Privacy Policy
What we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have.
Effective date: June 22, 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, and the choices you have.
In short
You stay in control of your pet's data. We don't sell or share your personal information for advertising, we don't use third-party advertising SDKs, and we don't track you across other apps. Velpo helps you organize pet care — it isn't veterinary care and doesn't replace your vet.
What we collect, and why
- Account. When you sign in (including Sign in with Apple), we store your user ID, the email or private-relay address Apple shares, and session info from our auth provider — this is what gives you an account and cross-device sync.
- Your pet's care data. Whatever you choose to log: pet profiles (name, species, breed, sex, date of birth, photo), feeding, medications and treatments, vet appointments, weights, symptoms, moods and other daily logs, weekly reflections, and the care insights built from them. Moments can include photos, notes, tags, and a place you add.
- Permissions you grant (optional) — each used only for the feature it powers, changeable anytime in iOS Settings:
- Location — walk distance/route, saving places for Moments or care providers, and an approximate location for your pet (rounded, not precise) that we store to power weather alerts.
- HealthKit & Apple Watch — saving walks as workouts and reading limited workout data to support walk tracking. We use Apple Health data only for these features — never for advertising, and we never sell it.
- Camera & Photos — profile and Moment photos.
- Notifications — reminders and Circle activity alerts; we store your push token and preferences.
- Diagnostics & analytics. Limited, first-party usage events and crash diagnostics (via Firebase Crashlytics) to keep Velpo reliable.
- Waitlist & marketing email. If you join the waitlist on our website, we store your email (plus basic technical detail like your browser and signup time) to tell you about the launch and product news. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe.
How we use information
- Provide and sync the app, account, reminders, widgets, and Apple Watch features.
- Let invited caregivers in a pet's Circle see and add to shared records.
- Generate care summaries, insights, and reminder/caption text from what you record.
- Send reminders, Circle notifications, weather alerts for your pet, and (if you opted in) waitlist email.
- Process and verify Velpo Plus subscriptions (via RevenueCat and the App Store).
- Keep Velpo reliable and secure, prevent abuse, and provide support.
- 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's needed to run Velpo. We rely on a few service providers that process data on our behalf, under agreements requiring them to protect it and use it only for us:
| 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 | Waitlist & transactional email | resend.com/legal/privacy-policy |
| Apple | Sign in with Apple, push, HealthKit, MapKit, Photos, App Store | apple.com/legal/privacy |
| RevenueCat | Subscription management & purchase verification | revenuecat.com/privacy |
We also share with invited caregivers you add to a pet's Circle (they can see and contribute to that pet's records; entries may show who logged them), for legal & safety reasons where required, and in a business transfer (merger, acquisition, or sale of assets) — where any successor must honor this policy unless you're notified otherwise and given any choices required by law.
Cookies & similar technologies
Our website does not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies, and we don't track you across other sites. To understand how the site is used, we rely on privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics — our own first-party visit measurement and Vercel Web Analytics — neither of which sets cookies or identifies you personally. To count a visit without cookies, we store a random, non-identifying session token in your browser's sessionStorage, which is automatically cleared when you close the tab. We also derive a coarse country and device type from your request and keep aggregate counts (pages viewed, referring site, waitlist conversions); we do not store your IP address with these events. Because we store only what is strictly necessary to run and measure the site, no cookie-consent banner is required. If we ever add cookies that need consent, we'll 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 — first-party and limited; there's no separate in-app toggle, but you can ask us to stop using and delete your account-linked analytics.
- Marketing email — unsubscribe via the link in any email, or by contacting us.
Account deletion & data requests
You can delete your account at any time from the app's Settings — this removes your account and its associated data. You can also ask us to access, correct, export, 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 from your device removes local data there; synced data is removed when you delete your account or on request.
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.