Legal
Privacy Notice
Last updated: 15 June 2026
This notice explains how Houndwise collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you visit our website or buy our Senior Dog Profile assessment. Please read it carefully. If anything is unclear, get in touch using the details below.
1. Who we are
Houndwise is a service operated by HOUNDWISE LTD (company number 17206127), a company registered in England and Wales.
We are the "data controller" for the personal data described in this notice, which means we are responsible for how it is collected and used.
You can contact us about anything in this notice — including any request to exercise your rights — at info@houndwise.co.uk.
2. The information we collect
Depending on how you use Houndwise, we may collect:
When you buy the Senior Dog Profile assessment
- Your details: name, email address, and postal address.
- Payment information: your chosen payment method and the details needed to process it. Card payments are handled directly by our payment provider (see Section 6) — we do not store your full card number.
- Assessment information: answers about your dog (such as age, breed, weight, mobility, cognition, diet, and dental and general health) and about your household and lifestyle where it's relevant to your dog's care. Your assessment answers are collected through our online form, which is hosted by Fillout, and stored securely in our database, which is hosted by Zite. Both act as data processors on our behalf (see Section 6).
When you use our website
- Technical and usage data collected through cookies and similar technologies, such as your device type, browser, and how you interact with our pages (see Section 5).
We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. Houndwise is intended for adult dog owners.
3. How we use your information, and our legal grounds
Under UK data protection law we must have a "lawful basis" for using your data. Here is what we do and why:
| What we do | Why | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Provide your assessment and personalised care plan | To deliver the product you bought | Performance of a contract |
| Take payment and keep transaction records | To complete your purchase and meet tax/accounting rules | Contract; legal obligation |
| Respond to your questions and provide support | To help you and run our service | Legitimate interests |
| Send you marketing emails | Only if you have opted in | Consent |
| Use anonymised data to improve our service and train the Houndwise model | To make our guidance better over time (see Section 4) | Legitimate interests |
| Keep records and comply with the law | To meet our legal and regulatory duties | Legal obligation |
Where we rely on consent (for example, marketing emails or non-essential cookies), you can withdraw it at any time. Where we rely on legitimate interests, you have the right to object — see Section 9.
4. Improving our service and training the Houndwise model
A core part of what we do is improving the quality of our health guidance over time. To do this, we use the assessment information our customers provide to develop and train the models and content that power the Houndwise service.
We do this using anonymised data. Before this information is used for training or product improvement, we remove or aggregate the details that could identify you — such as your name, contact details, and payment information — so that the data we work with relates to dogs and their care, not to identifiable people. Once data has been anonymised in this way, it is no longer personal data under data protection law.
You can opt out. If you would prefer your assessment information not to be used to train our model or improve our product, you can choose this option in the assessment form, or tell us any time at info@houndwise.co.uk. Opting out will not affect the assessment or care plan you receive.
We may also use anonymised, aggregated insights (for example, trends across groups of dogs) to develop new products and, in future, to share with partners such as pet insurers. Because this information does not identify you, it is not personal data — but we mention it here so you have the full picture.
5. Cookies and similar technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies on our website. Some are necessary to make the site work. Others — used for analytics and marketing — are only set with your consent, which we ask for through our cookie banner. You can change your choices at any time.
The non-essential tools we use include:
- Google Analytics — to understand how visitors use our site, including which pages are visited, how long visitors spend on the site, and where traffic comes from. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect this data in aggregated form. We do not use it to identify you personally.
- Google Ads — to measure and improve our advertising.
- Meta Ads — to measure and improve our advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
These providers may set their own cookies and process data as described in their own privacy policies. You can also manage cookies through your browser settings.
6. Who we share your information with
We do not sell your personal data. We share it only where necessary, with:
- Stripe — to process payments securely.
- Fillout — to host the online assessment form through which your answers are collected.
- Zite — to securely store and manage your assessment data, your dog's health plan, and related account records in our database.
- Google (Google Workspace, Analytics, and advertising services) — for email, secure file storage, website analytics (via Google Analytics, with your consent — see Section 5), and advertising.
- Meta — for advertising, where you have consented to marketing cookies.
- Our veterinary consultants — RCVS-registered vets we engage to review assessment content, who may access the information you provide about you and your dog as part of that work, under confidentiality obligations.
- Professional advisers and authorities — such as our accountants, or regulators and law enforcement where we are legally required to share information.
These providers act on our instructions and are bound by their own data protection obligations.
7. Sending data outside the UK
Some of our providers (including Google, Meta, Stripe, Fillout, and Zite) may process data outside the UK, including in the United States. Where this happens, we rely on safeguards approved under UK data protection law — such as the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework or the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement / Standard Contractual Clauses — to keep your data protected.
8. How long we keep your information
- Account and assessment data: for up to 5 years after your last purchase or interaction with us, unless you ask us to delete it sooner.
- Payment and financial records: for 6 years, as required by UK tax law.
- Marketing consent: until you withdraw it or unsubscribe.
- Anonymised data: indefinitely, as it no longer identifies you.
When we no longer need your personal data, we securely delete or anonymise it.
9. Your rights
You have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you.
- Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Erase your data in certain circumstances.
- Restrict or object to how we use your data, including processing based on legitimate interests.
- Portability — receive your data in a usable format.
- Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on it (such as marketing or non-essential cookies).
To exercise any of these rights, email info@houndwise.co.uk. We will respond within one month. Exercising your rights is free, and won't affect the service you receive.
10. Complaints
We hope to resolve any concern you raise with us directly. You also have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator:
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
Website: ico.org.uk
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
11. Changes to this notice
We may update this notice from time to time. When we do, we will change the "last updated" date above, and where the changes are significant, we will let you know.