TERMS OF SERVICE

by | Feb 6, 2022 | Samples legal papers

TERMS OF SERVICE 

Welcome to PAWS AND WOOF!

Paws and Woof Pty Ltd ACN 624 186 107 (hereafter referred to as “Paws and Woof”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) provides the Paws and Woof Platform including a suite of software applications and websites that enable Pet Owners to find Pet Sitters that want to provide housing for Pets and/or other Pet Services. The Paws and Woof Platform was set up to help provide Users with a means of offering and booking such Pet Services.

Our website address/ business name is www.pawsandwoof.com / Paws and Woof.

These Terms govern the relationship between Paws and Woof Pet Sitting and The Client. If you do not agree to these Terms, You must not use the Platform in any way, including without limitation to contact, communicate with, or otherwise obtain information from Users via the Platform.

Paws and Woof and all of its representatives shall be referred hereafter as [We/Us/ Pet Sitter/ our]. By using our services, you agree to the following terms:

  • SERVICES
      1. By using our services, you warrant that you are 18 years of age or older. Minors should have consent from a parent or guardian. The parent/ guardian should provide us with proof and take full responsibility of the actions of the minor. 
      2. Pet Sitter is authorized to perform care and services as outlined in this agreement. The terms of this agreement shall apply to any and all pets owned by Client, including any and all new pets that the Client obtains on or after the date this document is executed.
      3. Pet Sitter agrees to provide the services stated in this agreement in a reliable, caring and trustworthy manner. In consideration of these services and as an express condition thereof, Client expressly waives and relinquishes any and all claims against Pet Sitter, except for those arising from the negligence of Pet Sitter.
  • PAYMENTS

Pet service fee is 20% including GTS.

  • MEDICAL EMERGENCIES
      1. If a medical emergency arises, Pet Sitter will make every effort to contact the Client before seeking medical treatment for the pet(s). However, if time is of the essence or Pet Sitter is unable to reach Client, Client authorizes Pet Sitter to take the pet(s) to the nearest veterinary hospital for treatment. Client agrees to reimburse Pet Sitter for all services rendered to the pet(s) should such a medical emergency arise. Client releases Pet Sitter from any and all liabilities related to transportation, treatment and expenses.
      2.  Client is responsible for making sure that all of client’s pets have received all current required and recommended vaccinations required by the Laws of Australia. In the event Pet Sitter or a third-party (another pet or person) is bitten or injured by Client’s pet(s), Client agrees to pay all medical expenses, costs and lost wages incurred by Pet Sitter or third-party due to such injury. Client agrees to indemnify, hold harmless, and defend Pet Sitter, in the event of a claim by any person injured by Client’s pet. Pet Sitter is not responsible nor will be held liable for any veterinary expenses incurred on pet(s) during or after the pet(s) stay with Pet sitter. With the interaction of pet(s), there is always a chance of injury and the possibility of infectious disease being passed between animals. The client assumes all risk of injury or illness to the client’s pet(s) during or after the boarding and/or pet sitting care of client’s pet(s) by Pet Sitter.
  • FAILURE TO RETRIEVE PET

If an Owner makes a Booking with us and fails to retrieve the relevant Pet(s) within five (5) days (or any earlier time period provided by any applicable law) after the date specified in the relevant Booking for the completion of the Pet Services, the Owner agrees that we may (but has no obligation to), in its sole discretion, place or arrange a third party to place the relevant Pet(s) in foster care, shelter or similar and may notify the relevant authorities.  Each Owner agrees that they are solely responsible for and indemnify us for all costs, expenses and liabilities that we may incur arising directly or indirectly from the Owner failing to retrieve the relevant Pets with respect to any Booking of the Owner.  Nothing in these Terms operates to limit any applicable laws that may apply to an Owner’s failure to retrieve Pet(s) with respect to any Booking of the Owner, including any applicable animal abandonment or cruelty laws.

  • NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES

We reserves the right to change these conditions from time to time as we sees fit and your continued use of the site will signify your acceptance of any adjustment to these terms. If there are any changes to our privacy policy, we will announce that these changes have been made on our home page and on other key pages on our site. You are advised to re-read this statement on a regular basis.

  • RELATIONSHIP OF THE PARTIES

Nothing contained in this Contract will be construed to create an employer and employee relationship between Paws & Woof and the Client. The Company and the client agree that Paws & Woof is, and at all times during this Contract shall remain, an independent contractor.

