Lancaster Puppies: Our Privacy Policy

 

Introduction

At Lancaster Puppies, we recognise that the privacy of your personal information is very important and we are committed to respecting and protecting your privacy.

This Privacy Policy explains how Lancaster Puppies (Lancasterpuppies.com and its subdomains and its apps, collectively referred to herein as the "Site", “we”, “us”, or “Lancaster Puppies”), collects, uses and protects any information that you give when you use our services and under which conditions we may disclose it to others.

Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using our services, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy for the purpose of providing our services to you.

By using our Site and other services, you are agreeing to be bound by this Privacy Policy and our terms of use which form part of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not create a profile, use the Site, or use any of the services offered through the Site.

PMG U.S. LLC, is the data controller and operator of the Site. If you have any questions regarding this policy or our practices, you can contact us at dpo@petmediagroup.com or write to PMG U.S., LLC, 54510 Township Road 172, Fresno Ohio 43824.

Information We Collect from You

We collect information to provide and improve our services, communicate with users, and ensure a safe and efficient experience on our platform. The information we collect depends on your interactions with our services and is categorized as follows:

Information You Provide to Us

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when you register for an account, engage in transactions, communicate with us, or use specific features of our platform. This may include:

 

• Account Information: Name, email address, phone number, address, username, password, and profile details.
• Profile Information: Additional details such as photos, public profile descriptions, hours of Operation, website links and any other optional information you choose to provide.
• Listing Information: Information you provide whilst creating or updating any listings, which can include your contact preferences and any details you provide within the listing description.
• Transaction Information: Payment details, billing address, purchase history, and records of financial transactions. This information is also collected and processed by our payment provider Stripe. We only store necessary information required to make a purchase and we do not have access to payment card numbers. In addition to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use, information related to your payments or purchases is also processed according to Stripe’s  privacy policy.
• Authentication-Related Information: Identification details (such as a government-issued ID) used for verification and fraud prevention. This includes the identity document and images used in the process, as well as the information included on the identity document provided, as permitted by the applicable law. This information is collected and processed by a third party identity verification service provided by Onfido. For more information on how Onfido may handle your data please review Onfido’s privacy policy.
• Phone verification: To enhance trust and security, we may require Users to verify their phone number through a third-party service provider such as Twilio. You acknowledge that any resulting phone, data, or SMS charges are solely your responsibility, and we disclaim any liability for such charges. Any other mentions in this policy about sharing information with third parties do not apply to text messaging originator opt-in data and consent collected solely for phone verification; that information is only used to send and manage verification messages and is not sold to third parties. If you wish to be removed from receiving future communications, you can opt out by texting STOP.
• Marketing Preferences: Information about your preferences for receiving communications, event notifications, and engagement with marketing materials.
• Online forms: This includes information you provide when reporting any listing to us, information you have disclosed to us through online surveys either onsite or sent through e-mail as well as information you provide on any of our social media accounts such as comments. 
• Interactions with Our Support Team: Any correspondence you have with our support team, either via the Site or directly via email. Whilst providing our service, either due to our own concern or if we receive a query or complaint regarding your account, we may ask for additional information to help resolve any account issues such as microchipping details; vaccination documents; licensing documentation; vet records; photo to verify your name and address. This information will usually be requested via email and is used to prevent abuse of Site and prevent fraud. We will only use this information for the purpose of verifying your account and listing details. If you do not want us to process this information, please do not send it to us.
• Communications other users: We collect relevant correspondence, messages, and related data when you communicate with other users on the Site through our messaging service.

Information We Collect Automatically

When you use our services, we automatically collect certain information about your device and activity, including:

• Log Data and Device Information: IP address, browser type, device characteristics, operating system, access times, referring URLs, and error logs.
• Login Information: If you use social media credentials or gmail-account to register with our website or app we collect your e-mail or social media IDs where they are linked to your account.
• Service Usage Information: Pages viewed, search history, interactions with content and features, and engagement with listings.
• Location Information: General location based on your IP address or, with your consent, precise geolocation from your mobile device.
• Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We use cookies (see section Cookie Usage for detailed information), web beacons, and similar technologies to enhance user experience, track interactions, and improve our services. Should you choose to do so, cookies can be removed from your hard drive and certain web browsers can be set so that cookies are not used or saved. Please check with your browser provider for more information on removing cookies. Disabling cookies may restrict your use of the Site and affect the way in which it operates.

