Privacy Policy
What we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have.
Effective date: July 7, 2026 · Operator: Matthias Joekel · Contact: hello@velpoapp.com
Velpo is a pet wellness and care tracking app for iPhone, with an Apple Watch companion. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.
In short
You stay in control of your pet's data. We do not sell personal information, we do not use third-party advertising SDKs, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites. Velpo helps you organize pet care; it is not veterinary, medical, or emergency care.
Information we collect
- Local pet records. You can use Velpo locally before creating an account. Those records stay on your device unless you choose to sign in or use features that require sync.
- Account information. When you sign in, including through Sign in with Apple or email authentication, we store your user ID, the email or private-relay address provided to us, authentication session information, and account settings.
- Pet care content. We collect the records you choose to add, such as pet profiles, photos, meals, medications, treatments, vet appointments, weights, symptoms, moods, daily logs, weekly reflections, Moments, notes, tags, and the care summaries or insights built from those records.
- Circle sharing data. If you invite someone to a pet's Circle, or join someone else's Circle, we store invite status, roles, display names, notification preferences, and the records shared inside that Circle.
- Optional permissions. Velpo uses device permissions only for the feature you choose:
- Location for walk routes, Moment and appointment places, and an approximate rounded pet location for weather alerts.
- HealthKit and Apple Watch for pet walks, including workouts, route, distance, steps, active energy, and heart rate where available. We do not use Apple Health data for advertising or sell it.
- Camera and Photos for pet profile photos and Moments.
- Notifications for local reminders, Circle updates, and weather alerts; we store push tokens and notification preferences.
- Purchases. If you subscribe to Velpo Plus, Apple and RevenueCat provide subscription status, product identifiers, renewal information, and purchase verification data.
- Diagnostics and analytics. We collect limited first-party app events, such as app opens, screens, feature use, app version, build number, session ID, and pet ID where relevant. When you are signed in, these events may be linked to your account. We also receive crash and performance diagnostics through Firebase Crashlytics.
- Website analytics. The website uses cookieless analytics: page path, referrer origin, device type, coarse country, UTM fields, and a random per-tab session token stored in
sessionStorage. We do not store your IP address with website analytics rows.
How we use information
- Provide the app, account, sync, backups, widgets, Apple Watch features, reminders, and support.
- Let invited Circle members see and contribute to the pet records they have access to.
- Create care summaries, insights, reminders, captions, and vet-report exports from records you provide.
- Deliver local reminders, push notifications, Circle updates, and WeatherKit-based weather alerts.
- Process, verify, restore, and manage Velpo Plus subscriptions through the App Store and RevenueCat.
- Debug crashes, monitor reliability, prevent abuse, protect the service, and meet legal obligations.
On-device intelligence
Velpo may use Apple's on-device models to make short in-app text — reminders, captions, empty states — feel more personal. It never lets a model invent care facts, symptoms, urgency, diagnoses, or medical or behavioral conclusions; important care facts come from your own data, and Velpo falls back to plain, dependable wording when needed.
How we share information
We share only what is needed to run Velpo:
| Provider | What it's used for | Privacy policy |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Accounts, database, storage, realtime sync, functions | supabase.com/privacy |
| Firebase Crashlytics (Google) | Crash & stability diagnostics | firebase.google.com/support/privacy |
| Resend | Transactional email | resend.com/legal/privacy-policy |
| Apple | Sign in with Apple, push notifications, HealthKit, MapKit, WeatherKit, Photos, App Store purchases | apple.com/legal/privacy |
| RevenueCat | Subscription management & purchase verification | revenuecat.com/privacy |
| Vercel | Website hosting and cookieless website analytics | vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy |
We also share pet records with Circle members you invite or whose Circle you join, according to their role. Entries may show who logged them. We may disclose information when required by law, to protect rights and safety, or as part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, where any successor must honor this policy unless you are told otherwise and given any choices required by law.
Cookies & similar technologies
Our website does not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. We use first-party cookieless analytics and Vercel Web Analytics to understand aggregate site usage. The per-tab session token in sessionStorage is cleared when you close the tab. If we add cookies that require consent, we will ask first.
Your choices
- Records — edit or delete pets, logs, Moments, foods, medications, and appointments in the app.
- Circle sharing — manage who you invite and their access.
- Permissions — grant or revoke Location, HealthKit, Camera/Photos, and Notifications in iOS Settings; a feature may stop working if you revoke what it needs.
- Analytics — there is no separate in-app analytics toggle, but you can ask us to delete account-linked analytics.
- Subscription — manage or cancel Velpo Plus in your App Store account settings.
Account deletion & data requests
You can delete your account from the app's Settings. Before deleting, Velpo offers a local JSON export for pets you own. You can also ask us to access, correct, export, delete, or restrict your data by emailing hello@velpoapp.com; we aim to respond within 30 days and will tell you if we need more time where the law allows.
Deleting the app removes local data on that device. Deleting your account removes synced account data, but it does not cancel any active App Store subscription; manage cancellation in your App Store account settings.
Shared pets when you leave. If you added care to a pet owned by someone else (for example as a co-owner or pet sitter) and then delete your account, we delete your account, your Moments (including their photos, notes and any saved location), and your own pets and data. The factual care entries you made on another person's pet — such as feedings, medications, weights, symptoms and other logs — are kept as part of that pet's history so it stays accurate for the owner, but they are detached from you and no longer identify you. Pets you own, and everything recorded on them, are deleted in full.
Data retention
- Active account and pet care data is kept while your account is active.
- When you delete records, we remove them from the live app promptly; copies can linger briefly in encrypted backups, overwritten on rotation — typically within 90 days.
- If you delete your account, factual care entries you made on a pet owned by someone else are kept as part of that pet's record but detached from you (no longer identifying you); your Moments, your own pets, and your account data are deleted.
- Crash and analytics data is kept only as long as useful for debugging and abuse prevention — generally up to 12 months.
- Push tokens are removed or refreshed when no longer valid.
- We may keep limited records longer where the law requires, or to resolve a dispute or protect the service.
Security
We use encrypted transport, authentication, role-based access rules, and our providers' security controls to protect your data. No system is perfectly secure — please use a strong Apple ID, keep iOS updated, and only invite caregivers you trust.
International transfers
Velpo and its providers may process data in the United States, the EEA, the UK, or elsewhere. Where the law requires it, we use recognized safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
Your privacy rights (EEA, UK & California)
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, port, or restrict your data, to object to certain processing, and to withdraw consent. We rely on these legal bases: performing our contract with you (providing the app), your consent (optional permissions and marketing), our legitimate interests (reliability, security, abuse prevention, product improvement), and legal obligations.
To exercise any right, email hello@velpoapp.com. You can also complain to your data protection authority — in the UK the ICO (ico.org.uk), in the EEA your national authority (see edpb.europa.eu) — though we'd appreciate the chance to help first.
California residents can also request to know or delete the information we hold, and we won't discriminate against you for exercising your rights.
Children
Velpo isn't directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age in your area), and we don't knowingly collect their data. Contact us if you believe a child has provided personal information.
Changes
We may update this policy. If changes are material, we'll update the effective date and, where appropriate, notify you in the app.
Contact
Questions or requests about privacy? Email Matthias Joekel at hello@velpoapp.com.