This Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into our Terms, outlines our privacy practices in connection with your use of our websites and any related applications and services (together, the “Website” or “Service”).
What does this Privacy Policy cover?
This Privacy Policy explains how we, Barkbus LLC and Groombuggy, Inc. (collectively, “Barkbus,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), collect, use, and disclose personal information. It only applies to the Service and where we control data collection and use. It does not apply to any third-party websites, actions, or offers (together, “Third-Party Services”), regardless of links or connections through the Website. We do not control Third-Party Services, which have separate privacy practices.
Our Service provides on-demand dog grooming services at your doorstep. We collect and use information primarily to provide and improve our Website and the Service and to communicate with you. For example, when you visit our Website, you may provide information to us to use the Service, and we may also generate technical device and cookie data. This allows us to provide and market our offerings. Generally, we share information with our service providers and any partners to facilitate our Service and show offers that may be of interest to you. We care about user privacy and employ measures for data security and to respond to consumer privacy requests, such as to access information we have collected about you, delete your information, and opt out of certain practices. Read each section below for more information.
When do we collect your information?
Generally, we collect personal information when you provide it, such as when you search on the Website or when you request an appointment and voluntarily provide information about yourself and your pet. We also collect information when you create or use an account or request an appointment. Like many websites, we also obtain technical and device information when you visit or use the Website. We may also collect information from content you make public outside of the Website, such as when you contact us through social media, for example, by posting a review about Barkbus or tagging Barkbus in your own post. The information collected off the Website may be combined with that collected through the Website.
What categories of information do we collect?
Typically, we collect information that is relevant to the Service. For example, we may collect your name, email address, phone number, and address. This information is generally collected when you provide it to use the Service. We may also collect your device and internet information automatically if you use the Website or gather information if you apply for a job with Barkbus. More specifically, we may collect the following categories of personal information:
Identifying and Contact Information, such as name, email address, address, and phone number, which are used for identification, customer service, and communications.
Background Information, if you provide it, such as if you are applying for a job with us and provide employment or related information, which is used for job and HR management.
Pet Information, such as information that you provide about your pet, your pet’s health history, your pet’s behavioral history and grooming preferences, photographs of your pet, and your pet’s name, age, and breed, for example if you provide it in connection with our Service.
Audio/Visual Data, such as videos, photographs, or sound recordings of you and/or your pet, for example if you provide or request it in connection with our Service.
Commercial Information, such as transactional data about purchases and financial data, such as debit/credit card information (Company uses a third party Square for credit card processing).
Sensitive Information, which may include the categories above and may be collected only in very limited circumstances if you provide such information, for example, if you apply for a job with us. You should take caution in providing or publicizing any sensitive information.
Technical Information, such as device, internet, and network information, including data from cookies and related technologies, search and browsing history related to the Service and interaction with our marketing, and geolocation information from a device IP address.
Other Information, such as communications to us, your participation with any promotions, or non-personalized information like public, de-identified, or aggregate data. This may include inference information to identify user preferences and to personalize the Service. If you use our referral feature, we may collect information about your usage. Also, if you interact with us on social media or use features, such as plugins, widgets, or other tools made available by social media platforms in connection with our Website, we may collect related information that is disclosed to us. For more information about the privacy practices of social media platforms, please review their separate privacy policies and your settings for each platform.
How is your information used?
Generally, we use information to provide and improve the Service, to personalize the user experience, and for relevant marketing.
Specifically, we may use personal information for these reasons:
Providing the Service, such as to operate and provide the Website and to provide grooming services to your pet, along with customer service.
Improving the Service, such as to review whether other features are desired.
Personalizing the Service, such as by using cookies or other technologies to save certain data for limited time periods so you do not need to enter it again. Additionally, we may use your account information to provide the account features, such as to allow you to save preferences and get referral credits.
Communications, such as to respond to your requests or questions. This may include business-related or legal communications, replies to your inquiries, or marketing communications (which are outlined further below).
Limited Use of any sensitive data only if applicable and if reasonably necessary and proportionate to provide and maintain our Service or if reasonably expected, or short-term transient use if no disclosure or profiling, or for security or legal purposes.
