Privacy Policy | PAWMATCH FINAL REGISTRATION PAGE

Effective Date: 14 March 2026.
Last Updated: 14 March 2026.
Website: https://www.pawmatch.co/
Contact Email: info@pawmatch.co.

1. Introduction

Pawmatch B.V. (“Pawmatch,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and otherwise process personal data when you visit https://www.pawmatch.co/, join our waitlist, create an account, use our website or app, contact us, book or offer pet-care services, or otherwise interact with our platform. Pawmatch is currently presented publicly as a pet-sitting platform launching first in the Netherlands.

Pawmatch processes personal data in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation, commonly referred to as the GDPR. Under the GDPR, controllers must provide data subjects with clear information regarding, among other matters, the identity of the controller, purposes of processing, legal bases, recipients, retention periods, transfers, and rights. Those obligations are set out principally in Articles 13 and 14 GDPR.

2. Who We Are

Pawmatch B.V. is the controller of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy, except where this Policy states otherwise. As controller, Pawmatch determines the purposes and means of the processing activities covered here.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal data, or your rights, you may contact us at info@pawmatch.co. If Pawmatch later appoints a Data Protection Officer, or if the corporate registration details change following incorporation or restructuring, we will update this Privacy Policy accordingly so that the information remains accurate and complete, as required by the GDPR transparency rules.

3. Scope of This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data collected through the Pawmatch website, mobile applications, waitlist forms, user accounts, booking flows, communications, reviews, customer-support channels, and other related digital services. It covers personal data relating to pet owners, pet sitters, prospective users, website visitors, newsletter subscribers, business contacts, and other individuals whose data we receive in connection with the operation of the Pawmatch platform.

Personal data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. Under the GDPR, processing includes collection, storage, use, disclosure, consultation, structuring, deletion, and similar operations performed on personal data.

4. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect personal data directly from you, automatically from your device or browser, from other users, from payment or identity-verification partners, and from service providers supporting our platform.

The categories of personal data we may collect include:

Account and Identity Data: Name, username, email address, phone number, postal address, profile photo, date of birth where needed for eligibility or verification, and account credentials.
Booking and Transaction Data: Booking requests, service dates, prices, payout details, payment confirmations, refunds, cancellations, service preferences, and communications relating to a booking.
Pet-Related Data: Pet name, breed, age, weight, temperament, medical needs, dietary information, vaccination information where relevant, emergency instructions, and other details a pet owner or sitter provides for the safe performance of pet-care services. Although pet information is not personal data in itself, associated owner details and context may make certain records personal data where they relate to an identifiable individual.
Profile and Listing Data: Experience, qualifications, service areas, availability, rates, reviews, ratings, listing descriptions, photographs, and any optional details you choose to publish in your profile.
Communications Data: Messages sent through the platform, customer-support correspondence, survey responses, complaints, dispute materials, and any attachments submitted to us.
Technical and Usage Data: IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, log data, app diagnostics, language settings, cookie identifiers, pages viewed, referral source, and usage patterns.
Marketing and Preference Data: Newsletter choices, communication preferences, promotional opt-ins, and your responses to marketing campaigns.

The GDPR requires a lawful basis for each processing purpose and requires controllers to explain those purposes clearly.

5. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data in several ways.

First, we collect data that you provide directly, such as when you join the waitlist, submit a form, create an account, contact us, create a listing, make or accept a booking, upload pet information, submit a complaint, or communicate with support.

Second, we collect data automatically through cookies, server logs, app events, and similar technologies when you use our website or app. Under Dutch rules, website owners must inform users about cookies, and consent is required for tracking cookies and certain other non-essential cookies, while strictly necessary cookies and some low-impact analytics cookies may be exempt from consent, subject to the applicable conditions.

Third, we may receive data from third parties, such as payment processors, identity-verification providers, fraud-prevention partners, analytics providers, customer-support tools, social-media integrations, or another user involved in a booking or dispute.

6. Purposes of Processing and Legal Bases

We process personal data only where we have a valid legal basis under the GDPR. Depending on the context, one or more of the following legal bases may apply: performance of a contract, taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, legitimate interests, or consent. The GDPR requires controllers to identify the legal basis relied upon for the processing.

