Privacy Policy

Van Hay ("we", "our", or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard information when you use the Van Hay mobile application. You must be 18 or older to use Van Hay. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information you provide directly to us:

• Pet profile data — name, species, breed, age, gender, bio, personality traits, vaccination status, and pet goal.
• Owner profile data — display name, bio, and optional owner information.
• Photos and videos — profile photos, community posts, stories, and reels you upload.
• Location — approximate coordinates used to calculate distances between users in Discover and to suggest nearby veterinary clinics and walk buddies. We never share your exact coordinates with other users; only an approximate distance label is shown.
• Messages — text and image messages exchanged with your matched users.
• Community content — posts, comments, likes, reposts, and bookmarks in communities and on the timeline.
• Stories and reels — short-form media you publish within the app.
• AI Advisor conversations — questions and context you submit to the AI Pet Advisor feature are sent to a third-party AI provider to generate responses. Conversation history is not stored on our servers.
• Care Journey data — pet care tasks, completion records, and health-related notes you enter.
• Lost & Found posts — pet descriptions and contact information you submit for lost or found animals.
• Event participation — events you join or create.
• Walk Buddy activity — walk requests you send or receive.
• Device information — device token used to deliver push notifications via Firebase Cloud Messaging.

2. How We Use Your Information

• To operate and improve the Van Hay service.
• To match you with other pet owners based on your preferences and location.
• To send you notifications about new matches, messages, and activity.
• To enforce our Terms of Service and community guidelines.
• To analyse app usage trends and diagnose technical issues using Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics.

3. Analytics and Crash Reporting

We use Firebase Analytics to understand how users interact with Van Hay (e.g. which features are used, funnel completion rates). Analytics events contain no personally identifiable information — only your anonymised Supabase user ID and behavioural signals (such as "swipe_like" or "care_task_completed"). Analytics collection is disabled in debug builds.

We use Firebase Crashlytics to collect crash reports and stack traces when the app encounters an unexpected error. Crash reports may include device model, OS version, and app version. They do not include message content, photos, or profile data. Crashlytics collection is disabled in debug builds.

4. Photos, Videos, and Media

Photos and videos you upload are stored securely in Supabase Storage and transmitted over encrypted HTTPS connections. Your profile photos are visible to other authenticated users within the app. Community posts, stories, and reels are visible according to the visibility setting you choose when publishing. You can delete your media at any time from your profile settings.

5. Location Data

Location access is optional. If you grant permission, your device's GPS coordinates are stored in your profile and used only to compute approximate distances for discovery, to suggest nearby veterinary clinics, and to facilitate walk buddy requests. You can clear your stored location from Profile settings at any time.

6. Messages

Messages — including text and images shared in chat — are stored in our database and are visible only to the participants of the conversation. We may review messages in response to a report or moderation action.

7. AI Pet Advisor

When you use the AI Pet Advisor, your questions and optional pet context (species, breed, age) are transmitted to a third-party AI provider over encrypted HTTPS to generate a response. We do not store your conversation history on our servers. Please do not submit sensitive personal or medical information through this feature.

8. Community, Timeline, Stories, and Reels

Content you publish to communities, the timeline, stories, or reels is stored on our servers and visible to other users according to the visibility setting you choose. You can delete your own content at any time. We may remove content that violates our community guidelines.

9. Care Journey

Pet care tasks and completion records you enter in the Care Journey feature are stored on our servers and visible only to you. We log anonymised usage events (e.g. care task category and recurrence type) for analytics. We never log custom task titles, health notes, medication names, or veterinary details.

10. Reports and Blocking

When you report or block another user, we store that information to enforce our community guidelines and protect the safety of all users. Blocked users cannot see your profile or contact you.

11. Push Notifications

We use Firebase Cloud Messaging to deliver push notifications. Your device token is stored securely and used only to send you relevant app notifications. You can disable notifications in your device settings or in the Van Hay Settings screen at any time.

12. Data Retention and Deletion

You may delete your account at any time from Settings → Delete Account within the app. This permanently removes your pet profile, photos, matches, messages, swipe history, community content, care journey records, and paw points. Deleting your authentication credential (login) requires an additional request to support@vanhay.app. We may retain anonymised analytics data and crash reports for up to 24 months.

13. Third-Party Services

• Supabase — database, file storage, and authentication (supabase.com).
• Firebase Analytics — anonymised usage analytics (firebase.google.com).
• Firebase Crashlytics — crash reporting (firebase.google.com).
• Firebase Cloud Messaging — push notifications (firebase.google.com).
• Third-party AI provider — powers the AI Pet Advisor feature. Your questions are processed by this provider and are subject to their privacy policy.
• OpenStreetMap / Overpass API — map tiles and veterinary clinic data (read-only; no personal data is sent).

14. Security

All data transmitted between the Van Hay app and our servers is encrypted in transit using HTTPS/TLS. Data at rest is protected by Supabase and Firebase platform-level encryption. No transmission method is 100% secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security.

15. Contact

For privacy-related questions or data deletion requests, contact us at support@vanhay.app. Support contact details will be confirmed before public release.