  •  INSURANCE
    1. Paws & Woof recommends that Clients obtain appropriate insurance for their Pet Services. Our insurance is secondary to any other relevant insurance the client may have. Please review any insurance policy that You may have for Your Pet Services carefully, and in particular please make sure that You are familiar with and understand any exclusions to, and any deductibles that may apply for, such insurance policy, including, but not limited to, whether or not your insurance policy will cover the actions or inactions of pets with respect to which You provide any Pet Services. Please note that the failure to advise your insurance company (whether for Homeowner’s, Renter’s or other insurance) about your activities relating to Pet Services may void your coverage or result in denial of an otherwise covered claim.
    2. We provide Public Liability insurance for bookings that are made and paid through the Platform. Public liability covers you from liability to pay compensation to a third party for damage to property or personal injury as a result of the Sitter’s negligence whilst the Pet is under the Sitter’s care.
    3. For full details on our Insurance cover, please visit      www.Pawsandwoof.com/about/pawsandwoofaccident-cover. Each client acknowledges that our Insurance does not apply in the case that the client has not strictly complied with these Terms.
    4. If You believe that any incident is covered under the Insurance Services, You must provide us with written notice of the incident, along with all material documentation available to You evidencing the foregoing (e.g. invoices and veterinary notes from the initial veterinary examination), no later than seven (7) days after the end date that the Pet Services were provided under the relevant Booking.
    5. The Insurance Services are not available in any jurisdiction where prohibited.

Paws & Woof will in good faith decide whether or not the client has complied with these Terms in determining whether the client may be eligible under the Insurance Services. The Insurance Services will only apply to the extent that the client(s) is/are unable to claim or is denied to claim any other insurance policy that the client(s) may have. Each client agrees to provide any information to us or the relevant insurance providers regarding any claim. This includes any other insurance policies the User may have.

  1. The Insurance Services do not confer or imply any additional rights or claims to clients. Furthermore, the Insurance Services do not create any rights or claims for clients against us, nor take away any responsibility and liability from the Sitter. Clients acknowledge that they are not a third-party beneficiary of any Insurance Services and they have no right to assert any contribution, offset, or indemnification from us with respect to any liability of a client for property damage, personal injury, injury to family members or any other persons living in the same household.
  2. To the maximum extent permissible by any applicable law, we reserve the right to modify or terminate the Insurance Services, at any time, in its sole discretion, and without prior notice. If we modify/terminate the Insurance Services cover in accordance with the foregoing, Paws & Woof will provide You with notice of such modification/termination and will continue to process claims filed prior to the effective date of the modification/termination where possible. Such modifications may include, without limitation, conditions on your eligibility under the Insurance Services cover. By continuing to access or use Our Services and the Platform after we have posted a modification on the Platform or have provided you with notice of a modification, you are indicating that you agree to be bound by the modified Insurance cover. If the modified Insurance Services cover is not acceptable to You, You must cease using Our Services and the Platform immediately.

Exclusions

It is important to understand that the insurance does not cover the Sitter for the following:

  • If the Service is being provided at the Pet Sitter’s home, Damage caused by the guest pet to the Pet Sitter’s personal property. This applies to the personal property of all persons living in the same household as the Sitter;
  • If the Service is being provided at the Pet Owner’s home, Damage caused by the guest pet to the Pet Owner’s personal property;
  • If the Service is being provided at the Pet Owner’s home, Damage caused by the Sitter to the Pet Owner’s personal property;
  • Bodily harm or physical injuries to the Sitter, Sitter’s family or any other person living in the same household caused by the guest pet;
  • Injuries to the Sitter’s own pet(s) or the pet(s) of any other person living in the same household caused by the guest pet;
  • Sitter cannot have any criminal convictions in past 5 years (excluding traffic violations). We will ask about this in a phone call as part of the claims process. This information will be strictly used for insurance purposes only and will in no way be publicly disclosed;
  • Pets with any medical conditions requiring ongoing treatment must be referred to Paws & Woof for approval;
  • Pets involved in a previous attack with another animal or human that required medical treatment;
  • Treatment of pre-existing veterinary conditions, illness, old age or flea/tick situations. If a guest pet has or had any condition, whether diagnosed by a qualified veterinarian or not, before, during or after the Pet Service, it is considered pre-existing. Any symptoms that are found to be related to stress/anxiety are also considered to be pre-existing as this condition is inherently present depending on each pet;
  • Any self-inflicted wounds that are caused by itching, scratching, biting, gnawing, etc. due to allergies or any other type of pre-existing condition;
  • Any council fines and/or pound charges related to the Pet running away whilst under the Sitter’s care;
  • Damage or medical care required as a result of any Meet and Greet appointments arranged between Owners and Sitters;
  • All Exotic Animals – i.e. animals other than dogs, cats, rabbits, small birds or guinea pigs;
  • Boarding Kennels: no commercially run boarding kennels will be covered;
  • Reduction in Value: this policy does not cover for the ‘value’ of any pet’s ‘show’ value;
  • Breach of professional duty, such as not following Rules or walking an animal off a leash in an area where this is reasonably considered not to be suitable.
  1. PROPERTY DAMAGE