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To Provide the Platform and Our Services: We process account, profile, booking, communication, and transaction data to create accounts, operate the marketplace, enable matching, manage bookings, process payments, administer refunds, and provide customer support. The principal legal basis is performance of a contract, or steps taken at your request before contract formation.
To Verify Users and Maintain Safety: We may process identity details, contact information, usage signals, and relevant booking history to verify accounts, prevent fraud, investigate misuse, and protect pet owners, sitters, pets, and the platform. The legal basis is usually our legitimate interests in platform security and trust, and, where applicable, compliance with legal obligations.
To Communicate with You: We use contact details and communication history to send service messages, account notices, booking updates, technical alerts, legal notices, and support responses. The legal basis is contract performance, legal obligation, or legitimate interests, depending on the message.
To Improve the Platform: We analyze usage trends, service performance, feature adoption, error reports, and customer feedback to improve the website, app, and user experience. The legal basis is our legitimate interests in developing and securing the platform, except where consent is required for particular analytics technologies.
To Send Marketing Communications: If you subscribe to a newsletter, join a marketing list, or consent to promotional messages, we may use your contact details and preferences to send updates, launch news, or offers. The legal basis is consent where required. You may opt out at any time.
To Comply with Law and Enforce Our Rights: We may process relevant data to comply with tax, accounting, anti-fraud, consumer-protection, data-protection, and law-enforcement obligations, and to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. The legal basis is legal obligation, legitimate interests, or both.

7. Legitimate Interests

Where we rely on legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, those interests may include operating and improving the platform, preventing fraud, protecting users and pets, securing systems, handling complaints, responding to legal issues, measuring service performance, and maintaining internal records. We apply this legal basis only where our interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.

In appropriate cases, we carry out an internal balancing assessment that considers the nature of the data, the context of collection, your reasonable expectations, the impact on you, and the safeguards we can apply. The GDPR expressly recognizes legitimate interests as a possible lawful basis, subject to such balancing.

8. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Pawmatch may use cookies, SDKs, pixels, local storage, and similar technologies on its website and app. Some of these technologies are strictly necessary for site functionality, authentication, security, or load balancing. Others may help us understand usage patterns, measure traffic, remember preferences, or support marketing and social-media features.

Under Dutch guidance made available through official government and supervisory-authority sources, consent is generally required for tracking cookies and similar technologies that are not strictly necessary, while functional cookies do not require consent and certain analytics cookies may be exempt where they have little or no impact on privacy. Users must still be informed about the cookies used.

Where consent is required, we will request it before placing the relevant cookies or activating similar technologies. You may also manage cookie choices through your browser settings or, where available, our cookie banner or preference center. Blocking certain cookies may affect website or app functionality.

9. Special Categories of Data and Sensitive Information

Pawmatch does not intend to collect special categories of personal data, such as data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade-union membership, genetic data, biometric data used for unique identification, health data concerning a person, or data concerning a person’s sex life or sexual orientation, unless a lawful basis and a condition under Article 9 GDPR apply. In the ordinary course, Pawmatch’s services do not require such categories of human personal data.

However, users may voluntarily include limited information that can indirectly touch on human health, for example in emergency instructions, accessibility needs, or support correspondence. Users should avoid submitting unnecessary sensitive information. Where such data is accidentally or exceptionally received, we will handle it with additional care and only insofar as necessary for the relevant purpose, safety concern, or legal requirement.

10. Data Relating to Children

Pawmatch is designed for adults who are legally capable of entering into contracts. We do not knowingly collect personal data directly from children for independent use of the platform. If we learn that we have collected personal data from a child in circumstances not permitted by applicable law, we will take appropriate steps to delete or otherwise handle that data lawfully.

Parents or guardians who believe that a child has provided personal data to Pawmatch in error may contact us at info@pawmatch.co.

11. Sharing Personal Data

We do not sell personal data. We may, however, share personal data with selected recipients where necessary for the operation of our services, compliance obligations, or legitimate business needs.

We may share data with:

Other Users: Pet owners and sitters necessarily receive certain information about each other in order to communicate, arrange services, and perform bookings. Such disclosures may include names, profile details, pet-care requirements, booking dates, contact details, and relevant instructions.
Payment and Payout Providers: To process payments, refunds, chargebacks, and payouts.
Identity-Verification, Fraud, and Safety Providers: To verify users, reduce fraud, investigate abuse, or maintain trust and safety.
Hosting, Cloud, and Technical Service Providers: To host data, maintain infrastructure, store content, support communications, and provide analytics or support tools.
Professional Advisors and Insurers: Where necessary for legal advice, compliance, audits, claims, or dispute management.
Public Authorities and Regulators: Where required by law, court order, regulatory request, or other binding legal obligation.
Corporate Transaction Counterparties: If Pawmatch undergoes a merger, investment round, acquisition, asset transfer, or restructuring, relevant personal data may be shared subject to appropriate safeguards and confidentiality obligations.

Where third parties act as processors on our behalf, the GDPR requires that appropriate contractual safeguards be in place.

12. International Transfers

Pawmatch is based in the Netherlands, but some of our service providers or technical systems may be located outside the European Economic Area, or may allow remote access from outside the EEA. Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, we will ensure that an appropriate transfer mechanism is in place under Chapter V GDPR.