Except where a user has registered an account with us, the log files and cookies do not, on their own, allow us to determine the identity of the user.

Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third-party sources and combine it with data collected through our platform. This may include:

• Third-Party Services: If you use social media credentials or gmail-account to register with our website or app we collect your e-mail or social media IDs where they are linked to your account.
• Publicly Available Sources: Information from public records, online directories, or business partners.
• Your Reviews: If someone has written a review or testimonial for you, it may be published on your public profile page.
• Fraud Prevention and Risk Assessment Data: Background check reports, fraud warnings, or other relevant data from trusted service providers.
• Other Sources: We may receive information about you and your activities on and off the Site through partnerships, or about your experiences and interactions from ad networks.

How We Use and Retain this Personal Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including providing, improving, and securing our services, as well as ensuring compliance with legal obligations. Our use of personal information includes the following:

1. Providing, Improving, and Developing Our Services

• Enabling access to our platform and its features.
• To provide and supply our service to you including the publishing of your personal information you provide within your listing on our Site. The personal information published on listings includes your name and your contact details. What information is published can be controlled by yourself and you can close your listing at any time.
• Facilitating user-to-user communication.
• Enhancing platform functionality and user experience through analytics and research.
• Personalizing and customizing user interactions with our services.
• Sending service-related communications, such as updates, security alerts, and notifications.

2. Creating and Maintaining a Safe and Trusted Environment

• To verify the legitimacy of your adverts and account data.
• To enable us to deal with any queries or complaints, either by you or regarding you relating to the use of the Site.
• To help detect and investigate any possible fraudulent activities; for security purposes; to monitor usage and activity on our website; or to enforce our terms and conditions.
• To comply with our regulations and any legal obligations.
• To enforce our Terms & Conditions.
• To Protect our rights, safety, privacy and/or that of our affiliates, you or others.

3. Marketing and Promotions

• To send you newsletters, promotional offers, and other marketing communications. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the “unsubscribe” link in our emails or by contacting our support.
• Personalizing and optimizing marketing efforts.
• Administering referral programs, surveys, contests, and other promotional activities.
• Measuring the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.

4. Legal and Compliance Purposes

• Complying with legal requirements and regulatory obligations.
• Responding to legal requests and proceedings.
• Exercising, establishing, or defending legal claims.

You agree that we may use your information to contact you and to deliver information to you that, in some cases, is targeted to your interests, such as targeted banner advertisements, administrative notices, product offerings, and communications relevant to your use of the Site.

Where you have submitted your personal information for publication on our Site, we will publish and otherwise use that information in accordance with the license you grant to us. We will not, without your express consent, provide your personal information to any third parties for the purpose of direct marketing.

If your inquiry requires us to connect you with a seller, or vice versa, we will use personal information you provide to expedite services as efficiently as possible. However, if you are not comfortable with your personal information being given to any third party, we are prepared to honor your request but this may lead to an inability to execute services.

By using our services, you agree to our collection and use of your information as described in this policy. If you have any questions, please contact us for further clarification.

App Permissions Policy

Lancaster Puppies collects/transmits/syncs/stores photos and videos from your devices’ camera and your devices’ photos and videos to allow you to upload photos to your public advertisements and public profile. Lancaster Puppies also uses your location in order to show you advertisements based on your location. Lancaster Puppies pushes notifications to your devices in order to notify you of advertisements meeting the criteria of the set notifications enabled on the user account settings even when the app is not in use. Lancaster Puppies also pushes notifications for messages sent by Lancaster Puppies and other Lancaster Puppies users allowing you to get notified of messages even when the app is not in use.

Legal Basis for Collecting Information

We process your personal information based on the following legal grounds:

1. Legitimate Interests

 

We process personal information when it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, including:

• Ensuring our services are used appropriately and preventing fraudulent activity.
• Monitoring the usage of our services and preventing abuse, such as the creation of multiple accounts for deceptive purposes.
• Improving and optimizing our services to enhance user experience.

