Privacy Policy

Certification clients. When a dog is certified, we collect the handler’s name and contact details, the handler’s address, information about the dog (name, breed, sex, date of birth, and the tasks it performs), a photograph of the dog, and training and assessment records.

Website visitors. If you contact us through the website, we collect the name, email address, phone number (if provided), and the content of your message.

Verification activity. When an ID card is scanned or a registry profile is opened, we record limited technical information: the registration number viewed, an irreversibly hashed form of the visitor’s IP address (we do not store raw IP addresses), an approximate location (country, region, and city) derived from that address, the referring page, and a timestamp. This helps us confirm that verification is working, understand where our cards are used, and detect abuse.

Cookies. We use a single functional cookie to remember your language preference. We do not use advertising or third-party tracking cookies.

We use personal information to provide and administer certification, maintain the registry, and issue ID cards, certificates, and attestation letters; to operate the public verification tools; to respond to your inquiries; to protect the security and integrity of the registry and prevent misuse; and to meet our legal obligations.

Certification is a public verification service. Each registry profile displays the dog’s name, photo, breed, sex, date of birth, certification type, location of registration, issue date, registration number, status, and certificate, together with the handler’s name. This information is intended to be shown publicly so that airlines, businesses, and others can verify the certification.

We do not publish the handler’s address, contact details, or our internal notes. Clients consent to this public display as part of certification. If you wish to change or remove your public profile, contact us.

Under PIPEDA, we collect, use, and disclose personal information with your consent and for the purposes described in this policy. For visitors covered by the GDPR, we rely on your consent, the performance of our services to you, and our legitimate interest in operating and securing the registry. You may withdraw consent, subject to legal and contractual limits, by contacting us.

We do not sell personal information. We share it only with service providers that help us operate — for example, our hosting and database provider and our email-delivery provider — under agreements that limit their use of the information. We may disclose information where required by law or to protect our rights, and in connection with a business transfer.

We host data in Canada. Some service providers may process data outside your country; where they do, we take steps intended to protect it.

We keep certification and registry records for as long as a certification is maintained, and thereafter as needed for legitimate business, legal, and verification-integrity purposes. Contact-form messages are kept only as long as needed to handle your inquiry and our record of it.

We protect personal information with technical and organizational safeguards, including encryption in transit, restricted staff access, and storing only a hashed form of IP addresses. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information.

Subject to applicable law, you may request access to the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, and ask how we handle it. Where the GDPR applies, you may also request erasure, restriction, or portability, or object to certain processing. To make a request, contact us using the details below; we may need to verify your identity.

If you are in the EU and have concerns, you may contact your local data protection authority. In Canada, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Our services are directed to adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date above shows the latest version, and material changes will be reflected on this page.

For privacy questions or requests, contact us at support@servicepaws.ca or by phone at 1 (800) 777-0826.