Privacy

We value your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website, use the DKC mobile app, and use our services.

1. Information We Collect

Personal Data

Contact Information: Name, address, phone number, and email address.
Account Information: Username, password, and other security-related information.
Kennel Information: Kennel name, affix, address, and contact details.

Identity Verification Data

Where you apply to become an approved breeder, or where we are otherwise required to confirm who you are, we collect:

Images of a government-issued identity document, such as a passport or driving licence.
A photograph or short video of your face, taken at the time of the check.
Your full name and date of birth as shown on that document.

This information is collected and assessed by our identity verification provider, Persona. We receive the outcome of the check and a limited summary. We do not store copies of your identity documents on our own systems.

Pet and Breeding Information

Pet Information: Pet's name, species, breed, gender, age, microchip number, health and vaccination details, and pedigree and ancestry records.
Photographs: Images of your dogs and puppies that you upload.
Documents: Files you upload or scan, including pedigree certificates, registration papers, veterinary records, and similar documents. These may contain personal details printed on them, such as your name and address.

Payment and Order Information

Records of purchases you make, such as pedigree packs, including the items ordered and the delivery address.
Payment card details are entered directly with our payment provider and are never stored by us or handled by our app.

Technical and Device Data

Usage Data: IP address, browser type, operating system, and details of your visits to our website.
App and Device Data: Device type, operating system version, and a notification token used to deliver push notifications to your device.
Diagnostic Data: If the app encounters an error, we receive a technical crash report. This is linked to your account so that we can investigate the problem you experienced.

We do not track you across other companies' apps or websites, and we do not use your data for advertising.

2. How We Use Your Information

To Provide Services

Register your pet and maintain a database for lost pet recovery.
Create and maintain pedigree records, litters, and pedigree packs, and transfer ownership of a dog to a new owner.
Communicate with you regarding your account and services, including push notifications about your dogs, litters, and orders.
Process payments and manage your subscription.

To Verify Identity and Prevent Fraud

Confirm that approved breeders are who they say they are.
Protect the integrity of our register and prevent fraudulent registrations.

To Improve Our Services

Analyse usage data to enhance website functionality.
Diagnose and fix errors and crashes in our website and app.
Conduct surveys and obtain feedback to improve user experience.

Legal Obligations

Comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
Respond to lawful requests from public authorities.

3. Automated Image Analysis

Some features of our app use an artificial intelligence service to analyse images. When you use these features, the image you provide is sent to OpenAI, a third-party provider based in the United States, which processes it on our behalf and returns a result to us.

This happens when you:

Upload a photograph of a dog, so that we can suggest a breed and check that the image is suitable and actually shows a dog.
Scan a pedigree certificate or similar document, so that we can read the details from it and save you typing them in.

Please be aware that a scanned certificate may contain personal details printed on it, such as a name, address, or kennel details, and that this information is included in the image sent for analysis.

Images sent for analysis are not used to train the provider's models. These features are optional. You can enter details manually instead of scanning a document if you prefer not to use them. No decision that produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you is made solely by automated means: results are suggestions that you can review and change.

4. How We Share Your Information

Service Providers

We use the following providers to operate our services. They only receive the data they need for their part of the service, and they are not permitted to use it for their own purposes.

Persona: identity verification. Receives your identity documents, facial image, name, and date of birth.
OpenAI: automated image analysis, as described in section 3. Receives the dog photographs and document scans you submit to those features.
Stripe: payment processing. Receives your payment details directly when you pay.
Shopify: order and fulfilment management for physical products such as pedigree packs. Receives your name, email address, phone number, delivery address, and order contents.
Bunny.net: secure hosting and delivery of the photographs, documents, and certificates associated with your account.
Sentry: error and crash reporting. Receives technical diagnostic data together with your account identifier and email address so that we can trace and resolve faults.
Google Firebase: delivery of push notifications to your device. Receives your device notification token.

Other Owners and Breeders

Where a dog is transferred to a new owner, that owner receives the dog's records, including its pedigree and associated documents. Pedigree records may show the kennel or breeder associated with an ancestor.

Law Enforcement

We may disclose your information if required by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.

Within DKC.org

Our staff may access your data to perform their duties and provide you with our services.

With Your Consent

We may share your information with third parties if you provide explicit consent.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with advertisers.

5. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. Data sent between your device and our services is encrypted in transit. However, no internet or email transmission is ever fully secure or error-free. Please take special care in deciding what information you send to us via email.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to provide our services, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. The retention period for personal data may vary based on the context of the processing and our legal obligations.

Pedigree and ancestry records are kept for as long as the register needs them, because they may form part of the pedigree of dogs belonging to other people. Where we no longer need to identify you personally, we remove or anonymise the personal details attached to those records.

7. Your Rights

Access and Correction: You have the right to access the personal data we hold about you and to request corrections if any information is inaccurate or incomplete.
Data Portability: You have the right to request a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
Deletion: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data, subject to certain exceptions, such as where the information is required for legal obligations.
Restriction of Processing: You have the right to request the restriction of processing your personal data under certain circumstances.
Objection to Processing: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes or on grounds relating to your particular situation.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 12. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

8. Deleting Your Account

You can ask us to delete your DKC account and the personal data held against it at any time. Email info@dkc.org from the address registered to your account, with the subject "Account deletion request". We will confirm your request and complete it within 30 days.

If you use the DKC mobile app, you can also delete your account from within the app: go to Account Details and select Delete My Account.

Deleting your account removes your profile, contact details, kennel details, and login. Some records are kept where we are legally required to keep them, such as records of purchases kept for tax purposes. As explained in section 6, pedigree records that form part of another person's dog's ancestry are retained, but the personal details identifying you are removed from them.

9. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 18. If we become aware that a child under 18 has provided us with personal data, we will take steps to delete such information.

10. International Data Transfers

We may transfer your personal data to countries outside the UK. Several of the providers listed in section 4, including OpenAI, Persona, Stripe, and Sentry, are based in or process data in the United States. Where we transfer personal data outside the UK, we ensure that such transfers comply with applicable data protection laws and that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

11. Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will notify you of any significant changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on our website and updating the effective date at the top of this page.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

DKC.org
108 Office
372 Old Street
London
EC1V 9LT

info@dkc.org
02031516651