Privacy Policy – Amico Fido

The data controller is:

Pietro Petrocchi Maestri Comacini 29B, Morbio Inferiore, 6834, Switzerland info@amico-fido.com

This policy applies to the Amico Fido mobile application (iOS and Android), the amico-fido.com website and related services, as well as to registered users and website visitors.

We collect identification data (name, email, username), authentication data (password, identifiers provided by Apple or Google), profile data (photo, language, timezone), dog-related data (name, breed, age, weight, allergies, photo, health status), user-generated content (posts, comments, stories, chat messages, reports), conversation history with Bia – our AI assistant (text of questions asked and answers received), location data (GPS coordinates, routes), technical data (notification tokens, IP address, error and app version information), data from situation simulator sessions (scenario, steps, choices, AI evaluations and feedback) and data relating to AI-generated photomontages (including outputs, history and related technical metadata), and subscription-related data.

Registration and account. Registration requires name, email and password. Access via Google or Apple is also available; in that case we receive the data returned by the provider (e.g. email and name) according to the user's chosen settings. Timezone and push notification tokens may also be collected during registration.

Profile. The user may provide profile photo, preferred language, username and privacy and notification settings.

Dog profiles. For each dog, the user may enter name, breed, age, weight, colour, allergies, diet, medications, notes, microchip, sterilisation and photo. For lost dogs, last known location and date may be indicated.

Content. The user creates posts, comments, stories, chat messages, reports and other community content, including images, videos and, where available, voice messages.

Toxicity check. The feature to verify toxicity of foods and plants for dogs and cats requires sending images or the name of the substance to be checked.

AI photomontages. To generate a photomontage you upload a photograph; the image is sent to artificial intelligence providers for analysis and to produce the result. Where provided by the service, technical parameters or descriptive prompt text (including text derived from image analysis) may also be stored, together with the output image and a history of generations.

Situation simulator (AI). This offers interactive narrative scenarios. During a session we process simulation content (scenario texts, steps, choices made, evaluations and feedback) and, if you select a dog, relevant dog profile data held in your account (such as name, breed, age, weight, sterilisation status, allergies, medications, diet, notes and other profile information) to personalise AI responses. A supporting context based on date, time and account timezone may be included. Such content may be processed through AI providers and retained as required for the service.

Contacts. The website has a contact form that collects name, email and message.

Location. When the user consents, we collect location to display the map, nearby reports and lost dogs. Safe Walk also requires background location during the walk.

Technical data. We collect IP address, push notification tokens, error and crash information (message, technical context, app version, platform) to ensure the service works and improve its quality. For detecting and analysing errors in the mobile app we may use specialised third-party services (in particular Sentry), in accordance with their respective privacy policies.

Website. On the website we use Simple Analytics (Simple Analytics B.V., European Union) for aggregated traffic statistics: it does not set profiling cookies, does not perform identifiable personal tracking and is not used for behavioural advertising or remarketing. We do not use Google Ads conversion tags or other advertising or marketing tracking tools.

Cookies and similar technologies. The website uses technical cookies that are strictly necessary for the functioning of the pages (e.g. NEXT_LOCALE for language preference). For cookie consent management and recording of user choices we use the Kukie.io platform (cookie banner and consent logging). We do not use profiling cookies or cookies for behavioural advertising purposes. We use Google reCAPTCHA v3 (Google) on contact forms and other public forms to prevent spam and abuse: technical and interaction data may be processed in accordance with Google's privacy policy.

Legal pages loaded via WebView in the mobile app (privacy and terms in embed mode) do not include the Kukie.io banner or Simple Analytics.

When accessing via Google or Apple, we receive the data returned by these providers. For subscriptions and in-app purchases we receive membership status information from specialised platforms that interface with digital stores (App Store, Google Play), in particular RevenueCat.