For some countries, the European Commission has adopted adequacy decisions under Article 45 GDPR, meaning that the country is considered to provide an adequate level of data protection. The European Commission maintains the official adequacy framework for such transfers.

Where no adequacy decision applies, we may rely on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, supplementary safeguards, or another lawful transfer mechanism recognized by the GDPR. If we transfer personal data to the United Kingdom, we may rely on the applicable adequacy framework to the extent it remains in force. In 2025, the European Commission and EDPB published materials relating to extension and review of the UK adequacy position.

13. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. The GDPR requires controllers to inform data subjects of the storage period, or, where that is not possible, the criteria used to determine it.

Retention periods vary depending on the category of data and the reason we hold it. For example:

Account Data: Retained while your account remains active and for a reasonable period afterward to manage disputes, compliance, fraud prevention, or reactivation issues.
Booking and Transaction Data: Retained for as long as needed for contract administration, support, legal claims, accounting, and tax compliance.
Communications and Complaints: Retained for as long as needed to address the matter, maintain records, and defend legal claims.
Marketing Data: Retained until you withdraw consent, opt out, or the data is no longer needed for that purpose.
Technical Logs and Analytics Data: Retained for periods proportionate to security, troubleshooting, and performance needs.

When data is no longer required, we will delete it, anonymize it, or otherwise render it inaccessible, unless legal retention duties apply.

14. Data Security

Pawmatch takes reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access. Such measures may include access controls, encryption where appropriate, logging, least-privilege access, vendor due diligence, staff confidentiality measures, secure development practices, and incident-management procedures.

The GDPR requires controllers and processors to implement security measures appropriate to the risk. The level of protection depends on the nature of the personal data, the processing context, the risks to individuals, and the state of the art.

No online service can guarantee absolute security. For that reason, users should also protect their own credentials, choose strong passwords, and notify us promptly of suspected unauthorized access.

15. Your GDPR Rights

Subject to the conditions and limitations set out in the GDPR, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of Access: You may request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and, where we do, obtain access to that data and related information.
Right to Rectification: You may ask us to correct inaccurate personal data or complete incomplete data.
Right to Erasure: In certain circumstances, you may ask us to delete your personal data.
Right to Restriction: In certain circumstances, you may ask us to restrict the processing of your data.
Right to Data Portability: Where the legal conditions are met, you may receive personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and you may ask that it be transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to Object: You may object to processing based on legitimate interests, and you may object at any time to processing for direct-marketing purposes.
Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

The EDPB continues to publish guidance on data-subject rights, including access and complaint handling.

To exercise your rights, please contact info@pawmatch.co. We may ask for information necessary to verify your identity before acting on your request.

16. Complaints to a Supervisory Authority

If you believe that Pawmatch has processed your personal data unlawfully or in breach of the GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Because Pawmatch is established in the Netherlands, the relevant supervisory authority is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, the Dutch Data Protection Authority. The AP provides complaint information and explains how complaints are handled.

We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns first. Many issues can be resolved more quickly by contacting us directly at info@pawmatch.co.

17. Direct Marketing

Where permitted by law, Pawmatch may send platform news, launch announcements, service updates, or promotional messages. Where consent is required, we will obtain it before sending such marketing. Where marketing is sent on another lawful basis permitted by applicable law, you will still have the ability to opt out.

You may unsubscribe from email marketing by using the unsubscribe link in the message or by contacting us at info@pawmatch.co. Opting out of marketing will not prevent us from sending non-promotional service messages, such as booking confirmations, policy changes, security alerts, or support responses.

18. User-Generated Content and Public Profiles

If you create a profile, listing, review, rating, or other public-facing content on the platform, some of that information may be visible to other users or, depending on platform design, to the general public. You should therefore avoid posting personal data that you do not wish others to see.

Pawmatch may retain copies of user-generated content where necessary for trust and safety, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, legal compliance, or backup and security purposes, even where the public-facing version is edited or removed.

19. Third-Party Links and Services

The Pawmatch website or app may contain links to third-party websites, payment services, social-media pages, or other external services. If you follow those links or interact with third-party tools, your personal data may be processed under the privacy policies of those third parties, not ours.

We are not responsible for the privacy, content, or security practices of third-party services that we do not control. You should read their privacy notices carefully before providing personal data.

20. Changes to This Privacy Policy

Pawmatch may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our business model, our services, our technical setup, or our data-processing practices. The updated version will be posted on our website or app, and the Last Updated date at the top of the Policy will be revised accordingly.

Where required by law, we will provide a more specific notice of significant changes, or seek consent again where that is legally necessary.

21. Contact

For questions, privacy requests, complaints, or other matters relating to this Privacy Policy, please contact:

Pawmatch B.V.
Website: https://www.pawmatch.co/
Email: info@pawmatch.co.

Last updated: 19 March 2026