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Privacy Policy

Last updated: 3 October 2026

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The Dog Friendly Map is operated by The Dog Friendly Map Ltd (“we”, “us” and “our”). The Dog Friendly Map Ltd is the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

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You can contact us about privacy matters at hello@thedogfriendlymap.co.uk.

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We believe privacy information should be understandable without needing a law degree. This policy explains what information we collect, why we use it, when we may share it and the choices you have.

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1 Information we collect

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Depending on how you use The Dog Friendly Map, we may collect:

  • your name and email address;

  • your dog’s birthday, where you choose to provide it;

  • information you provide when subscribing to our emails;

  • information you provide when ordering a personalised map or other service, including your destination, travel plans and preferences;

  • information you send to us through forms, enquiries or correspondence;

  • technical and usage information about how our website is used, including information collected through cookies and analytics tools; and

  • payment and transaction information relating to purchases, although payment card details are normally processed by our payment provider rather than by us directly.

 

A dog’s birthday is not usually personal information by itself, but when it is connected with information such as your email address, we handle it as part of your customer or subscriber record.

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2 How we use your information

 

We may use your information to:

  • send you The Dog Friendly Map newsletter, updates, recommendations and other information you have asked to receive;

  • tell you about new dog-friendly places, towns, days out, products, services and offers, subject to applicable marketing rules;

  • provide personalised maps and other services you purchase from us;

  • respond to questions and enquiries;

  • understand how people use The Dog Friendly Map and improve the website and our services;

  • manage payments, purchases and customer records;

  • prevent misuse of the website and keep our systems secure;

  • meet our legal and regulatory obligations; and

  • where you have separately agreed to it, share or sell certain information to commercial partners as explained below.

 

3 Commercial partners and the sale of information

 

The Dog Friendly Map may work with businesses whose products or services may be relevant to dog owners and people interested in dog-friendly travel and leisure.

Where you have given the appropriate consent, we may share, license or sell information such as your email address and information you have chosen to provide about your dog to third-party businesses for commercial or marketing purposes.

We will tell you clearly when we are asking for permission to do this, including what information would be shared, with whom and for what purpose.

We will not assume that subscribing to The Dog Friendly Map automatically gives us permission to sell your information for another business to market to you.

Where another organisation intends to contact you directly by email or another electronic marketing method, we will obtain any consent required by law and identify the organisation or organisations relying on that consent.

You can choose to receive The Dog Friendly Map’s own emails without agreeing to your information being sold or shared with other businesses for their marketing.

You can withdraw a marketing or data-sharing consent at any time by contacting hello@thedogfriendlymap.co.uk. Withdrawal will not affect any processing that lawfully took place before you withdrew your consent.

Licensing our venue database is separate from sharing customer or subscriber information. Purchasing a licence to our venue database does not give a business access to our subscriber list, personalised map conversations or customer records.

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4 Other organisations we share information with

 

We may also share information where reasonably necessary with organisations that help us operate The Dog Friendly Map, including:

  • website and hosting providers;

  • email and newsletter platforms;

  • payment processors;

  • analytics and technology providers;

  • providers of AI tools used to help deliver personalised maps and other services;

  • professional advisers; and

  • other suppliers who process information on our behalf.

Where a supplier acts as our data processor, it may only process personal information on our instructions and subject to appropriate contractual and legal safeguards.

Some providers, such as payment providers, may also act as independent data controllers for certain activities. Their own privacy notices explain how they handle information for those purposes.

Using these services does not mean that we have sold your information to those providers for their independent marketing.

We may also disclose information where required by law, to protect our legal rights or to prevent fraud, misuse or security threats.

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5 Our legal basis for using your information

 

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful reason for using personal information.

Depending on what we are doing, we may rely on:

  • Consent

For example, where you sign up to receive marketing emails or specifically agree to information being shared with a commercial partner.

  • Contract

Where we need information to provide a service you have purchased, such as a personalised map, or to take steps at your request before you purchase a service.

  • Legitimate interests

Where reasonably necessary to respond to enquiries and operate, understand, improve and protect The Dog Friendly Map, provided those interests do not override your rights and interests.

  • Legal obligations

Where we need to keep or disclose information to comply with the law.

Where electronic marketing or cookies require consent under applicable privacy laws, we will obtain that consent separately.

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6 Dog birthdays

 

If you provide your dog’s birthday, we may use it to personalise The Dog Friendly Map communications and understand our audience.

Where you have separately agreed, we may also use this information to support relevant commercial offers or communications, as described in section 3.

Providing your dog’s birthday is optional.

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7 How long we keep information

 

We keep personal information only for as long as we reasonably need it for the purpose for which it was collected.

When deciding how long to retain information, we consider the type of information, why we need it, whether you remain a customer or subscriber, and any applicable legal or record-keeping requirements.

If you unsubscribe from our marketing, we will stop sending marketing emails to you. We may retain limited information on a suppression list so that we know not to contact you again.

Information relating to purchases may need to be retained for longer for accounting, tax, legal or record-keeping purposes.

We periodically review the information we hold and delete or anonymise information that we no longer need.

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8 Your choices and rights

 

Depending on the circumstances, you have the right to:

  • ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;

  • ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;

  • ask us to delete information;

  • ask us to restrict how information is used;

  • object to certain uses of your information, including uses based on legitimate interests;

  • object to the use of your personal information for direct marketing;

  • withdraw consent where we rely on consent;

  • ask for certain information to be provided to you, or another organisation, in a portable format; and

  • complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your information has been handled unlawfully.

Some rights apply only in particular circumstances, and there may be lawful reasons why we cannot fulfil a request in full. If that happens, we will explain our response.

You can unsubscribe from The Dog Friendly Map marketing at any time using the unsubscribe link in our emails.

To exercise your rights or withdraw a consent, contact:

hello@thedogfriendlymap.co.uk

We may need to confirm your identity before providing information or acting on a request.

 

9 Cookies and analytics

 

The Dog Friendly Map may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website, remember preferences, understand website traffic and improve our services.

Some cookies are necessary for the website to work. Where the law requires permission for other cookies or tracking technologies, we will ask for it before using them.

You can manage your choices through our website’s cookie settings, where available, and through your browser settings.

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10 Security

 

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

No website or online system can guarantee absolute security, but we take proportionate measures appropriate to the information we hold.

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11 Children

 

The Dog Friendly Map is intended primarily for adults.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children for marketing purposes. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us inappropriately, please contact us and we will investigate and, where appropriate, delete it.

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12 Links to other websites

 

The Dog Friendly Map contains links to websites operated by other organisations.

Once you leave our website, that organisation is responsible for its own handling of personal information. We recommend checking its privacy information where appropriate.

 

13 Changes to this policy

 

We may update this Privacy Policy when The Dog Friendly Map, our services or the law changes.

If we make an important change to how we intend to use information we already hold, we will provide any further information or obtain any additional permission required by law before beginning that new use.

The latest version of this policy will always show the date it was last updated.

 

14 Contact us

 

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use personal information, please contact:

The Dog Friendly Map Ltd

Email: hello@thedogfriendlymap.co.uk

 

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) about the way your personal information has been handled.

For information about making a complaint, visit:

https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

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