Data is processed to enable registration and authentication, service delivery, user profile and dog profile management, community participation (posts, stories, comments, chat), reports and geolocation features, Safe Walk, AI-based features (including maintaining conversational context across sessions to personalise responses from the Bia AI assistant), push notifications, subscription and in-app purchase management, moderation and security, assistance and user contact, as well as for analysis and service improvement and to comply with legal obligations.

Processing is based on contract performance for the main service features, on consent when required (e.g. for certain notifications or optional features), on legitimate interest for moderation, security and analysis, and on legal obligations when applicable.

Registration requires name, email and password. Access via Google or Apple uses data returned by the provider. IP address, timezone and push notification tokens may be recorded at registration. Acceptance of the Terms and Conditions and this Privacy Policy is mandatory and is recorded with date and version.

User profile. The user may manage name, profile photo, language, timezone, username and privacy settings (e.g. profile and username visibility) and location settings (geolocation activation, notification radius).

Dog profiles. For each dog, the user may enter and update personal data, health data, diary and memories (events, media, audio). For lost dogs, last known location and date may be indicated.

Sharing. The dog profile and diary may be shared via link or QR code. Shared content is visible to anyone with the link.

Diary on the web. Anyone with the diary share link may view, on a page on amico-fido.com without creating an account, the content you choose to share (text, photos, videos, locations, optional background music if enabled). Sharing remains under your control and can be turned off in the app.

Visibility. Posts and stories are visible to community users according to settings. Comments are associated with posts and visible to users. Chat allows private messages between users. Reports are visible on the map according to service settings. Content visibility may vary depending on the feature used, account settings, content nature and sharing methods provided by the service.

Moderation. Text and images are subject to automatic checks to prevent inappropriate content. Content that violates the rules may be rejected or reported.

Location is required to create reports (dangers, lost dogs, etc.). Reports are displayed on the map and associated with the account. The map uses location to show clusters and nearby reports and to filter lost dogs based on the area of interest configured by the user.

Safe Walk requires permission to use location in the background when you actively start a walk. During the session we may process and store: start and end coordinates, route points (polyline), duration, distance, speed, estimated calories, pauses, approximate weather data, geolocated photos taken during the walk and statistics linked to your profile.

Background location and heartbeat. To keep the session active with the screen off or the app in the background, the service may periodically send location updates to the server (heartbeat) and use a background geolocation plugin (in particular TransistorSoft Background Geolocation). Such data is used to record the route, sync the session with the server, generate alerts about nearby dangers and retain walk history.

Public sharing and trust circle. Where provided by the service and applicable subscriptions, you may enable real-time sharing with other users (trust circle) or generate a public link to view the route. In such cases, location and/or route may be visible to people you authorise or anyone with the link, according to your settings. Sharing can be disabled in the app.

Danger alerts. When you approach geolocated danger reports, the app may show in-app alerts and, if configured, send a summary email to your own address. We do not send danger alert emails to unauthorised third parties.

Maps and third parties. Static route maps may use third-party map services (in particular Google Maps Static API). For weather, rounded coordinates may be sent to Open-Meteo. Real-time presence and messaging during Safe Walk may use services such as Ably.

Retention. Completed walk data remains linked to your account for history, statistics and replay features until deleted by you or upon account deletion, subject to legal obligations. You may stop tracking at any time by ending or cancelling the walk.

Amico Fido may offer features supported by artificial intelligence technologies, such as informative chat (Ask Bia), verification of toxicity of foods, plants or substances, generation of dog-related descriptions, analysis of images or videos, AI photomontages, an interactive situation simulator and tools to support training activities.

For the provision of these features, some content sent by the user, such as text, images, videos or dog-related data, may be processed through third-party technology providers specialised in artificial intelligence services, who operate, as the case may be, as service providers or autonomous controllers under their respective terms and policies.

Among the main AI technology providers used may be OpenAI, L.L.C. (San Francisco, CA, USA), pursuant to their own terms and privacy policies.

The use of these features is for informational, support and experience improvement purposes and does not replace the advice of qualified professionals, including veterinarians, trainers or educators, where necessary.