The Insurance Services do not cover any property damage caused by a Pet or by a Sitter to a Sitter or Owner’s property or any other person’s property living in the same household as the Sitter, nor does it cover any damage to a client’s property directly or indirectly caused by the Pet Services.  Notwithstanding this, You acknowledge and agree that we do not have any responsibility to reimburse or otherwise cover You for any property damage whatsoever, and You hereby indemnify, release and hold harmless Paws & Woof with respect to any cost, expenses or liabilities incurred directly or indirectly in connection with any Pet Services, including with respect to any damage of property.

  1. RISK MANAGEMENT
    1. This clause applies notwithstanding anything in these Terms to the contrary. Paws & Woof and its affiliates and Third Party Providers and their respective directors, officers and/or employees (collectively referred to as ‘Paws & Woof entities’) disclaim all risk of any loss, liability or damage (including personal injury, property damage, or death to any person or animal), which may arise in relation to the client’s use of the Platform, Our Services or the Pet Services (whether arising in breach of contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise), to the maximum extent permitted at law. 
    2. Each User acknowledges that Our Services and Pet Services facilitated through the Platform are not appropriate for all animals and Pets. Each User acknowledges and agrees that Paws & Woof is in no way responsible for any determination as to whether Our Services are appropriate or suitable for any Pet, nor are we responsible for any determination as to whether any Sitter is appropriate or suitable for the provision of Pet Services in relation to any Pet.
    3. To the maximum extent allowed at law, we makes no guarantee, representation or warranty regarding any User Generated Content, including with respect to the accuracy or reliability of any User Feedback, comments or ratings on Sitters on the Platform, nor as to the quality, security or positive features of the Sitter or any location where Pet Services are provided.
    4. Paws & Woof is not a party in any Booking, agreement or transaction between Users. We are not responsible for verifying or authenticating any User Generated Content and any other details provided by or about a User on the Platform, including with respect to any insurance coverage held by the User or any medical certifications.  Each Owner and Sitter must make available all relevant information reasonably required in connection with the provision of Pet Services, including with respect to any medical issues, allergies or other conditions that may be relevant to the Pet Services.

 

  1.  FAIR CONDUCT AND USE OF PLATFORM

Users must only use the Platform, Our Services and the Pet Services in good faith and with respect for each other User. We reserves the right to review, suspend or terminate Your Account or Your access to the Platform if we determine that You have breached or threaten to breach any of these Terms.  Without limitation, you must not do any of the following with respect to the Platform or Our Services:

  • Use or access the Platform for a commercial purpose other than the provision or receipt of Pet Services;
  • Change, or copy any Content on the Platform, for any purpose other than in the proper use of Our Services or the Platform, such as updating Your Profile in good faith;
  • Post any misleading, untrue, offensive, malicious or otherwise inappropriate Content on or to the Platform;
  • Use or access the Platform with the intention to harm, or use that would likely result in damage of any way to any person or animal, as can be reasonably foreseen by a reasonable person;
  • Take any steps with the goal of bypassing these Terms or to make unauthorized use of the Platform or to avoid any payments that need to be made related to the Platform in accordance with these Terms;
  • Use the Platform for any purpose that violates any applicable state, national or international laws. This also holds for any use of any Content on the Platform that in any manner violates any applicable laws and regulations (including laws relating to trademark, copyright, confidentiality, telecommunications and/or privacy) or in any way, which may infringe the rights of any person;
  • Disguise the origin of information transmitted to, through or from the Platform;
  • Impersonate another person or entity or allow any other person or entity to impersonate You or access Your Account;
  • Collect information about Users or the Platform or monitor all or part of the Platform or any Content contained on the Platform (whether manually or in an automated manner such as crawling, indexing, deep-linking, page-scraping or any program, other automatic device, methodology or algorithm);
  • Distribute viruses or other harmful computer code to or on the Platform; or
  • Otherwise use Our Services or the Platform in a way that was not intended by us.

