MyPetSitter

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 7 July 2026

Contents

Who We Are

MyPetSitter is a cloud-based pet care business management platform operated by MyPetSitter Ltd. We provide software tools for dog walkers, boarders, groomers and pet sitters to manage their clients, bookings and daily operations.

Data Controller: MyPetSitter Ltd
Email: hello@mypetsitter.co.uk
ICO Registration: ZC191166

Your Platform Account

When you create a MyPetSitter business account, your account is created on the MyPetSitter platform. Your business operates as a service provider on the platform, and the clients and staff who register through your portal also hold platform accounts.

If a client's relationship with your business ends, their platform account remains active. They retain read-only access to their historical data (past bookings, invoices and care logs) and may connect with other businesses on the platform. We process their continued account data under our legitimate interest in maintaining the platform.

What Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal data:

Account Information

Your name and email address
Profile photo (if provided)
Phone number and home address
Business name, logo and branding preferences
Billing address and payment details

Pet Information

Pet name, breed, age, weight and gender
Vaccination records and veterinary details
Medical conditions and medication requirements
Behavioural notes and dietary requirements
Microchip number

Booking & Service Data

Bookings for dog walking, boarding, daycare, pet-sitting home visits, meet & greets, and any other pet-care service the business offers
Daily care logs, walk records, welfare checks and training assessments
Photos and videos taken during care sessions (Pupdates™)
Payment and invoicing information
Subscription plan and usage analytics
Custom form submissions and digital agreements

Technical Data

Authentication tokens (to keep you signed in)
Browser type and device information (through Firebase Authentication)
Usage patterns and feature engagement (anonymised)

Tax & HMRC Data (only if you opt in to Making Tax Digital)

Business entity type (Sole Trader or Ltd Company)
VAT registration number (if VAT-registered)
National Insurance Number (Sole Traders only, for Income Tax Self Assessment)
HMRC OAuth access + refresh tokens (encrypted, per-business, revocable)
HMRC-mandated fraud-prevention signals (IP, device fingerprint, screen size, timezone, browser user-agent) — captured only when you initiate a submission and sent only to HMRC
HMRC submission receipts (form-bundle numbers, submission IDs, processing dates)

How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to:

Provide and maintain the MyPetSitter platform and its features
Manage your account, subscription and billing
Enable you to manage your clients, pets and bookings
Facilitate daily care updates (Pupdates™) between businesses and their clients
Process invoices and payments
Send you platform notifications and service updates
Provide customer support via email, Telegram and Discord
Improve the platform based on aggregated usage patterns
Comply with our legal and regulatory obligations

Lawful Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal grounds under the UK GDPR:

Contract: Processing is necessary to provide the MyPetSitter platform and services you have subscribed to.
Legitimate Interest: To manage our business, improve our platform, and maintain the security and reliability of the platform.
Legal Obligation: To comply with applicable laws including tax, health & safety regulations.
Consent: Where we send you marketing communications or optional notifications — you can withdraw this consent at any time.

Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored securely using Google Firebase (Firestore database and Firebase Authentication), hosted on Google Cloud infrastructure within the EU region. Google maintains robust security certifications and complies with international data protection standards.

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including:

Encryption of data in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest
Firestore Security Rules restricting data access to authorised users only
Token-based authentication ensuring only you can access your account
Regular review of access permissions
Multi-tenant data isolation ensuring your business data is separate from other businesses
Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments

International Transfers: Google Firebase may process data in data centres located outside the UK. Google operates under Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Agreement to ensure adequate data protection.

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your data with:

Google Firebase / Google Cloud: As our data processor for hosting, authentication and database services.
Payment processors: To process subscription payments securely (e.g. Stripe).
HMRC (UK tax authority): When you connect Making Tax Digital, we submit VAT return totals (the 9 boxes) and Income Tax period-summary totals (turnover + expense categories) to HMRC on your behalf. We send only the numeric fields HMRC requires plus mandatory fraud-prevention headers (your IP, device fingerprint, screen size, timezone, browser user-agent). We never send your customer names, invoice line-items, or client PII to HMRC. See the HMRC & Making Tax Digital section below for full detail.
Your clients: Data you enter about clients and pets is accessible to the clients you invite to your platform portal.
Legal authorities: If required by law or to protect the rights and safety of our users.

HMRC & Making Tax Digital

MyPetSitter offers an optional Accountant / Making Tax Digital (MTD) module that submits VAT returns and Income Tax period summaries directly to HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) on your behalf. This section covers the additional data we collect and share when you choose to use it. The MTD module is opt-in — nothing described here happens unless you explicitly connect to HMRC.

