The short version
- Your dog's name is never sent in a forecast request.
- Only the location goes to the weather provider. No location history is requested or retained.
- Sign-in is optional. Without it, the profile stays in encrypted storage on your device.
- The website does not use advertising cookies or third-party behavioural analytics. The mobile app may use Google Analytics for Firebase and show one clearly labelled, non-personalised banner through Google AdMob after the same required privacy choice.
Data we process
Profile and preference data
Isobark can store the dog profile and settings you provide, including a dog's name, size, age band, coat, rain preference, walk length, optional caution flags, units and an approximate saved location label. Until you choose cloud sync, this information remains in encrypted storage on your device. Your dog's name is not sent in a forecast request.
Forecast requests
When you request a forecast, Isobark sends a selected town or postcode, or approximate coordinates you chose, together with the profile factors needed to produce cautious guidance. The Isobark forecast service sends only the location to its weather provider. We do not request or retain location history.
Optional account and cloud profile
Sign-in is optional. If you choose Google or Apple sign-in, Firebase Authentication processes the account identifier, provider identifier, email address where supplied, authentication events and technical security information needed to establish and protect your session. If you choose to copy a profile to your account, its cloud copy is held in Cloud Firestore. You can sign out, delete the cloud account and cloud profile, or separately delete the on-device profile in Settings.
Mobile advertising
The Isobark mobile app is configured to request non-personalised banner advertisements through Google Mobile Ads (AdMob). When an ad is requested or shown, Google and its advertising partners may process technical information needed to deliver, measure, limit and protect advertising, such as an IP address, device or advertising identifier, device and app information, approximate location inferred from an IP address, and ad interaction data.
Isobark does not send your dog's name or profile, saved location, forecast request or optional account data to AdMob for advertising. Where required, we use Google's consent tools to ask for your advertising privacy choices before requesting an ad. You can revisit those choices in the app's Settings when Google makes that option available for your region.
The native app also uses Google Analytics for Firebase to measure consented app use and connect advertising measurement with AdMob. Analytics collection starts disabled and is enabled only after the same consent decision permits advertising. Its initial custom events record a walking-slot view, forecast scroll or dog-profile save; they do not include a dog's name, saved location or account identifier.
Google processes advertising data under its own policies. For more detail, read Google's Privacy Policy and How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.
Why we use the data
- To provide current conditions and the next 24 hours of forecast-based walking guidance.
- To save the preferences needed to personalise that guidance and any optional local reminder.
- To provide an optional account, protect it from misuse and, only when you choose it, synchronise a private profile between supported devices.
- To fund the mobile app and understand consented app use through a clearly labelled, non-personalised banner and Firebase Analytics after any required privacy choices have been handled.
- To operate, secure and improve the service.
Where data is processed
Isobark's forecast service runs on Google Cloud Run in London, United Kingdom. Optional cloud-profile data is stored in Google Cloud Firestore in London, United Kingdom (europe-west2). Firebase Authentication processes authentication data in the United States. This is an international transfer. Before native public release, Isobark will complete the applicable Google data-processing terms, transfer safeguard and transfer-risk assessment.
The forecast service uses OpenWeather as its primary provider and Open-Meteo as a fallback. It retains a derived forecast result in memory for up to ten minutes and does not deliberately persist the original request body. Google Cloud, Cloudflare and weather providers may process ordinary technical data, such as IP address and request metadata, required to run their services under their own terms. Google AdMob may separately process device and network information needed to serve the mobile banner, as described above.
Google and its advertising partners may process mobile advertising and analytics data in countries where they operate. Google describes its international data transfers and safeguards in its privacy documentation.
Retention and deletion
On-device profile data remains until you remove it in Settings. An optional cloud profile remains until you delete the cloud account and profile in the app. Deleting a cloud account does not automatically delete a separate local profile; you control that separately. Service-provider operational logs are retained according to the relevant provider's configuration and terms. We will publish any material change to these arrangements on this page.
Step-by-step instructions are on the delete account page.
Your choices and rights
You can use a town or postcode rather than device location, change or remove a saved location, turn local reminders on or off, delete profile data from the device, and delete an optional cloud account and profile. Where available, you can revisit mobile advertising privacy choices in Settings; declining or withdrawing that consent also disables Firebase Analytics collection in the app. You can also manage your device's advertising preferences in its operating-system settings. Subject to applicable law, you may ask for access, correction, deletion, restriction or portability of personal data, or object to processing. You may also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office.
Contact
- Controller
- Rebecca Brown
- Address
- 39 Winstanley Road, Liverpool, L22 4QN, United Kingdom
- Privacy contact
- privacy@isobark.com
- ICO registration
- ZC166256