Users have the right to filter objectionable, defamatory or offensive material. This can be achieved in multiple ways across the Platform. Some of these methods are listed below:

  • Flagging a User’s profile as inappropriate;
  • Direct e-mail to Paws & Woof and;
  • Direct phone contact 

We will use the best endeavors to assess and respond to any complaints related to User Generated Content as soon as reasonably practicable.

  1. FEEDBACK

We welcome any feedback from Users with respect to Our Services.  In order to create a fair and impartial representation of Our Service provision, each User agrees to actively engage in the Feedback process and post their honest and impartial Feedback after using Pet Services as follows:

  • If the User is an Owner, Feedback should be given on each Sitter whose Pet Services the Owner has used; and
  • If the User is a Sitter, Feedback can be given on each Owner to whom the Sitter has provided Pet Services, as well as the relevant Pet.

In case you fail to do so, we reserves the right, at its discretion, to terminate or suspend Your registration or Access to all or part of the Platform.

Users are also encouraged to add reviews of other Pet Services that they have used or provided in the past.

  • DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATIONS TO LIABILITY RELATING TO USE OF OUR WEBSITE
  • Our Company is only liable to you for damage caused intentionally or by gross negligence. Exemption from or limitation on liability for damages under the previous paragraphs also applies to any claims that may exist against employees or agents of our Company. The Website is provided on an “AS IS,” “as available” basis. Neither our Company nor its affiliates, subsidiaries, or designees nor each of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents (collectively “affiliates”) warrant that use of the Website will be uninterrupted or error-free. Neither our Company nor its affiliates warrant the accuracy, integrity or completeness of the content provided on the Website. You expressly agree that use of the Website is at your sole risk. You agree that under no circumstances shall our Company or its affiliates be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that result from the use of or inability to use the Website, including but not limited to reliance by a user on any information obtained on the Website or that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files or e-mail errors, defects, viruses, delays in operation or transmission, or any failure of performance, whether or not resulting from acts of God, communications failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to our Company’s records, programs or services. The foregoing limitation of liability shall apply whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort. The above limitations of liability apply to all claims for damages no matter what the legal grounds may be, inclusive of tortuous acts; they do not apply to potential liability according to the regulations on product liability. The rights of the consumers based on the consumer protection laws in force are not affected.
      1. When dealing with other users in this platform, any disputes that may arise shall not be tackled by us. We exempt ourselves from any and all issues that may arise as a result of interacting with other users that use this platform.  
  • TERMINATION

In the event when you breach or threaten to breach these Terms, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate Your Account and/or Your access to any part or all of the Platform and Our Services at any time without prior notice. If you are awaiting delivery of services (including any Pet Services pursuant to a Booking), we reserves the right to cancel the delivery of such services. A refund may be issued.

We may, in our sole discretion and with or without prior notice, without liability to you, with or without cause, and at any time: 

(a) Terminate these Terms or Your access to the Platform, and 

(b) Deactivate or cancel Your Account or registration or similar uses of the Platform. our proprietary rights, indemnities, disclaimer of warranties, limitations of liability and miscellaneous provisions shall survive any such termination. We may provide notice of termination by regular mail or email, but we are not obliged to do so. You may cancel Your Account at any time by sending an email to service@pawsandwoof.com.  However, it is important to note that you are personally liable for any Bookings, orders, Listings or pending transactions that apply to you or charges that you incur prior to your termination/cancellation. Please note that if Your Account is cancelled, we do not have an obligation to delete or return to You any Content that You have posted on or to the Platform.

Each Owner and Sitter agrees to the cancellation rules set forth below with respect to each Booking made through the Platform.