Tax data we collect from you:

Business type (Sole Trader or Ltd Company) — determines which HMRC filing pathways are available to you.
VAT registration number — required if you are VAT-registered and want to file VAT MTD returns.
National Insurance Number (NINO) — required for Sole Traders wishing to file Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA) period summaries. Ltd Companies do not provide a NINO here.
HMRC OAuth access + refresh tokens — issued by HMRC when you authorise us to file on your behalf. Stored encrypted in your isolated per-business record and revocable at any time from the Tax Profile screen.

Fraud-prevention data we collect (HMRC-mandated):

HMRC requires every software vendor filing to their APIs to send a specific set of “Gov-Client-*” headers on every call. These headers help HMRC detect fraudulent or automated submissions. We collect the following only in order to send them to HMRC on your behalf when you initiate a filing:

Your public IP address at the time of the submission (with timestamp).
A stable device identifier (derived from your browser + a random ID kept in local storage — not tied to your device hardware).
Your browser user-agent string.
Your screen resolution, window size, colour depth and pixel ratio.
Your timezone offset (e.g. UTC+00:00).
Any multi-factor authentication status HMRC needs to record.

These signals are collected exclusively for HMRC’s fraud-detection headers. They are not used for advertising, analytics, profiling, or any other purpose. They are sent to HMRC as part of the submission call and stored in an audit log against your business (which submission, which time, which headers were sent) so we can prove to HMRC that we complied with their fraud-prevention rules.

What we send TO HMRC:

VAT returns: Only the 9 statutory boxes — VAT due on sales, VAT due on acquisitions, total VAT due, VAT reclaimed, net VAT due, total value of sales excl. VAT, total value of purchases excl. VAT, total value of goods supplied, total value of acquisitions. Plus a ‘finalised’ flag confirming you have declared the figures correct.
Income Tax period summaries (sole traders only): Only period dates, period income totals (turnover + other income) and period expense totals broken down by HMRC’s expense categories (cost of goods, wages, travel, professional fees, etc.).
The Gov-Client-* fraud-prevention headers described above.

What we do NOT send to HMRC:

Individual customer / client names or contact details.
Invoice line items, booking details, or any transactional narrative.
Pet names or care logs.
Any data other than the aggregated figures and mandatory fraud headers listed above.

Every HMRC submission receipt (form-bundle number, submission ID, processing date) is stored in your business record as an immutable audit trail. You can view the full list at Accountant → Reporting → VAT Returns or → Income Tax Returns.

Disconnecting from HMRC: You can revoke our HMRC access at any time from Accountant → Tax Profile → Disconnect. This deletes the stored OAuth tokens. HMRC records of prior submissions remain (they are legally required by tax law).

Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as you have an active account with us and for a reasonable period afterwards to fulfil legal, accounting and reporting obligations.

Account data: Retained while your subscription is active. Deleted within 90 days of account closure upon request.
Business data (clients, pets, bookings): Retained while your subscription is active. Exportable at any time upon request.
Billing records & invoices: Retained for 7 years for tax and legal purposes.
HMRC / MTD submission receipts (VAT return receipts, Income Tax period summaries, form-bundle numbers, submission IDs, processing dates): Retained for 6 years as required by HMRC record-keeping law, regardless of account closure. Account deletion removes personal identifiers but preserves the anonymised submission audit trail as required by tax law.
Fraud-prevention header logs (the Gov-Client-* signals we sent to HMRC): Retained for 6 years alongside the corresponding submission receipt so we can prove compliance with HMRC’s fraud-prevention rules on request.
Usage analytics: Retained in anonymised form indefinitely for product improvement.

Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

Right of Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to Erasure: Request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention requirements).
Right to Restrict Processing: Request that we limit how we use your data.
Right to Data Portability: Request your data in a machine-readable format.
Right to Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw at any time.
Right to Disconnect from HMRC: If you use Making Tax Digital, you can revoke our HMRC access at any time from Accountant → Tax Profile → Disconnect. This deletes the stored OAuth tokens immediately. Existing HMRC submission records remain as required by tax law.

To exercise any of these rights, please email us at hello@mypetsitter.co.uk. We will respond to your request within one month.

Cookies & Local Storage

This website uses strictly necessary cookies and browser local storage to function properly. We do not use any tracking, analytics or advertising cookies.

Firebase Authentication: Sets secure, HTTP-only cookies/tokens to keep you signed in.
Local Storage: Used to store your preferences, UI state (e.g. onboarding progress, dashboard settings), and cookie consent choice.
Session Storage: Used for temporary caching of images during your browsing session.

For full details, please see our Cookie Policy.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact & Complaints

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, please contact us:

Email: hello@mypetsitter.co.uk

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

ICO Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
ICO Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Our ICO Registration Number: ZC191166

For any questions, please contact us at hello@mypetsitter.co.uk