Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 12, 2026
PetScans ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application.
Information We Collect
Information Stored Locally on Your Device
PetScans stores the following information locally on your device:
- Pet Profiles: Names, species, and allergen preferences you create for your pets
- Scan History: Products you have scanned, including barcodes, ingredient lists, and safety scores
- Favorites: Products you have marked as favorites
- App Preferences: Your settings and display preferences
This information is stored entirely on your device and is not transmitted to our servers or any third parties.
Camera and Photo Library Access
PetScans requests access to your device's camera and photo library for the following purposes:
- Camera: To scan product barcodes and capture images of ingredient labels
- Photo Library: To analyze ingredient labels from photos you have already taken
Barcode scanning happens entirely on your device. To read an ingredient label, however, the image is sent over an encrypted connection to our processing service, which passes it to a third-party vision provider (OpenAI) that extracts the ingredient text. The image is used only to fulfil that request and is not retained by us or used to build a profile of you. We do not attach your name, email, or pet profiles to it.
Information We Do Not Collect
PetScans is designed with privacy in mind. We do not:
- Collect personal identifying information (name, email, phone number)
- Require account creation or login
- Track your location
- Display advertisements inside the app
- Sell your personal information
Advertising and Attribution
We advertise PetScans on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram). To understand which of those ads actually lead people to install the app — and to avoid paying for ads that do not — the app includes the Meta SDK, which shares a limited set of measurement data with Meta.
Where you have granted permission, this includes:
- Advertising identifier (IDFA): a resettable device identifier Apple provides, used to match your install to the ad you saw
- App events: that the app was installed, opened, and whether a subscription or trial was started
- Device and app information: such as device model, operating system version, and app version
Under Apple's rules this is classed as tracking, and iOS will ask for your permission before it happens. If you decline, we do not collect or share your advertising identifier, and Meta receives only Apple's own privacy-preserving, aggregated measurement (SKAdNetwork), which cannot identify you individually. You can change your choice at any time in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking.
This data is used for advertising measurement. It is not used to determine your pet's safety scores, and your pet profiles, scan history, and photos are never shared with Meta. Meta's handling of data it receives is governed by its own Privacy Policy.
Data Storage and Security
All data created within PetScans is stored locally on your device using iOS secure storage mechanisms. We do not maintain servers that store your personal data.
Because your data remains on your device:
- You have complete control over your information
- Deleting the app removes all associated data
- Your data is protected by your device's security features (passcode, Face ID, Touch ID)
Third-Party Services
PetScans relies on the following third parties. Product and ingredient lookups are performed without your name, email, or pet profiles attached.
- Ingredient and product databases: queried to identify a scanned product and its ingredients. These lookups carry the barcode or product text only.
- Vision and text processing (OpenAI): receives ingredient-label images you scan, in order to extract the ingredient text.
- Meta: receives advertising measurement data as described in Advertising and Attribution above, and only where you have granted tracking permission.
- Superwall: manages subscription offers and receives subscription status.
These requests are routed through our own processing service so that provider credentials are never shipped inside the app. That service does not store your scans or build a profile of you.
Children's Privacy
PetScans does not knowingly collect information from children under 13 years of age. The app does not require any personal information to function.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date.
Your Rights
Since all data is stored locally on your device, you have full control over your information. You can:
- View all stored data within the app
- Delete individual scan records or pet profiles
- Clear all app data through Settings
- Uninstall the app to remove all associated data
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at: