Privacy Policy

Introduction

This website www.petmatcher.com is owned and operated by JPLC Limited (“we”, “us”, “our”) (company number 12911760), trading as PetMatcher.

PetMatcher is an independent pet adoption aggregator. We collect publicly available pet listings from UK rescue organisations and present them in a single, searchable interface. We also provide a pet adoption matchmaking service and a pet insurance quote service.

This Privacy Policy explains:

• What personal data we collect and why
• How we use your information
• Who we share it with
• How long we keep it
• Your rights and choices

It applies to all our services, including:

• Our pet adoption aggregator and search platform
• Our adoption questionnaire and matchmaking service
• Our pet insurance quote service
• Your PetMatcher user account

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your information in a fair, transparent and secure way, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Information We Collect

Depending on the service you use, we may collect:

A. User Account Registration

• Your name and email address
• Password (stored in encrypted form)
• Account preferences and settings

B. Adoption Questionnaire

When you complete our adoption questionnaire as part of our matchmaking service, we collect lifestyle and home situation information, which may include:

• Your living situation (e.g. house type, garden access)
• Household composition (e.g. adults, children, other pets)
• Activity levels and daily routines
• Experience with pets
• Preferences for pet type, breed, age and temperament
• Any other information you choose to provide in free-text fields

This information is used solely for our internal matchmaking algorithm to suggest suitable pets for adoption. It is not shared with rescue organisations or any other third parties.

C. Pet Insurance Quotes

• Your name and postcode
• Information about your pet (e.g. name, breed, age)
• Your site usage data (how you interact with our services)

D. Device & Browser Data

• IP address, device type, operating system, browser version, and access times
• Usage and performance statistics
• Cookie and analytics data (see our Cookie Policy)

You do not have to provide your personal data, but without it we may not be able to provide some services or respond to your requests.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to provide our services safely, effectively, and in line with legal requirements.

User Accounts

• Account creation and authentication — we use your name and email to create and manage your account and verify your identity when you log in.
• Service communications — we may contact you about your account, such as password resets or important service updates.
• Customer support — helping you manage your account, update your details, or resolve issues.

Adoption Questionnaire & Matchmaking

• Matchmaking — we use your questionnaire responses to run our adoption matching algorithm and suggest suitable pets available for adoption from rescue organisations listed on PetMatcher.
• Service improvement — we may analyse aggregated and anonymised questionnaire data to improve the accuracy of our matching service.
• Sharing with rescue organisations — where you have given your explicit consent in relation to a specific pet, we may share relevant questionnaire responses with that rescue organisation as part of the adoption process.

Example: If your questionnaire tells us you live in a flat without a garden and work from home, our algorithm will prioritise lower-energy breeds suited to apartment living.

Pet Insurance Quotes

• Quote requests — we use the details you give us about yourself and your pet to allow redirection and pre-population of regulated insurance providers' quote and buy journeys.
• Insurance provider processing — once your details are passed to an insurance provider, they will collect your details as a data controller in their own right. They will use your information to prepare your quote, check your eligibility, and, if you buy a policy, to arrange and manage your insurance.
• Service improvement — we analyse anonymised and aggregated data from quote journeys.

Example: If you tell us your pet is a 3-year-old Labrador, we'll send those details securely to our insurer partners to pre-populate their quote journey.

Marketing (where permitted)

If you give consent, we may send you updates, reminders, or offers about our and our partners' products and services. This may include communications delivered via Tailster Perks, a rewards and offers programme operated by JPLC Limited, using your PetMatcher account information where you have provided appropriate consent.

PetMatcher will only send you marketing communications where you have provided consent through your PetMatcher account.

Postal Marketing

We may use your name and postal address to send you postal communications about PetMatcher. This includes:

• General postal marketing (consent) — we will only send you general marketing by post where you have given us consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time (see Section 6: Your Rights).

General Service Use

• Website functionality — making sure the site works smoothly and securely.
• Analytics — monitoring usage trends to improve the customer experience.
• Personalisation — tailoring content, match suggestions, or reminders so they are more relevant to you.
• Fraud prevention & misuse — monitoring unusual or suspicious activity.