  1. Cancellations & Refunds before the start of the Booking

Owners – if you are an Owner, this section applies to you:

If an Owner cancels a Booking after paying the Pet Service Fee but before the Pet Services have been performed, the Owner will be required to pay any applicable Sitter Cancellation Fee to the relevant Sitter (depending on the cancellation policy selected by the Sitter).

Owners can view the Sitter’s cancellation policy at all times on the Sitter’s public Pet Sitting profile available on the Platform. By paying for a Booking, including any Pet Service Fees, the Owner agrees and accepts the relevant Sitter’s cancellation policy.

If the Owner cancels a Booking, the Owner is entitled to a refund of the Pet Service Fee in accordance with the cancellation policy selected by the Sitter (as set out in the terms of the Booking available on the Platform).

The timeframes with respect to the refunding of the Pet Service Fee under the Sitter’s cancellation policy may include:

  1. Flexible – a full refund will only be available if the Booking is cancelled before 12pm AEST, one day before the Pet Services are to be performed under the Booking;
  2. Moderate – a full refund will only be available if the Booking is cancelled before 12pm AEST, 7 days before the Pet Services are to be performed under the Booking;
  3. Strict – a full refund will only be available if the Booking is cancelled before 12pm AEST, 14 days before the Pet Services are to be performed under the Booking.

For cancellations of a Booking by an Owner that does not satisfy the timeframe specified in the relevant Sitter’s cancellation policy, the Owner will only be entitled to a refund of 50% of the Pet Service Fee paid by that Owner with respect to the Booking.

All ongoing Repeat Weekly Bookings without a specified end date are subject to the Flexible policy regardless of the Cancellation Policy the Sitter has set forth in their profile.

Any Booking Fee paid by an Owner is non-refundable, except where the relevant Booking is cancelled by the Sitter.  If a Sitter cancels a Booking, the relevant Owner is entitled to a full refund of any Pet Service Fee and any Booking Fee paid by the Owner with respect to that Booking.

In order to cancel a Booking and receive a refund, the Owner must immediately notify Mad Paws in writing at service@pawsandwoof.com.

In the event a Booking is cancelled, Paws and Woof may, in its absolute discretion, determine to assist the Owner and/or Sitter with respect to any dispute over the terms of the cancellation. However, we are under no obligation to do so.

Once the cancellation has been processed, we will notify both parties and will deposit the relevant Cancellation Fee into the Sitter’s nominated account (less Our Service Fee).

Sitters – if you are a Sitter, this section applies to You:

In order to cancel a Booking, the Sitter must notify Paws & Woof in writing at service@pawsandwoof.com. The Sitter is required to immediately inform both the relevant Owner and Paws & Woof about the cancellation of the Booking in writing.

Cancellations by Sitters are taken very seriously. We will review each Sitter cancellation on a case-by-case basis and we reserves the right to suspend or terminate the Sitters Account and/or access to the Platform in our absolute discretion.  It is the responsibility of each Sitter to only accept those Bookings that the Sitter can commit to. For this reason, we highly recommend all Owners and Sitters to organize a Meet & Greet before the Sitter accepts and agrees to commit to the Booking.

Without limiting the above, if a Sitter cancels 3 or more paid Bookings within a 3-month timeframe, this may result in immediate account suspension.

Cancellations & Refunds after the start of the Booking

In certain circumstances, and without limiting anything else in these Terms, we may determine to refund an Owner for Pet Service Fees and/or Booking Fees paid if that Owner is dissatisfied with the Booking or the Pet Services.

To be eligible for a refund, Owners must notify us in writing at service@pawsandwoof.com. of any complaints regarding a Booking (including with respect to the performance or omissions of the Pet Services under that Booking) within the Withholding Period.  Such notice must clearly specify the details and reasons for the Owner’s complaint. We expects the Owner and Sitter not to agree to or undertake any further bookings after an initial complaint. As such, we will not consider any complaints resulting from further bookings between that particular Sitter and Owner.

We may take into account any factors regarding the Booking and the Pet Services that it considers relevant when determining whether to refund an Owner for any or all amounts paid with respect to that Booking.  In any case, refunds are not available for payments that were not made through the Platform. Other relevant factors include, but are not limited to:

  • Owners and Sitters must have had a Meet & Greet before the start of the booking (in case of a first-time booking between both parties);
  • The Owner must have left a poor review for the Sitter upon Confirming the End of Stay.

