Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Rescue Finder ("we", "our", or "us") collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you use our website, including the public adoption directory and the Charity Portal used by approved rescue organisations.

1. Who We Are

Rescue Finder is a UK-based website that helps users discover dogs available for adoption from rescue charities across the UK. Approved charities and rescues may use our Charity Portal to manage their public charity profile and dog listings on Rescue Finder.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following information:

• Contact Information – if you submit a form or email us
• Email Address – if you sign up for email notifications about dogs matching your preferences
• Technical Information – such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited (via analytics tools)
• Usage Data – how users interact with the website (e.g. which breeds and locations are most popular)

Charity Portal accounts. If you register for or use the Charity Portal, we may also collect:

• Charity or rescue name, your name, email address, and password (stored in hashed form, not as plain text)
• Website or social media page URL submitted with your application
• Optional message content submitted with your registration
• Profile information you provide (e.g. description, location, charity number, public contact details, logo image)
• Dog listing information and images you upload (e.g. name, age, sex, breed, description, location)
• Login and account activity (e.g. last sign-in time, application review status)

Information you publish through the Charity Portal (such as your charity profile and live dog listings) may be displayed publicly on Rescue Finder. We do not ask you to provide sensitive personal data. Please do not include sensitive information in free-text fields (such as messages or dog descriptions).

Charities are responsible for ensuring that information, images, and content uploaded through the Charity Portal are accurate and that they have the right to publish them.

3. How We Collect It

We collect data in the following ways:

• When you contact us via a form or email
• When you register for, sign in to, or use the Charity Portal
• When you browse the site (via privacy-focused analytics tools)
• When third-party services we use process your interaction with the website (e.g. security checks on forms)

4. Why We Collect It

We use your data to:

• Operate and improve the website
• Respond to enquiries
• Display dog adoption listings from rescue charities
• Review charity portal applications and operate approved charity accounts
• Publish and manage charity profiles and dog listings submitted through the Charity Portal
• Send account-related emails to charities (e.g. application updates, approval or decline notices, optional weekly summaries)
• Understand how the site is used so we can improve the service
• Send email alerts when dogs matching your selected criteria are added (if you have opted in)
• Protect the website from abuse and automated submissions

5. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Legitimate interest – to run and improve the website, including understanding usage patterns, reviewing portal applications, and keeping the service secure
• Contract (and steps prior to contract) – to provide the Charity Portal and related account services to approved organisations
• Consent – for optional features such as public dog alert emails and optional weekly Charity Portal summary emails. Where you sign up for dog alerts, you will be asked to confirm your email address (double opt-in). You can withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing from the relevant emails.

6. Sharing Your Data

We do not sell your personal data.

We may share it with trusted services we use to operate this site:

• Vercel – hosting
• Supabase – database and file storage (e.g. images uploaded through the Charity Portal)
• Resend – email delivery (contact form, dog alert notifications, and Charity Portal account emails)
• Cloudflare Turnstile – security checks on forms such as contact and charity registration
• Umami Analytics – usage tracking (privacy-focused, no personal data sold)

These providers process data on our behalf and are required to handle it in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Some of our service providers may process data outside the United Kingdom. Where this occurs, appropriate safeguards are used in accordance with UK data protection law.

7. Email Notifications

Public dog alerts. If you sign up for email alerts, we will use your email address to notify you when dogs matching your selected preferences are added to Rescue Finder.

You will only receive these emails after confirming your email address via a confirmation link (double opt-in).

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link provided in every email.

We do not use your email address for marketing unrelated to these alerts and do not share it with third parties for advertising purposes.

Charity Portal. If you register for the Charity Portal, we may email you from support@rescuefinder.co.uk about your application (for example, to confirm we received it, or to tell you if your account has been approved or declined). You can reply to those emails if you need help.

If you opt in on your charity dashboard, we may also send you a weekly account summary from alerts@rescuefinder.co.uk about your live listings and any dogs due to expire soon. You can unsubscribe from weekly summaries using the link in those emails or change your preference in the portal.

Charity Portal emails are service messages related to your account, not unrelated marketing.

8. Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access your data
• Request correction or deletion
• Withdraw consent (where applicable)
• Lodge a complaint with the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office)

To exercise any rights, contact us here.

9. Data Retention

We only keep your personal data for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected.

Charity Portal account data is kept while your account is active or while we need it to operate the service (for example, to review an application or maintain listing history). If an application is declined or an account is closed, we may retain certain records for a reasonable period for security, legal, or operational purposes before deletion or anonymisation.

10. Cookies and Analytics

Charity Portal login. If you sign in to the Charity Portal, we use a strictly necessary session cookie to keep you logged in. This cookie is only set for users who have signed in and is required for the portal to work. It is separate from analytics cookies.

We use Umami Analytics to understand how the site is used (e.g. which breeds and locations are most popular, how many people click through to charities). These are privacy-focused tools that do not use traditional advertising cookies or sell your data.

Our analytics tools are designed to minimise personal data collection and do not use advertising cookies. If you prefer, you can block analytics scripts in your browser settings or through privacy tools.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

Please check this page for the latest version.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us here.