The artificial intelligence features offered by Amico Fido do not constitute automated decision-making within the meaning of Article 22 of the GDPR that produces legal effects or similarly significantly affects users; they are exclusively informational and supportive in nature, and decisions always remain with the user.

The user is invited not to enter unnecessary personal data, information exceeding the request made or content they do not wish to be processed for the provision of the service in the AI-based features.

AI service providers may have their headquarters or servers outside the European Union or Switzerland. For more information on international transfers, see section 21.

We use the device notification token to send push communications related to the service. Notifications may concern, for example: nearby danger reports, lost dogs, community activity (posts, comments, reactions), chat messages, Walk Buddy invitations, Safe Walk updates, wellness reminders, moderation approvals or outcomes, premium features and other technical or service alerts.

Delivery is via specialised providers (in particular OneSignal), which in turn use Apple Push Notification service (APNs) on iOS and Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) on Android. OneSignal and push providers may process device tokens, technical identifiers and metadata necessary to deliver messages.

You may manage or disable notifications in app and device settings. Some notifications essential for account security or legal obligations may not be fully disableable where required.

Subscriptions (Amico Fido Club, Amico Fido Academy and similar) are managed through digital stores (App Store, Google Play) and through RevenueCat, a platform that verifies subscription status in connection with the stores. We do not receive credit card data; payments are handled by the stores. The support link may lead to donation pages managed by third parties; in that case payments are handled by the payment service provider.

Content is subject to automatic checks on text and images. Users may report inappropriate content and block other users. Suspicious chat messages may be quarantined. We record errors and activity to ensure security and proper service operation.

The "Contact us" form on the website collects name, email and message. It is protected by anti-spam tools. The app may offer a dedicated screen for contacting support.

Data may be disclosed to:

Some of these providers may have headquarters or servers in the United States or other countries outside the EU and Switzerland.

Data may also be disclosed to consultants, collaborators and infrastructure, hosting and storage providers, to the extent strictly necessary for service provision and security.

Some of the providers used by Amico Fido may have their headquarters or servers in countries outside the European Union or Switzerland.

When this occurs, the processing of personal data takes place in compliance with applicable legislation and, where required, on the basis of one of the transfer mechanisms recognised by law, such as adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses or other appropriate safeguards.

Further information on international transfers and applicable safeguards may be requested at the contact details indicated in this policy.

Personal data is retained for no longer than necessary to achieve the purposes for which it was collected and processed, unless applicable legislation requires or permits longer retention periods.

Retention periods may vary depending on the category of data, the purpose of processing, the need to handle disputes or user requests, as well as applicable legal, tax, administrative or security obligations.

Active account data is generally retained until account deletion. Session data is retained for the time necessary to provide the service. Logs and error and security information are retained for a limited period, proportionate to monitoring, protection and debugging needs.

Content deleted by the user and data associated with the deleted account may be removed according to normal technical processes of retention, backup, cleanup and system security.

The user may request deletion of their account through the features available in the app. The procedure may require password confirmation or other security checks.

Upon deletion request, the account is deactivated and subject to a process of deletion, anonymisation or cleanup of associated data and content, within the limits and timeframes compatible with service operation, internal technical processes, legal obligations and any needs to protect the controller's rights.

Access tokens are revoked and main account-related features cease to be available. Some content or files on storage, cache or backup systems may be removed at a later time, according to normal technical retention and cleanup cycles.

Once the deletion procedure is complete, the account cannot be restored, except where retention of specific data is necessary for legal obligations, security reasons, abuse prevention or protection of the controller's rights.

Under the GDPR and FADP, the user may exercise the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection, as well as withdraw consent where applicable. They may also lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority (in Italy, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali; in Switzerland, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner – FDPIC). To exercise these rights, the user may contact the controller at the details indicated in sections 2 and 28.

The service is not intended for users who do not meet the minimum age required by applicable legislation to use digital services autonomously or to validly give consent (generally at least 16 years of age in the European Union pursuant to the GDPR, unless otherwise provided by national law; 13 years of age in the United States pursuant to COPPA), except with the involvement of the holder of parental responsibility, where required.

