Privacy policy
Last updated: 19 July 2026
This policy explains what personal data Bark & Go collects when you use our website, admin dashboard, or mobile app, why we collect it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over it. It is written to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
1. Who we are
Bark & Go ("we", "us", "our") provides solo dog walking in Didsbury and Chorlton, Manchester, via barkandgo.uk and our mobile app. We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. Trading name: Bark & Go Registered company name: [PLACEHOLDER: Bark & Go Ltd - insert your registered company name] Company number: [PLACEHOLDER: Companies House company number, e.g. 12345678] Registered office: [PLACEHOLDER: registered office address] ICO registration: [PLACEHOLDER: ICO registration reference - confirm registration at ico.org.uk/registration] Contact for privacy queries: [email protected]
2. What personal data we collect
We collect the following categories of personal data: Account details - name, email address, password (stored as a secure hash, never in plain text), phone number, and home address (including a postcode-derived map location) used to confirm you are within our service area and to plan walks. Dog and care details - your dog's name, breed, age, date of birth, size, health conditions and medication, vaccination status, emergency vet details, emergency contact names/numbers you provide, home access instructions, microchip number, and insurance details, all provided so we can care for your dog safely. Booking and payment details - walk dates, times, addresses, and notes, plus payment status and references from our payment processors, Stripe and GoCardless. If you choose to pay by weekly Direct Debit, GoCardless collects and stores your bank account details and Direct Debit mandate on our behalf. We do not receive or store your full card or bank account details; these are handled directly by Stripe and GoCardless. Walk reports and photos - check-in/check-out times, a written summary, and photos taken during walks, shared with you after each visit. Marketing consent - if you opt in, your dog's name and photos may be used on our website or social media. This is entirely optional and separate from the walk report photos sent to you. Contact form submissions - name, email, phone (optional), and message content if you contact us. Technical and security data - your IP address may be processed transiently by Cloudflare (our security/CDN provider) for bot protection and rate limiting; we do not store IP addresses in our database.
3. Why we use your data and our legal basis
Performance of a contract - to create your account, verify your service area, take bookings, process payments, and deliver dog walking services (account, dog, booking, and payment data). Legitimate interests - to keep our records for accounting and legal purposes, respond to contact enquiries, and keep our service secure (e.g. bot protection, rate limiting). Consent - where you opt in to marketing use of your dog's name/photos on social media. You can withdraw this consent at any time by updating your dog's profile or contacting us, without affecting the lawfulness of use before withdrawal. We do not use your data for automated decision-making or profiling that has a legal or similarly significant effect on you.
4. Who we share your data with
We share personal data with the following service providers ("processors") who help us run Bark & Go. They only use your data to provide services to us, under contract: Stripe - payment processing for pay-as-you-go bookings (booking payments, refunds). Stripe may process your data outside the UK/EEA under its own compliance safeguards (e.g. Standard Contractual Clauses). GoCardless - Direct Debit mandate setup and weekly payment collection, for customers who choose to pay by Direct Debit instead of pay-as-you-go. GoCardless is a UK company regulated by the FCA. Resend - sending transactional emails (booking confirmations, walk reports, password resets, contact replies). Cloudflare - content delivery, DNS, and bot/security protection (Turnstile) for our website and API. postcodes.io and OpenStreetMap (Nominatim) - used only to convert your postcode/address into an approximate map location so we can confirm you're in our service area and plan routes. No account is created with these services on your behalf. We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. We may also disclose personal data where required by law, for example to comply with a court order or regulatory request.
5. International data transfers
Our hosting infrastructure is located in the EU/UK. Some of our processors (including Stripe and Cloudflare) operate internationally and may process data outside the UK. GoCardless is a UK-based company. Where data is processed outside the UK, we rely on our processors' compliance with UK adequacy regulations or Standard Contractual Clauses to ensure your data remains protected to UK standards.
6. How long we keep your data
We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy. As a guide: Account, booking, and payment records - kept for the lifetime of your account and for up to 6 years after your account is closed, to meet UK tax and accounting record-keeping obligations. Dog health and care details, emergency contacts, and access instructions - kept while your account is active and for up to 2 years after your last booking, then deleted unless you ask us to delete them sooner. Walk report photos - kept for up to 12 months after the walk, or until your account is closed, whichever is sooner. Contact form messages - kept for up to 2 years. Marketing/social media consent - kept until you withdraw consent or close your account. Walk report photos and contact form messages are deleted automatically on this schedule by a daily housekeeping job. When you close your account (see Section 8), this happens immediately and automatically: any upcoming walks are cancelled, your dog's health, vet, emergency contact, and access details are permanently deleted, and your walk report photos are removed. We keep your booking and payment records for up to 6 years afterwards, as they're the accounting record of services already provided and paid for. [PLACEHOLDER: these retention periods are proposed defaults - please confirm they match your actual practice, and update if you adopt different periods.] You can ask us to delete your data earlier at any time (see Section 8), subject to any legal obligation we have to retain it.
7. Keeping your data secure
We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS) between your device and our servers, hashed (never plain-text) passwords, access controls limiting who can view customer data, and bot/fraud protection on public forms. No system is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information and to detect and respond to any breach in line with our legal obligations.
8. Your rights under UK GDPR
You have the right to: Access - request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. Rectification - ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data. Erasure - ask us to delete your data ("right to be forgotten"), subject to any legal reason we may need to keep it. Restriction - ask us to limit how we use your data. Portability - receive your data in a portable format, or have it transferred to another provider. Object - object to processing based on our legitimate interests. Withdraw consent - withdraw marketing consent at any time. Closing your account is self-service: sign in and choose "Close account" from My account (in the app or on the website) and confirm your password. This immediately cancels any upcoming walks, deletes your dog's health, vet, emergency contact, and access details and any walk report photos, and anonymises your personal details. We keep booking and payment records for up to 6 years afterwards as our accounting record, as described in Section 6. For any other request (access, rectification, restriction, portability, or objection), use our privacy request form or email us at [email protected]. We will respond within one month, as required by law. There is normally no charge for these requests. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you also have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), at ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113.
9. Children
Bark & Go is a service for adult dog owners. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children, and accounts must be created by an adult. Our "dog" records relate to animals, not people, and any date of birth stored is your dog's, not a person's.
10. Cookies
Our website uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies. See our Cookie Policy for full details and to manage your cookie preferences at any time.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time, for example if we start using a new service provider. We'll update the "last updated" date at the top of this page, and where changes are significant we'll let you know by email or an in-app notice.
12. Contact us
Questions about this policy or how we handle your data? Email [email protected] or use our contact form at barkandgo.uk/contact.
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