2. Consent

We process personal information when you provide explicit consent, such as:

• Opting in to receive newsletters and marketing communications.
• Providing personal data for profile creation and engagement with our platform.
• Contacting us with inquiries or support requests.
• Uploading identification documents for verification purposes.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by adjusting your preferences or contacting us directly.

3. Compliance with Legal Obligations

We may process personal information to comply with applicable laws and regulatory requirements, including:

• Responding to legal requests from authorities, such as subpoenas or court orders.
• Assisting in investigations conducted by law enforcement or regulatory bodies.
• Fulfilling tax, accounting, and reporting obligations.

4. Contractual Necessity

We process personal information to fulfill contractual obligations, including:

• Providing services and processing transactions requested by users.
• Managing user accounts and maintaining platform functionality.
• Fulfilling and managing purchases, payments, and related services.

By using our services, you acknowledge and agree to our collection and use of your information as described in this policy. If you have any questions, please contact us for further clarification.

Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this privacy policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. This includes:

• Maintaining user accounts for active users.
• Retaining transaction records for accounting and compliance purposes.
• Keeping records of communications and support interactions to improve customer service.

If you request account deletion, we will remove your personal information from our active databases. However, certain data may be retained as required by law, to resolve disputes, enforce agreements, or comply with regulatory obligations. When personal information is no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymize it to prevent unauthorized access or use.

Account Deletion Policy

The Lancaster Puppies Account Deletion Policy outlines the company’s standard account deletion practices, and the policy addresses the requirement for having a company practice associated with account deletion. When a Lancaster Puppies user requests their account be deleted, Lancaster Puppies manually processes the account deletion and will reach a conclusion within 10 business days on whether Lancaster Puppies can fully delete the account or delete the public online information of the account and retain select information that is required for the legal purpose of retaining receipts for accounting and documentation. 

Accounts that were considered only a user account and not used to purchase advertising will be deleted within 10 business days of the deletion request. Accounts that were used to purchase advertising will be archived to only retain the information that Lancaster Puppies deems necessary for the legal purpose of retaining receipts for accounting and documentation; and Lancaster Puppies will have all publicly accessible information removed from accounts used to purchase advertising within 10 business days of the deletion request.

Disclosure of your Personal Information

We may disclose information about you to any of our employees or contractors whilst they are providing our service to you or to any member of our group of companies (this means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and all its subsidiaries) insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes, and on the legal basis, set out in this policy.

When registering and placing any adverts on the Site, certain details you enter will be published on the internet, including your name. Your advert details and telephone number(s) if you have entered them on your advert will also be published if you choose to show your phone number.

In addition, we may disclose your personal information:

• To Facilitate Our Services: This includes, but is not limited to, your phone number to the person rehoming your pet if you have opted to use the payment scheme. After completing a transaction, Breeders and Buyers may submit reviews of each other which may be a part of your public profile page.
• For Legal reasons: To the extent to which we are required to do so by law. This includes, to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information. Additionally, we may disclose your personal information in connection with any legal proceedings or prospective legal proceedings as well as to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention).

 

• For Safety and Animal Welfare Reasons: In order to maintain or enhance the welfare and protection of animals advertised on the SIte. This includes, but is not limited to, the sharing of data with the purpose of combatting illicit breeding and ensuring animal welfare laws are appropriately followed. We might also gather personal information from third parties in order to aid our work in maintaining or enhancing the welfare and protection of animals for the purpose of (but not limited to) helping us investigate potential violations to our terms and conditions.

 

• To Third Party Service Providers: We use third party service providers to help us provide services related to the Site (e.g. Google). This also includes services to help us process payments securely. These providers have limited access to your information to perform these tasks on our behalf, and are contractually obligated to use it consistent with this Privacy Policy.
• With Advertisers: We aggregate personally identifiable information and disclose such information in a non-personally identifiable manner to advertisers and other third parties for marketing and promotional purposes. We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads on our behalf. These companies may employ cookies and tags to measure advertising effectiveness. We may also share your personal information with third parties for our marketing purpose, for joint marketing with other companies, and for our affiliates and non-affiliates to market to you.
• In Connection With Business Transfer: To the purchaser (or prospective purchaser) of any business or asset that we are (or are contemplating) selling.
• To Third Parties: We do not sell, rent, or otherwise disclose your personal information to third parties for their marketing and advertising purposes without your consent. If you have given consent for us to share information, a limited set of third parties may send you marketing communications directly. We attempt to minimise the amount of personal information we disclose to what is directly relevant and necessary to accomplish the specified purpose. These partners are not permitted to sell, lease or in any other way transfer the personal information to third parties. If you wish to withdraw your consent to share your data with partners you can contact us.

