This notice describes the current Critter Care native app, including its planned iOS advertising feature. It explains the difference between records kept on your device and information sent to online services. Older builds and the separate Paws & Whiskers service can have different features and notices.
Current availability: Public app distribution is not confirmed. Production ads remain disabled pending a public store listing and Google review. Development builds may use Google test ads. This notice does not announce a public release or an approved advertising account.
Pet records, account sync, and reminders
AI questions and Settings work without a permanent account. Saving pet profiles, care journal entries, and reminders requires a Critter Care account. Pet and journal records sync privately through Supabase with the same account on the app and website. Native apps keep an account-specific local copy for offline access; conflicting edits are preserved for review. Profiles can include a pet’s name, species, breed, age, weight, veterinarian contact details, and other information you enter. AI conversation histories stay separately on the device or browser where they were created and do not sync across devices. Guest conversations remain in memory.
Reminder notifications require your device’s notification permission and use the records you schedule. You can change notification permissions in system settings. Export care records creates a file containing pet profiles and journal records; AI chat history is stored separately and is not included. Importing replaces the current local pet and journal records after confirmation, with a local recovery copy retained. Files you export and device backups may keep copies separately from the app.
AI questions
When you send an AI question, the app sends your message or observations, the selected pet’s recorded context, and recent conversation context through the Critter Care online service to OpenAI to generate a response. The pet context can include name, species, breed, age, and weight. The saved conversation on your device is separate from this network processing. Avoid entering human medical records, account credentials, or information unrelated to the pet-care question.
Accounts and authentication
Online features use Supabase for authentication and service records. Account registration and sign-in transmit the email address and password you supply to that authentication service. Native account and guest-access sessions are kept separately in the device keychain. The website keeps session credentials in browser storage. Guest sessions help apply usage limits without requiring a permanent account.
The current advice-focused app does not offer home visits, provider applications, booking, or provider messaging. Historical records from earlier versions are retained in the existing service until an applicable deletion request. Technical requests are processed to operate and protect the service. Public email delivery requires an appropriately configured email service.
Apple subscriptions
Apple handles purchase and subscription payment information. Critter Care receives Apple-signed transaction information, such as the product, original transaction identifier, environment, expiration, revocation status, and an account token that links a purchase to your signed-in Critter Care account. The backend verifies this information before enabling Plus access or increasing the account’s daily AI allowance. Subscription notifications keep access aligned with renewals, expiration, and revocation. We do not receive your full payment-card details from Apple. Manage or cancel Apple subscriptions through your Apple Account settings. Deleting a Critter Care account does not cancel an Apple subscription.
Maps and external destinations
Clinic search sends the area you enter to Apple Maps. This search does not request your device location. Opening a clinic, map directions, an external website, or an exported file uses the destination’s own services and privacy practices.
Advertising and Google services
Google AdMob provides the advertising service, and Google’s User Messaging Platform provides applicable privacy messages. When the app connects to these services, Google can receive network and device details, including an IP address (which can indicate a general area), app or device identifiers when available, ad impressions and interactions, and diagnostic or performance signals. These support ad delivery, measurement, service operation, and detection of invalid activity. Google’s consent tools also process information to retrieve, present, and remember privacy selections.
The app requests nonpersonalized ads and disables Google’s publisher personalization and publisher first-party identifier features. Limiting personalization does not mean that Google receives no data. Ad and consent processing remains subject to your selections, device permissions, and Google’s services. We do not request Apple’s advertising tracking permission in this build.
Advertising is confined to the separate Settings & records → About & learning screen. The app does not pass pet records, symptoms, care conversations, account details, or precise location to Google as ad-targeting data. The pet-care, journal, AI, and emergency screens do not show this banner. Verified Plus members have an ad-free experience. This iOS integration does not enable ads in the Mac app.
Your choices
Where required, a Google privacy message appears before the app can request an ad. In Settings & records → Advertising privacy, select Ad privacy choices when that control is available to review or change the choices Google requires for your region. An unavailable or refused ad does not block use of the pet-care features. You can avoid the advertising screen while continuing to use the other app features.
Use pet, journal, and conversation controls to delete the selected information. Account record changes sync to your account; conversation deletion affects its local history. In Account, choose Delete account to permanently remove your Critter Care identity and associated online records. The native app then removes that account’s local cache and history on the current device; the website clears its saved conversation history for that account. Other devices can retain offline copies until their data is removed; exported files and separate backups remain under your control. Cancel any Apple subscription separately before deleting your account. Signing out or uninstalling alone does not delete the online account. Contact the business if you need assistance with a privacy request. Data sent to Supabase, OpenAI, Apple, or Google is also governed by their services and retention practices; removing a local record does not automatically remove every provider-held copy.
Provider information
Read how Google uses information from partner apps, Google’s privacy policy, and Google’s explanation of mobile-ad data. You can also review Google advertising settings. Those settings do not replace privacy choices shown inside this app.
Other providers: Supabase privacy, OpenAI privacy, and Apple privacy.
Questions and privacy requests
Contact Bay Area Apps LLC at info@bayareaapps.com to ask about access, correction, or deletion of information held by the business. Describe which app and information you mean; do not email passwords, access tokens, banking details, or unrelated private records. We may need to verify that a request concerns your information. Provider-held data is also subject to that provider’s controls and retention practices.
We update this notice when the app’s handling of information changes. The date above identifies this version. The separate Bay Area Apps website privacy notice covers visits to this website.