If we become aware that personal data of a minor has been collected in violation of applicable legislation, we will take reasonably necessary measures to remove such data or limit its processing.

Passwords are processed and stored with appropriate technical measures, according to suitable security standards. Communications are protected via cryptographic protocols. Access to data is limited to authorised personnel. Moderation measures and controls are in place to prevent abuse and ensure service security.

This policy may be updated to reflect changes to the service or legislation. Significant changes will be communicated via the app or email. The date of last update is indicated at the top of the document.

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights:

Pietro Petrocchi Maestri Comacini 29B, Morbio Inferiore, 6834, Switzerland info@amico-fido.com

The following information supplements this Privacy Policy for users who reside in the United States, with particular reference to California residents and other States that provide specific privacy rights, where applicable.

1. Scope of application. This section applies to users who reside in the United States and use the Amico Fido mobile application, website or related services. The applicability of specific laws (such as the California Consumer Privacy Act and its amendments) depends on the thresholds and requirements set out in each regulation. In case of doubt about applicability, you may contact the controller at the contact details indicated below.

2. Categories of personal data collected. In line with what is described in the preceding sections, the categories of personal data that may be collected include: identifiers (name, email, username), authentication data (password, identifiers provided by Apple or Google), profile data (photo, language, timezone), dog-related data (name, breed, age, weight, allergies, photo, health status), user-generated content (posts, comments, stories, chat messages, reports), location data (GPS coordinates, routes, including tracking during Safe Walk), technical data (notification tokens, IP address, error and app version information), data from situation simulator sessions (scenario, steps, choices, AI evaluations and feedback) and data relating to AI-generated photomontages (including outputs, history and related technical metadata), and subscription-related data. Where applicable law so provides, precise location data may qualify as sensitive information.

3. Sources of personal data. Data is obtained directly from the user (registration, profile, content, settings), from the device (location, tokens, technical data), from third parties (Google, Apple, subscription platforms and digital stores) and, on the website, from privacy-oriented analytics tools.

4. Purposes of use. Data is used for service delivery, account and profile management, community, reports, Safe Walk, AI-based features, push notifications, subscriptions, moderation, security, support and service improvement, as described in the preceding sections.

5. Categories of third-party recipients. Data may be disclosed to artificial intelligence, moderation, push notification, real-time chat, maps and geolocation, payment and subscription, analytics and monitoring service providers, as well as to authentication providers (Google, Apple), consultants, collaborators and infrastructure, hosting and storage providers, to the extent necessary for service delivery and security. Some of these parties have their headquarters or servers in the United States.

6. Privacy rights recognised to residents in the United States, where applicable. Where applicable law so provides, residents in the United States may have the right, among others, to: know the categories and purposes of data collection and use; access personal data; request deletion; request rectification; request data portability; object to or limit certain uses; not be discriminated against for exercising such rights. The existence and scope of such rights depend on the applicable law and applicability thresholds.

7. Sale, sharing and targeted advertising. Amico Fido does not sell personal data in the commonly understood sense and, based on the current configuration of the service, does not appear to engage in the sale or sharing of personal data for cross-context behavioral advertising or targeted advertising purposes, subject to any different legal classifications under applicable law.

8. How to exercise your rights. To exercise the rights provided by applicable law, you may contact the controller at the contact details indicated in the "Contacts" section of this policy, specifying, where possible, the right you wish to exercise and the information useful to identify your account.

9. Identity verification. To protect personal data, the controller may require identity verification before processing requests for access, deletion or portability. Verification methods will be proportionate to the type of request and the privacy risk.

10. Non-discrimination. Where applicable law so provides, the controller will not discriminate against users for having exercised their privacy rights, for example by applying different prices or denying access to the service, except where differential treatment is permitted or required by law.