Except as provided in this Privacy Policy, we will not provide your information to third parties.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. We protect your information using both technical and administrative security measures which help us reduce the risk of data loss, misuse or unauthorised access. Our website uses encryption such as SSL to ensure data sent to and from the website is secure. We store your data on secure servers.

Whilst we do everything we can to protect your account and personal information, we cannot guarantee the integrity or security of any data you enter on our website.

You must make sure that you do everything possible to protect your account by logging out when appropriate; not giving other people access to your account and keeping your password secure by not giving it out to anyone. We advise that you use a unique password for the use of our website. We will never ask for your password (except when you login to the Site).

However, if you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately.

As with any other website, you should refrain from including personally identifying information or details in e-mails. Please use the dedicated forms to contact Lancaster Puppies, which helps us to ensure the safety of your personal data. This particularly applies to credit card information, which should never be provided casually through electronic communications that are not secured.

Third Party Links

Our Services may include links to third-party websites, online services, or mobile applications, as well as advertisements from third parties that are not affiliated with us. These third parties may link to additional websites, services, or applications. We do not endorse or guarantee any third-party content, and we are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from your use of such third-party websites, services, or applications.

The presence of a link to a third-party website, service, or application does not imply our endorsement. We cannot guarantee the security or privacy of any data you provide to third parties, as their data collection practices are not covered by this Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or security policies of third parties, including any linked websites, services, or applications. We encourage you to review their policies and contact them directly with any questions or concerns.

In addition, our content may be included on web pages or in mobile applications or online services that are not associated with us. We do not control third party websites, mobile applications or online services, and we are not responsible for their actions.

Spam

You may not disclose another user's personally identifiable information to any third party, except as outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless you have obtained both our consent and the explicit consent of the user after providing adequate disclosure. Our Site users do not tolerate spam. Accordingly, you are prohibited from adding a Site user to any mailing list (email or physical mail), advertising list, contact database, or similar without their express consent after proper disclosure. If you receive spam from another Site user, please report it to us.

Cookie Usage

When visiting, browsing or interacting with our website, we or third parties may use cookies or other similar technologies. These include strictly necessary cookies, analytics cookies, social media cookies and advertising cookies.

A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

Cookies may be either 'persistent' cookies or 'session' cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

The Site uses cookies to provide certain functionality as well as provide personalised advertising to you. By using our Site, you agree that we can put these types of cookies on your computer or device. 

Removing or Disabling Cookies

You can manage your cookie preferences on the Site at any time using the link “Manage Preferences” in the footer of the page.

You can also choose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into your Lancaster Puppies account.

If you do wish to disable cookies in your internet browser, here is a link to instructions in some of the most popular browsers :

• Firefox
• Chrome
• Safari

Ad Technology Providers

We use Google Admanager to display personalised ads to visitors of our website as well as other Ad technology providers (including Google and other ad networks, bidders and vendors). These providers may use data about our users, for example to show them personalised ads or to report on conversions. For a full list of all ad technology partners, please click the link “Manage Preferences” in the footer of the page and select “Vendors”.

You can disable them either by clicking the link “Manage Preferences” in the footer of the page or by opting out of targeting/advertising cookies, or change your google settings here to opt out of ad personalisation.

