operate the service, prevent misuse, investigate failures, and protect accounts. We do not intentionally place pet names, exact readings, doses, or note contents in operational logs.

Information We Do Not Request

PetBG Journal does not request access to your precise location, contacts, browsing history outside the App, microphone, or advertising identifier. We do not use third-party advertising trackers.

The App uses photos only when you choose a pet photo. In guest mode the photo stays local; in signed-in mode it can be uploaded and shared with Care Team members who have access to that pet.

Why We Process Information

We rely on the following legal bases where the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies:

Purpose Legal basis
Create an account; synchronize, restore, share, generate reports, export data, and delete information; manage subscriptions Performance of our contract with you (Article 6(1)(b))
Send optional usage analytics Your consent (Article 6(1)(a))
Respond to support requests Performance of our contract or our legitimate interest in supporting the service (Articles 6(1)(b) and 6(1)(f))
Secure accounts, prevent misuse, diagnose failures, and maintain reliable service Our legitimate interests in security and service integrity (Article 6(1)(f))
Keep records required for tax, accounting, consumer, or legal obligations Compliance with legal obligations (Article 6(1)(c))
Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims Our legitimate interests and applicable legal rules (Article 6(1)(f))

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the effect on users and limit the information used to what is reasonably necessary. You may object as described under “Your Rights.”

Who Can Receive Information

We disclose information only as needed for the purposes described here:

  • Care Team members you authorize: People with access to a shared pet can receive its profile, history, photo, and entry attribution.
  • Cloud, authentication, notification, subscription, analytics, and support providers: These providers process information on our instructions or under their own legally defined role to operate the relevant service.
  • Apple: Apple processes Sign in with Apple, App Store purchases, device backups, system sharing, and notification delivery under Apple’s own privacy terms.
  • Professional advisers and authorities: We may disclose information where reasonably needed for legal advice, compliance, security, or a valid legal request.
  • A successor operator: If the App or its business is reorganized or transferred, information may move to the successor subject to applicable law and appropriate notice.

We do not sell personal data or share it with data brokers or advertising networks.

International Processing

We aim to keep core online App data and optional analytics in European infrastructure. Some service providers may process limited information outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States.

Where GDPR transfer rules apply, we use an applicable legal transfer mechanism, such as an adequacy decision or contractual safeguards. You can contact us for more information about safeguards relevant to your data.

How Long We Keep Information

We keep information only for as long as needed for the purpose described, subject to the following rules:

  • Guest data: Remains on your device until you delete it or remove the App, subject to copies in device backups controlled by you and Apple.
  • Active signed-in account: Account and synchronized pet-care information remains available while the account or shared pet profile is active.
  • Deleted entries: A deleted synchronized entry disappears from the visible history. An inactive copy may remain while the shared pet profile is active so the deletion stays consistent across devices and Care Team members.
  • Deleted pet or account: Records are first disabled or anonymized for safe synchronization and recovery from an interrupted deletion, then scheduled for permanent purge after 90 days.
  • Entries on another person’s pet: If you delete your account, entries that form part of a pet profile owned by someone else may remain in that shared clinical history, but your account attribution is anonymized.
  • Operational logs: Kept for a limited security and troubleshooting period and then deleted or aggregated.
  • Analytics: Kept only while needed to understand product use, according to configured provider retention controls. You can withdraw consent at any time to stop future collection and contact us about deletion of data linked to your analytics identifier.
  • Purchase and support records: Kept while needed to provide support, meet legal obligations, or handle disputes.

Some information may be retained longer where required by law, needed to investigate a security incident, or necessary to establish, exercise, or defend a legal claim. Its use remains limited to that purpose.

Your Choices and Controls

Depending on the feature and mode, you can:

  • Keep pet data local by continuing as a guest
  • Sign in to enable synchronization and shared care
  • Enable or disable optional analytics in Settings → Privacy
  • Manage notification permissions in the App and iOS Settings
  • Invite Care Team members, review access, and remove access to a pet
  • Correct your display name, pet profile, or entries
  • With Premium, export a full copy of pet data as a CSV file
  • Generate a detailed PDF report for a period you select
  • Delete entries and pet profiles in the App
  • Delete a signed-in account from the account/profile settings

Files or reports you export are outside our control once you save or share them. You are responsible for choosing a suitable recipient and storage location.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

  • Ask for access to your personal data
  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data
  • Ask for deletion of personal data
  • Restrict certain processing
  • Receive data you provided in a portable format
  • Object to processing based on legitimate interests
  • Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal
  • Complain to a data-protection supervisory authority

You can exercise many of these rights directly in the App. The Premium CSV feature is a convenient self-service export of your full pet data; it does not limit your legal right to request access or a portable copy. Privacy-rights requests are handled without requiring a subscription.

For anything else, email [email protected]. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. We normally respond within one month where GDPR applies, subject to lawful extensions for complex requests.

Rights are not absolute. For example, we may need to preserve information in a shared pet profile owned by another person, comply with legal retention duties, protect other people’s rights, or retain information needed for legal claims. When that affects a request, we will explain why.

If you are in the European Union or European Economic Area, you can complain to the supervisory authority where you live, where you work, or where you believe an infringement occurred.

Security

We use technical and organizational measures designed to protect information, including encrypted connections, encryption for stored online data, access controls, account separation, and restricted service access. Local information is also protected by the security features of your Apple device.

No storage or transmission method is completely secure. Keep your device and Apple Account secure, use a device passcode, review shared-care access, and contact us if you believe your account or data has been compromised.

Automated Decisions

We do not use personal data to make decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you. Glucose categories, charts, statistics, and reports organize the pet care data you enter; they are not automated veterinary decisions.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when the App, our data practices, or legal requirements change. The current version and its “Last Updated” date will remain available on this page.

If a change materially affects how personal data is handled, we will provide an appropriate notice in the App or through another suitable channel. We will ask for consent where the law requires it. A Privacy Policy is a notice about data handling; continued use is not treated as consent where consent is legally required.

Contact

Questions, concerns, and privacy requests can be sent to:

Controller: Phil​ipp She​sta​kov

Email: [email protected]

Postal address: See the Impressum