11. Privacy contacts. For questions about this section or to exercise the rights of residents in the United States: Pietro Petrocchi, Maestri Comacini 29B, Morbio Inferiore, 6834, Switzerland, info@amico-fido.com.

12. COPPA. The service is not directed to children under the age of 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child under the age of 13 without verifiable parental or guardian consent, we will take reasonable steps to remove such data.

Within the Amico Fido service (in particular via the mobile application) a feature may be available that lets you upload a photograph (for example of your dog alone or with people in the same frame). The image is sent to artificial intelligence providers for analysis and to generate an edited image (photomontage). The output may be stored in your account together with a history of generations, as provided by the service.

You choose voluntarily which photos to upload. You should obtain any necessary consent from people shown in the photo before uploading. Processing follows the purposes described in the section on AI-based features and international transfers; the individual technology providers’ terms may also apply.

For service, security and technical support purposes, the English-language prompt text used by the system for generation (following image analysis) may also be stored, together with the output image and metadata associated with the creation.

When a user (including users who are not logged in) submits an “I saw this dog” report through the flow linked to the dog’s QR tag, the following data may be processed: optional name, email address and/or phone number (at least one is required so the owner can reply), descriptive text, a photograph and geolocation coordinates if the reporter chooses to include them.

Purposes: to let the owner (and authorised co-owners) of the affected dog receive the report and contact the reporter solely about that sighting; we do not use these contact details for marketing or unrelated purposes.

Recipients: the controller and necessary technical processors (hosting, email delivery, database). The reporter’s contact details are visible only to the owner/co-owner of the dog concerned, in line with the app’s settings.

Legal basis: explicit consent of the reporter to use the contact details provided (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR); legitimate interests of the dog’s owner in receiving a report about their lost dog (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), balanced with the reporter’s rights. For photos and location, the legal bases described elsewhere in this policy apply where relevant.

Retention: data are kept for as long as needed to handle the lost-dog case and, as stated in the app at the time of submission, for up to 90 days after the lost-dog report for that dog is closed (i.e. when the dog is no longer marked as lost), unless a longer period is required by law or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Rights: reporters may exercise GDPR rights (access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection where applicable, complaint to a supervisory authority) by contacting the controller at the details in the Contacts section of this policy and specifying the report concerned.

Walk Buddy (and related discovery/playmates features) lets you search for other dog owners in an area you choose. To provide the service, we may process: dog profile identifier, photo, compatibility tags, visibility preferences, search area (coordinates and radius), approximate distance in kilometres to other active profiles, contact requests, matches and related messages.

Where available, you may browse or search in an area without being visible to others until you explicitly activate your visibility. Your exact location is not shown to other users: an approximate representation (zone/area) is used to calculate distances and suggestions.

Purpose: to facilitate consensual meetings between owners for joint walks, manage requests and match-related chat, prevent abuse and improve the service experience. Data is retained for as long as needed to manage the discovery profile, active connections and pending requests, until you deactivate the feature or delete your account.

The dog social profile lets you display selected information to other platform users (name, photo, tags, temporary statuses, sociability preferences, availability). You control activation and visibility from the app settings.

Temporary statuses (for example "looking for companions", "on a walk", "do not disturb") may be visible according to your settings and may affect discovery and notifications.

The public profile accessible via QR or link (tag/collar card) may show information useful if the dog is found, distinct from the internal community social profile. You are responsible for information made public via QR, link or sharing settings.

The wellness section lets you record health and care data for your dog, such as vaccinations, veterinary visits, treatments, batch numbers, reminders and notes. Such data is linked to the dog profile and accessible to authorised users on the account (owner and co-owner, where configured).

Purpose: to let you keep an organised history of your pet's health and receive useful reminders. Wellness data does not replace official clinical records and is not automatically shared with veterinarians or third parties unless you explicitly choose to do so.

Retention: until manual deletion of entries, removal of the dog profile or account deletion, subject to legal obligations.

The dog horoscope feature is for entertainment purposes only. Generated content does not constitute veterinary, behavioural or predictive advice.

