Privacy policy
Last updated October 15, 2026
This policy explains what Lost Pet Network collects when you use lostpet.network and the tag links at imlo.st, what we do with it, and what other people can see.
The short version
- Your phone number and email address are never published. People who find your pet reach you through a relay.
- Exact locations are never shown. Public pages show only a randomized general area of roughly 1 km.
- Reward amounts are never shown on a public page or flyer.
- Location data is removed from every photo you upload.
- We do not show ads, use ad pixels, or sell your data.
- You can ask for a copy of your data, or for your account to be deleted, at any time by email.
What we collect
When you create an account
- Email address, used to sign you in and to notify you about your pet.
When you add a pet
- Pet profile: name, species, description, markings, photos, and any care or veterinary notes you choose to add.
- Locations: your pet's home area and, if your pet goes missing, where it was last seen. The exact point is stored privately. See "Locations" below.
- Reward: if you choose to offer one, the amount is stored privately.
When someone reports a sighting or contacts an owner
- The report itself: where and when the pet was seen, any photo, and any note.
- Messages sent through the relay between a finder and an owner.
- A name and email address if the finder chooses to give them. Both are optional. We use the email only to tell the finder when the owner replies.
When you join the waitlist
- Your email address and ZIP code, and how many pets you have if you tell us. Shelters and rescues may also give a name, organization and role.
- The page or campaign that referred you, if your browser sends it.
Automatically
- Hashed IP addresses. To limit spam and abuse on our forms we store a one-way hash of the IP address, not the address itself.
- Analytics. We count visits with Simple Analytics, which uses no cookies, collects no personal data and does not track you across other sites. Private links, such as a finder's conversation link, and signed-in pages are not counted.
- Page views. We keep a daily count of views for each pet page, so owners can see their page is reaching people.
- Sign-in. If you sign in, your browser stores what is needed to keep you signed in. It is not used for advertising or tracking.
If you report a page for abuse, we keep the report and any contact detail you choose to include.
Locations
Exact coordinates for a home, a last-seen point or a sighting are stored privately and are never included in a public page or public response. When a location is saved, we create a separate public point by shifting it a random distance in a random direction, and we show only a circle of roughly 1 km around that point, labeled as a general area. The public point is created once and does not change.
Maps on pet pages load map images from a mapping provider, which receives the request your browser makes, including your IP address.
Photos
Location metadata (EXIF) is removed from every photo on upload, before it is stored. Photos on a lost pet page are public, so please upload photos of your pet, not of people.
What is public and what is private
| Information | Who can see it |
|---|---|
| A lost pet page: photos, description, general area, status, sightings | Anyone. It may be indexed by search engines. |
| A registered pet page that is not marked lost | Only someone with the link or who scans the tag. It is not indexed and cannot be browsed or searched. |
| A registered pet's photo, name and general appearance | Someone who files a found-pet report near where the pet lives or was last seen, if the pet fits the report. They see at most twelve pets per report, and nothing about where any of them lives. |
| A found-pet report: description, photo, time | Only an owner the finder chooses to message. Where the pet was found is not shown to anyone. |
| Your email address and phone number | Never published. |
| Exact locations | Never published. |
| Reward amount | Never published. You decide whether to mention it inside a relay conversation. |
| Relay messages | The people in that conversation. |
Messages between a finder and an owner go through our relay, so neither side sees the other's email address or phone number unless they choose to type it into a message. We suggest you do not.
Public pages can be copied and shared by other people. We cannot recall copies made elsewhere.
How we use information
We use it to run the service: to show pet pages, generate flyers, deliver sighting reports and relay messages, suggest possible matches between lost and found reports, send you email, prevent abuse, and understand in aggregate how the site is used. We do not sell personal data, share it for advertising, or use advertising trackers.
Companies that process data for us
| Provider | What it does |
|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, sign-in and photo storage |
| Netlify | Website hosting |
| Resend | Sending email |
| OpenStreetMap | Map images and address search |
| Simple Analytics | Counting visits, without cookies or personal data |
These providers handle data only to deliver their service to us. We may also disclose information if the law requires it.
Text messages
We do not send text messages yet. If we add text alerts, they will be sent only to people who explicitly opt in, we will record when that consent was given, and replying STOP will end them. We will update this policy before that happens.
Your choices
- Copy of your data. Email us and we will send you your pet profiles, photos, sightings and relay conversations.
- Delete. Email us and we will delete your account. Your personal data is removed. Sightings you contributed to other people's pet pages are kept in anonymized form so those owners do not lose them.
- Archive. As an owner you can archive a pet's page yourself at any time.
- Hide. As an owner you can hide a sighting on your pet's page and close a relay conversation.
Some records may be kept for a limited period where needed to prevent abuse or to meet legal obligations. For any request or question, email hello@lostpet.network.
Children
Lost Pet Network is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we will remove it.
If the service ever winds down
We do not promise a number of years. We commit to a mechanism instead. You can ask for a copy of your data at any time. If Lost Pet Network winds down, we commit to handing the imlo.st domain that tag codes point to over to a nonprofit or animal shelter so that tags can keep resolving.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change materially affects how we use your data, we will also tell account holders by email.
Contact
Questions and requests: hello@lostpet.network.