Security and Auditing, such as to detect security incidents, protect against malicious, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and to take action if applicable. We may also use information to authenticate requests or for other security reasons.
Comply with Legal Obligations, such as to comply with a court order or subpoena or to transfer privacy requests to relevant third parties. Where applicable, we may be required to report certain incidents involving your pet (such as bites) to state and local authorities. In that case, we will share your information as necessary to make the reports required by law.
Marketing to You, such as to share relevant content with you using your contact information, or to deliver digital media ads, which may use information gathered through cookies and other technologies. In particular, if you provide your email address or sign up on our Website, or use a referral code, we may send you promotional emails; and if you agree to receive calls or text messages or call us to make an inquiry, we may use your phone number to call and text you with updates about your grooming appointment or if you have opted in to marketing messages. Likewise, we may use your information to draw inferences about your preferences.
Advertising, such as by reviewing user choices to determine what offers may be interesting to others or to feature public reviews or posts about us.
Other Use due to your request or consent and as authorized by law. For example, we may use your contact information if you sign up for a promotion.
These uses further our business purposes as reasonably necessary and proportionate to our operations, such as provision and protection of the Service, as well as commercial purposes, such as marketing relevant offerings. We similarly process your information pursuant to our legal bases in providing and improving the Service, communicating with you, complying with our legal obligations, preventing fraud, advertising to you, promoting safety and security, responding to requests, with your consent, where necessary to perform a contract, where processing is necessary to protect your or another person’s vital or legitimate interests if not overridden by fundamental rights or freedoms, and where necessary to comply with a legal obligation.
How is your information disclosed to others?
Generally, we disclose information for the same business and commercial reasons that we collect and use information, such as to provide and improve the Service, to comply with legal obligations, and for relevant marketing.
Specifically, we may disclose information under these circumstances:
To Service Providers or Contractors, such as email or hosting services or customer support, who may review information you provide or that is part of your use of the Service to assist us in providing the Service to you.
To Legal Parties, who may require disclosure of data as authorized by applicable law in response to a subpoena, court order, or other legal process. This may include transfer of information to relevant third parties to fulfill a privacy or other legal request. We may also disclose information if we believe it is necessary to prevent or remedy illegal or harmful misconduct, including to law enforcement or to our legal, professional, or other advisors. If your pet bites, scratches, or causes injury to another animal or person, or if your pet is injured, we may also disclose your information to relevant local authorities, including animal control. Additionally, if you fail to retrieve your pet at the end of your grooming session, we may also contact local authorities (such as animal control) to arrange for your pet to be retrieved.
To Veterinary and Health Care Providers, as necessary, for example in the event you fail to retrieve your pet at the end of your grooming session, if your pet becomes injured, or if another animal or person becomes injured as a result of your pet, we may disclose information about you and your pet to health care providers (for human patients) and veterinarians (for animals) for purposes of helping you obtain treatment.
To Marketing Partners, affiliates, platforms, advertisers, or third parties, who may obtain information you provide as well as device, internet, and technical information, to provide personalized and other advertisements that may be of interest to you, including through email if you subscribe to our content. If you wish to opt out, you may contact us at legal@barkbus.com. If you sign into an account using a third-party (e.g., Google or Facebook), that third party may collect your information as outlined in their separate privacy policy.
To Third Parties or the Public, if the information is public, such as a review posted about us online, or if it cannot reasonably identify or be linked to you, such as aggregate data used to evaluate the Service and users as a whole.
To Related Parties if we are involved in an acquisition, merger, sale, or similar transaction, in which case we may disclose, transfer, or assign your information.
To Others due to your request or consent and as authorized by law. For example, if you use a referral code, the user that referred you may get a notification that their code was used, while limiting the shared personal data.
For Data Selling or Sharing for the purposes described and as outlined to you in this Privacy Policy. Specifically, certain transfers of data through cookies and similar technologies may be considered data selling or sharing under certain laws (which may or may not apply to us or to you under various legal thresholds). You may opt out of such practices by using links on our Website (which may be displayed to certain users, if required by applicable legislation) or contacting us as outlined below.