To generate entertainment text, minimal dog profile data already in the app may be used (for example name and zodiac sign derived from date of birth). We do not send health data, location, chat or other sensitive dog information to artificial intelligence models for this feature beyond what is strictly necessary for the configured entertainment text.

The Bia digest is a periodic summary generated by the AI assistant that may aggregate, where available and enabled by you, information from different areas of the app: wellness reminders, diary notes, recent activity and relevant messages from service-related chats.

To generate the digest, such content may be processed through artificial intelligence providers (in particular OpenAI) solely to produce the requested or configured summary. You may disable or ignore this feature where provided in settings.

We do not use the digest for advertising profiling. Generated digests are retained for as long as needed to show their history in the app, unless deleted by you or upon account deletion.

Amico Fido may offer or integrate GPS hardware devices (collars/trackers) and associated cloud services. When you link a device, we may process: device identifier, association data with the dog profile, GPS location of the device, route history, battery status, geofence events, connectivity data and technical logs necessary for operation.

Purpose: dog location, movement history, virtual fence, alerts when leaving safe zones, integration with the danger map and premium app features. Data may transit through M2M/SIM connectivity gateways or GPS service cloud infrastructure.

Device location is visible to authorised users on the dog's account (owner/co-owner). We do not sell device location data to third parties for marketing. Retention as indicated in GPS service settings and until device disassociation or account deletion, subject to legal obligations.

Stories are temporary visual content visible to community users according to service settings. By default, a story may be available for a limited period (typically up to 24 hours from publication), unless different technical or product configurations apply.

We may process: image or video, publication metadata, views (viewer tracking) and related interactions. Views are used to show the author who viewed the story and to prevent abuse.

Stories follow the same community content moderation rules. You are responsible for published content and its compliance with the Community Guidelines.

The app offers private messaging between users, community chat (themed rooms) and chat linked to lost dogs or Walk Buddy. Messages may include text, images and, where provided, other attachments.

Messages are stored on our systems and with technical providers (including real-time chat services) to enable delivery, history, moderation and security. Chats do not use end-to-end encryption: the controller and involved technical providers may access content to the extent necessary for service provision, moderation, security and legal obligations.

You should not send unnecessary sensitive data in chat. In case of abusive conduct, you may block other users and report content.

The app mainly distinguishes two types of report:

For geolocated reports we may process text, media, coordinates, category and associated metadata. For content reports we process information necessary to review the report.

Local drafts. To improve user experience, report drafts or forms (for example create-report) may be saved temporarily in local device memory (MMKV/AsyncStorage) until you complete or cancel submission. Such drafts are not synced to other devices unless explicitly submitted.

The app may offer access via device biometric recognition (Face ID, Touch ID, Android fingerprint) to unlock the app or reopen an already authenticated session. Biometrics are managed by the operating system: Amico Fido does not receive or store fingerprints or biometric templates.

Credentials and tokens. Passwords, session tokens and sensitive preferences may be stored in secure device stores (in particular Expo SecureStore on iOS/Android). Other configuration and cache data may reside in local app storage (MMKV/AsyncStorage) for offline operation, performance and session recovery.

You are advised to protect your device with a system passcode/biometric and not to share login credentials.

Distinct from sighting reports (section 31), the "Contact owner" form — available on the lost dog's public profile (app and website) — lets anyone with information send a message to the owner.

We may process: name, email and/or phone (at least one required), message text, acceptance of Privacy Policy and Terms, optional anti-abuse token (reCAPTCHA on the web) and technical submission metadata.

Purpose: to forward the message to the owner (and authorised co-owners) solely to manage the loss. The sender's contact details are visible to the owner to enable follow-up. Legal basis: sender's consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) and legitimate interest of the owner in receiving communications about their lost dog (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Retention: for as long as needed to manage the loss and up to 90 days after the "lost" status for that dog is closed, subject to legal obligations. The sender may exercise GDPR rights by contacting the controller at the details in this policy.