Pet Sitters who have opted in to offering ‘Repeat Weekly Bookings’ will offer the ‘Repeat Weekly Cancellation Policy’

If we determine that an Owner’s complaint has merit, we may discuss the matter with the Sitter beforehand and try to reach an agreement around a solution. If the Sitter agrees to a refund, the Sitter agrees to pay to us the amount of the refund in the event that the Sitter has already received moneys for the Pet Services. Once Paws & Woofs has received such funds, we will pay that amount to the Owner into his/her nominated bank Account.  If we have not yet transferred the Pet Service Fee to the Sitter, we may determine to refund such amount to the relevant Owner before transferring any of the Pet Service Fee to the Sitter.

Users understand and acknowledge that the Pet Services may be subject to statutory guarantees under Australian Consumer Law and any other applicable laws. Nothing in these Terms operates to exclude or limit the operation of such guarantees in any manner contrary to law.

  • GORVERNING LAW

This document shall be governed, interpreted, and construed in accordance with the laws of Australia. Any dispute that arises shall be governed by the laws of the same state.

  • BINDING EFFECT

The covenants and conditions of the Agreement shall bind the parties and the heirs, legal representatives, successors, agents and permitted assigns of the Parties.

 

PRIVACY POLICY

Greetings!

 Here at Paws & Woofs (“we”, “our” or “us”), we gather certain information from our visitors, users, customers, subscribers, and other people who come into contact with us (“you” or “your”). We understand that your privacy is very important.  This Privacy Policy outlines how we and our related bodies, both corporate and associates, collect, hold, use and disclose personal information as required by the Privacy Act 1988 (“Privacy Act”). We gather and use this information to not only provide services, but to continually improve our services for the benefits of our users. We may share this information among our affiliates or sites that we own, and all such sharing of information is governed under this Privacy Policy. We won’t continuously spam you with unwanted junk mail, and all our optional communications can be unsubscribed from.

In general, the information we collect from you will be used in some or all of the following ways:

  • To communicate with you;
  • To provide our services, including arranging pet sitters;
  • To provide you with relevant service information; and
  • To help us improve our services and products.

By accessing or using our software applications and websites, including www.pawsandwoof.com and our mobile apps (“Platform”), or any of our services (“Services“), you acknowledge and agree to this Privacy Policy and agree to our Terms of Service, which can be viewed on www.pawsandwoof.com

Personal Information

We collect and hold personal information you provide during your use of the Platform or our Services. The kind of information we may collect and hold includes your name, address, email address, telephone number, mobile number, geographic location, gender, birth date, pet details (including pet name, breed, and medical history), bank account details, cookies, IP logs, and any other information you provide to us when you use the Platform or our Services.

We will generally gather personal information about you directly by way of online forms and other documents or information you submit to us (whether in paper or electronic form), correspondence you provide to us and telephone calls or meetings with you.

We are committed to complying with the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles. We value our users and will only use your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

 

How we use personal information

Unless otherwise required or permitted by law, we will only use your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, including the following purposes:

  • to provide you with the best possible service in supplying you with our goods and services, including without limitation to transact such services with us that you have expressly or impliedly consented to in accordance with our Terms of Service;
  • to answer any questions or inquiries you direct to us;
  • to provide you with marketing materials in relation to offers, specials, products and services we have available from time to time;
  • for our internal management purposes, to manage our relationship with you to manage the payment and recovery of amounts payable to us by you or an entity related to you (as applicable);
  • for other purposes which are reasonably necessary in connection with our normal functions and activities, including without limitation to comply with any Federal and/or State laws and law enforcement requests involving us; and
  • if an exceptional circumstance arises for disclosing your information, such as if there are grounds to believe that a disclosure is necessary to prevent a threat to life or health (to you or your pet).

If we are unable to collect personal information relating to you, we may be unable to provide you with the goods or services you require or continue our relationship with you.

 

Account/Profile information

When you first create an account you will be asked to create a Paws & Woofs profile, which may require you to provide certain personal information about yourself, including without limitation: your pet details, your first name, last name, phone number, date of birth, location, email address and a profile picture. The profile you create will be publicly available.