3. Lawful Bases for Processing

We only use your data where the law allows us to. Depending on the activity, this may include:

• Performance of a contract — creating and managing your user account; providing our adoption matchmaking service; providing you with insurance quotes at your request.
• Consent — marketing communications (email, SMS, push notifications, and general postal marketing). You can withdraw your consent at any time (see Section 6).
• Legitimate interests — improving and personalising our services; preventing fraud and misuse; sending the monthly membership leaflet by post. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the impact on your privacy and you can object at any time (see Section 6).
• Legal obligations — complying with FCA rules for insurance distribution; responding to lawful requests from regulators or enforcement bodies.

4. Who We Share Your Data With

We may share your information with:

• Rescue organisations — where you have given your explicit consent, we may share relevant adoption questionnaire responses with a specific rescue organisation as part of the adoption process for a particular pet.
• FCA-authorised insurance providers on our comparison panel, to provide insurance quotes
• Service providers (hosting, email, customer service, analytics)
• Mailing and fulfilment providers who print and post the membership leaflet and (where you have consented) other general postal marketing on our behalf (they act as data processors and may only use your data to provide these services to us)
• Professional advisers (lawyers, accountants)
• Government and regulatory bodies (where legally required)
• Advertising partners to serve relevant ads (subject to your cookie settings)

We require all third parties to handle your data securely and use it only for the agreed purpose.

5. Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary:

• User account data — retained for the duration of your account. If you close your account, your data will be securely deleted or anonymised within a reasonable period, unless we are required to retain it by law.
• Adoption questionnaire responses — retained for the duration of your account, so you do not need to re-complete the questionnaire on each visit. If you close your account, your questionnaire data will be deleted along with your account.
• Insurance quote data — up to 30 days unless a longer period is required by law.
• Analytics data — retained in anonymised, aggregated form for service improvement purposes.

Once no longer required, your data will be securely deleted or anonymised.

6. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Be informed about how your data is used
• Access the data we hold about you
• Request corrections or deletion
• Restrict or object to certain processing
• Data portability
• Withdraw consent at any time

You can manage your marketing preferences by logging into your account or using the unsubscribe link in our emails. You have the right to object at any time to direct marketing that we send on the basis of legitimate interests (for example, the membership leaflet by post). You can also withdraw your consent at any time for any consent-based marketing.

We may keep a record of your objection or withdrawal (for example, on a suppression list) so we can respect your wishes going forward.

You can exercise your rights by emailing us at: info@petmatcher.com

For more about data protection and your rights, visit the ICO website at ico.org.uk.

7. Cookies and Local Storage

PetMatcher uses:

• Analytics cookies — set by Segment to distinguish between visitors and track sessions. These are non-essential cookies and require your consent before being set.
• Functional cookies — used to keep you logged in to your account during a session.
• Local storage — used to store your favourited pets on your device. This data is not transmitted to our servers.

For more detail on how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Policy.

8. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate PetMatcher:

• Segment — analytics platform that processes anonymised usage data. See Segment’s privacy policy at segment.com/legal/privacy.
• Microsoft Azure — cloud hosting provider. Our servers are located in the UK South region.
• FCA-authorised insurance providers — once your details are passed to an insurer, they become a data controller in their own right. Please refer to the relevant insurer’s privacy notice.

9. Automated Decision-Making & Profiling

Our adoption matchmaking service uses an algorithm to suggest suitable pets based on your questionnaire responses. While this involves automated processing, the results are recommendations only — no decision is made solely by automated means that produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you. You remain free to browse all available pets regardless of your match suggestions.

We may group users with similar profiles (e.g. pet type preference, location) to improve recommendations and marketing. A human always reviews important decisions.

10. External Links

PetMatcher contains links to rescue organisation websites. When you click to view a pet at a rescue’s website, you will be taken to their own site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites and encourage you to read their privacy policies before submitting any personal information.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not intended for children under 18. We do not knowingly collect their personal data. If you believe a child has submitted personal data to us, please contact us so we can delete it.

12. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data. Our servers are hosted in the UK on Microsoft Azure infrastructure. While no online system is 100% secure, we regularly review our safeguards.

You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for updating your device’s security software.

13. Contact us

If you have questions about this policy or your data, please contact us:

Email: info@petmatcher.com

Post: JPLC Limited t/a PetMatcher, 14th Floor, 20 Eastbourne Terrace, London, United Kingdom, W2 6LG

14. Updates to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on our website with the latest revision date.