Do we use cookies or automated technologies?
We, like many websites, may use cookies (files that are placed on your computer or electronic device when you visit a website), pixels, web beacons, and similar technologies to automatically collect certain device, internet, browser, and geolocation information when you use the Website.
Collected data may include mobile device identifier or MAC address, ISP or carrier information, date and time you access the Website, the pages you visit, and whether you click on certain content or advertisements. We may use this information to personalize parts of the Service, determine when content is accessed, and customize advertisements. These technologies may include necessary and preference cookies, such as to display the Website and comply with preferences set by you, as well as analytics and advertising cookies, such as to understand how users use the Service and to deliver ads.
For example, we may use Google cookies and tools to provide and improve our Service and for analytics and advertising. For more information, visit Google’s policies, https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies?hl=en-US, or install the opt-out add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. We may also use Meta and other cookies for similar reasons. For more information, visit Meta’s policies, https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies/.
We partner with Microsoft Clarity and Microsoft Advertising to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioral metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve and market our products/services. Website usage data is captured using first and third-party cookies and other tracking technologies to determine the popularity of products/services and online activity. Additionally, we use this information for site optimization, fraud/security purposes, and advertising. For more information about how Microsoft collects and uses your data, visit the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
You may opt out of cookies or change your cookie settings in your internet browser or disable similar tracking technologies in your mobile phone or other device. Resources for these technologies and opting out include: https://www.allaboutcookies.org/, www.aboutads.info/choices and https://youradchoices.com/appchoices.
Note the Website does not currently respond to DNT requests (DNT is a feature offered by some browsers which, when enabled, sends a signal to websites to request that your browsing is not tracked).
Do we collect information about children?
We do not knowingly collect personal information about children under the age of 13. If we obtain actual knowledge that we have collected personal information about children under the age of 13, we will delete that information.
How is your information protected and retained?
We process and transfer data to the United States. While we use reasonable security measures and tools that are designed to be a security safeguard, and we take data security seriously, no system or website can be 100% secure. You should not expect that information communicated using our Service or the internet generally will be secure. You are responsible for maintaining the security and confidentiality of your accounts and devices and should immediately notify us if you believe there has been a relevant security breach.
We will retain your information for the length of time necessary to fulfill the business and commercial purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise authorized by law, considering these factors: ongoing services or open requests; legal obligations for data retention; and other relevant considerations, including legal agreements and any pending inquiries.
What are your privacy rights?
Certain privacy laws grant users various privacy rights, such as to access and delete personal information we have collected, as outlined further below. If you have a specific privacy request regarding your information, please contact us with your name and email address (or other identifier used with the Service) using our contact information below. To protect user privacy and security, we may require that you, or your agent if applicable, verify the identity of the requestor. For example, California, Texas, and other states have enacted privacy laws that may apply to users depending on where you reside. If applicable to you, you may:
Access your information and know the categories of information we have collected and the sources, our related business and commercial purposes, the categories of third parties to whom data is disclosed, and the information we have collected about you. Under California’s “Shine the Light” law, California residents who provide personal information may request information regarding disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.
Delete your information, subject to certain legal limitations.
Amend your information if it is inaccurate.
Limit the processing of certain information or any automated decision making if applicable.
Opt Out of certain practices, such as any selling or sharing of information, or marketing communications. For more information, use any relevant links on the Website or follow the prompts in the related communications. If you opt out of advertisements, we may still send you non-promotional messages, such as related to your use of the Service or legal updates.
Non-Discrimination for assertion of your privacy rights or filing a complaint.
What is our contact information?
You can contact us by using our Contact Form or by emailing us at legal@barkbus.com. We may store information related to your requests or communications and disclose it if needed to process your request.
How do we modify our Privacy Policy?
The version of this Privacy Policy posted on the Website is the current version, and if any modifications are made, we will post the then-current version. By continuing to access or use our Service after any modifications are posted, you agree to be bound by the modifications. Any modified Privacy Policy will only apply as of the updated date of the Privacy Policy.
This Privacy Policy was updated on January 22, 2025.