We recommend and encourage you to think carefully and cautiously about the information you provide us, including any sensitive information, as this may be displayed publicly on your profile pages on the Platform. You can review and revise such of your personal information displayed on your profile at any time. Other users of the Platform will see your first name, your profile picture, and your general location (such as a suburb), as well as all feedback left by other users on any service you offered through the Platform, and your own experiences in using our Services. This information may be displayed on your profile page on the Platform, elsewhere on the Platform, and potentially on third party sites (through use of a HTML “widget” for example).

Certain personal information relating to your contact details, such as email address, phone number and location may be provided to other users as part of us providing the Services, for example when you engage another user for the provision of pet services in accordance with our Terms of Service.

 

Bank details and other information

In order to provide you with our Services, we may require you to provide your bank account and credit card details to us or our third party service providers (including the operator of our payment gateway in accordance with our Terms of Service). These details may be used to provide you with Services such as processing refunds to you, allowing you to pay for Services and any applicable charges or expenses (for example any applicable veterinary services, council fines, pound charges or rebooking charges), and as otherwise set out in our Terms of Service.

Throughout the course of using the Platform or our Services, you may also be required to provide further information through our messaging system, including (but not limited to) photos. We may use that information to provide you with Services or for marketing purposes.

 

Disclosure of your personal information

We may disclose personal information to the following kinds of entities for the relevant purposes mentioned in this Privacy Policy:

  • our contractors, consultants, advisers, associates, partners and related entities;
  • any industry body, tribunal, court or otherwise in connection with any complaint made by you about us;
  • if you have provided us with referees to assist with the assessment of a potential contract between you and us, the referees you have provided; and
  • Other entities with your consent or as permitted or required by law.

We may disclose the kinds of personal information listed above to overseas.  As at the date of this policy the recipients will be located in Australia although the countries in which the recipients are located may change over time.

 

How we hold personal information

We hold personal information in paper form and electronic form.  We have in place steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, interference and loss and from unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.

 Direct marketing communications

From time to time we may use your personal information to contact you with promotional materials, marketing, informative updates, newsletters, and other information that may be of interest to you and third parties (such as offers, specials, products and services that we have available). If at any time you decide you no longer wish to receive such information and communications from us, you can unsubscribe by following the instructions provided in any of these communications or by notifying us using the contact details set out below.

All communications will be directly from us; we do not and will not sell any of your personal information to third parties.

 

Web analytics, metrics and beacons

In using the Platform or our Services, we may collect information about you to help us provide, maintain and improve the quality of both the Platform and our Services offered as we see fit. When you engage and visit our Platform, we may collect and store some or all of the following: the IP address that you used to access the Platform, date and time, IP address of the website from which you linked to the Platform, names of files and words searched on our Platform, pages and items clicked on our Platform, the browser you used, and operating system used. This information is gathered and collected to measure the number of visitors we have on our Platform, the various sections of our Platform they engage, which is done to identify the performance of the system and the Platform.

To track activity and analyse the visits to our Platform, we use web metrics services such as, for example, Google Analytics software. Please refer to the Google privacy policy for further information:
http://www.google.com.au/policies/privacy/. This information helps us to develop and maintain the Platform and our Services analyses usage patterns, and to make navigation of the Platform more useful. We will not sell this information on to third parties or use it for associating search terms or patterns of site navigation with individual users. Such information is intended to be used as an aggregate across many users for productivity purposes.

Web beacons (also known as single-pixel gifs) may be contained on our Platform’s pages and are electronic images which are used along with cookies to analyse how our Platform is used to compile aggregated statistics. Web beacons may be used in some of our emails to let us know if both the email and links have been opened by recipients. In doing so, this allows us to engage and reflect on the effectiveness of communications and interactions with customers and users and also in regards to the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.

 

Cookies

Our Platform uses cookies. Collecting information from user data helps sustain and improve the quality of our Services. Like many other websites, we do this through the use of “cookies” – small data files that are transferred to your computer’s hard disk for record keeping purposes. This enables the website to track the pages you have visited.  A cookie only contains information you supply. It cannot read data on your computer. There are many types of cookies that may be used for different purposes. For example, some cookies help a website to remember information about your visit, like your preferred language and other settings while others may identify which pages are being visited or offer security features. 

Third party advertisers on the Platform may be able to place or read cookies on your browser. Third Party Advertising and Analytics Cookies may be placed by or on behalf of independent advertisers who are advertising on our Platform. These cookies may be placed within the advertisement and elsewhere on the Platform. They are anonymous – they cannot identify individuals. They are used for statistical analysis by allowing the advertiser to count how many people have seen their advertisement or have seen it more than once. They might also allow the advertiser to tailor advertising to you when you visit other websites.

We have no access to third party cookies, and third party organisations are not provided with access to our cookies. The third party organisations that place cookies via the Platform may have their own privacy policies.

You can instruct or set your browser through options to prompt you before you visit a website to accept a cookie or to stop accepting cookies completely. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use the Platform to its full functionality or take full advantage of our Services.

To remove cookies from your hard drive, go to your browser options for more information and detailed instructions. Further information regarding cookies is available on your Internet service, browser provider, or on other websites.

 

Site Security

The Platform transports data over open networks, such as through Internet and via email. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee that any communication or material transmitted via such open networks is safe and/or secure. In using the Platform and our Services, you should remain mindful and careful of the fact that disclosure of personal information over an open network is potentially accessible to unintended third parties. Data may be lost during transmission and may be accessed by unauthorised third parties. As such, we do not accept any liability for losses, either direct or indirect, in regards to the security of your personal information or data in using the Platform or our Services, and through any transfers of data via Internet. If you do not accept this, you must not use the Platform or our Services.

We endeavor to maintain the availability and security of our Platform for all users by employing commercial software programs that attempt to identify unauthorised attempts to upload, change or damage information on the Platform. However, as mentioned previously, we cannot and do not guarantee complete security of your personal information when you use our Platform.

 

External Site Links

Pursuant to our Terms of Service, the Platform may contain links or references to sites controlled by parties other than us, and which may include third party products and services. If you access such a site you may be disclosing personal information. We do not take any responsibility for such disclosure or maintaining the confidentiality or security of such information. These third parties may have separate and independent terms of service and privacy policies, which you may become subject to and which may be available on their respective websites.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are neither responsible nor liable for the activities, content, and information contained on a linked website on the Platform, or the accuracy, relevance, completeness, suitability, or appropriateness of such information.

How to obtain access to your personal information

You may obtain access to personal information which we hold about you by contacting us using the contact details set out below.  When you request copies of your personal information held by us we will endeavor to provide you with such personal information as soon as reasonably practicable.

We may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. There may be occasions when access to personal information we hold about you is denied. Such occasions would include where release of the information would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others.

 

Accuracy and completeness of personal information

While we will endeavor to ensure that the personal information collected from you is up to date, accurate and complete, we will assume that any personal information provided by you is free from errors and omissions.  You may request that we update or vary personal information that we hold about you using the contact details listed below.

 

How to make a complaint about a breach of your privacy rights by us

If you are of the view we have breached any applicable Australian Privacy Principles, the Privacy Act, or any related privacy code in dealing with your personal information, you may make a complaint by writing to us using the contact details below and we will endeavor to respond and provide you with confirmation as to how we propose to deal with the complaint as soon as reasonably practicable.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you may make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner by visiting the following website and following the steps: http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints 

 

Anonymity and pseudonyms

You have the option of not identifying yourself or using a pseudonym when dealing with us in relation to privacy matters unless we are required by law or a court/tribunal to deal with individuals who have identified themselves or it is impractical for us to deal with you if you have not identified yourself in the circumstances.

 

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

From time to time, and at any given time, we may revise this Privacy Policy to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our functions and activities, and to make sure it remains appropriate. All changes made to our Privacy Policy are reflected on the Platform. Revised Privacy Policies will apply to any information about you created or received after the change takes effect and to the information we already hold about you at the time of the change. We therefore strongly recommend that you re-read this Privacy Policy periodically to see if changes have been made, and if so to consider whether they may have affected you.

 

Contact us

Please direct all complaints and queries in relation to your privacy and this Privacy Policy to: 

Business contact details [Insert contact details]

You can reach us through the official business email which is service@pawsandwoofs.com 

We will endeavor to resolve the matter as soon as reasonably practicable.

 

At Legal writing experts, we would be happy to assist in preparing any legal document you need. We are international lawyers and attorneys with significant experience in legal drafting, Commercial-Corporate practice and consulting. In the last few years, we have successfully undertaken similar assignments for clients from different jurisdictions. If given this opportunity, we will be able to prepare the legal document within the shortest time possible.