When you use our Site, we share information that we may collect from you, such as your email (in hashed, de-identified form), IP address or information about your browser or operating system, with our partner, LiveRamp Inc and its group companies (‘LiveRamp’). LiveRamp may drop a cookie on your browser or directly in our emails and match your shared information to their on- and offline marketing databases and those of its advertising partners to create a link between your browser and information in those other databases. Similarly, when you use our mobile apps, we may also share hashed and de-identified email addresses, mobile device ID, location data, and advertising identifiers with LiveRamp, which uses that information to create a link between your mobile device and its databases. This link may be shared by our partners globally for the purpose of enabling interest-based content or advertising throughout your online experience (e.g. cross device, web, email and in app etc.) by third parties unaffiliated with our website. These third parties may in turn link further demographic or interest-based information to your browser. You have the right to opt out of LiveRamp’s Cookie or Mobile Identifiers and can easily do so by clicking on this link.

When visiting, browsing or interacting with our website, we or third parties may use cookies or other similar technologies.

Your Choices and Privacy Rights

Access: We provide the tools online for you to login to your account at any time to view and access your personal data. You may review, update or delete the information in your Account at any time.

Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we have relied upon your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent. You can unsubscribe from our marketing emails by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in our emails or adjusting your notification settings. Please note that even if you opt out of marketing emails, we may still send you service-related messages necessary for account administration. You can also limit what information we publish on our website by changing your settings on your account page, or contacting us to request your account is closed.

Account Closure: If you request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and remove your information from our active databases. You must provide us with sufficient information for us to reasonably verify that you are the consumer from whom we collected the personal information. Any Personal Information you send us to verify your identity will be used for this purpose only. However, we may retain certain information as necessary to prevent fraud, resolve issues, support investigations, enforce our legal terms, or comply with applicable legal obligations. 

Do not Track: Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” or similar signals. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.

Specific State Legislation

Depending on your location, incl. residents in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Nevada, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, you may have the following rights under applicable consumer data privacy laws. Note that state legislation is frequently updated and as such we encourage you to check whether below rights are applicable to you.

• Information: Right to be informed whether or not we are processing your personal data
• Access: Request a copy of your personal information.
• Correction: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Deletion: Request deletion of your personal information.
• Data Portability: Request transfer of your data to another service.
• Objection: Object to data processing for specific purposes, such as marketing. This includes sale of personal data under Nevada law.

To exercise these rights, contact us at dpo@petmediagroup.com. We may require verification of your identity before processing your request. If you withdraw consent for processing your information, this will not affect processing conducted before your withdrawal, nor will it affect processing carried out under other lawful grounds.

Note that we do not collect biometric information, audio or video recordings, professional or employment-related information, education information or sensitive personal information.

California Residents

California Civil Code § 1798.83 permits California residents who have supplied personal information (as defined in the law) to us to, under certain circumstances, request and obtain certain information regarding our disclosure, if any, of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing. All requests must be labeled "Your California Privacy Rights" on the email subject line or envelope or post card. For all requests, please clearly state that the request is related to "Your California Privacy Rights", include your name, street address, city, state, zip code and e-mail address (your street address is optional if you wish to receive a response to your request via email) and indicate your preference on how our response to your request should be sent (email or postal mail).

If you are under 18 years old, reside in California, and have a registered account with our services, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly posted. To request removal, please contact us and include the email address associated with your account and a statement confirming that you reside in California. While we will ensure the data is not publicly displayed on our platform, please be aware that it may not be completely removed from all our systems.

The California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA” or “Act”) provides California residents with specific rights regarding their personal information. You may learn more about your rights under the CCPA here.

Minors

Our services are intended for a general audience, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of thirteen (13) that would require parental notice and consent under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) without obtaining such consent.

If you are under thirteen (13), you are not permitted to use the Site or provide any personal information to us. Additionally, individuals under eighteen (18) are not allowed to use the Site.

If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under thirteen (13), we will take appropriate steps to delete that information in compliance with COPPA and other applicable laws. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child under thirteen (13) has provided us with personal information without the necessary parental consent, please contact us immediately so we can address the issue.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time and may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Updates will be posted on this page with a revised "Last Updated" date. We encourage you to review this policy regularly.

If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we may, and if required by law will, also provide notification of changes in another way that we believe is reasonably likely to easily reach you, such as via e-mail or another manner through the Site.

Any modifications to this Privacy Policy will be effective upon our posting the new terms and/or upon implementation of the new changes on the Site (or as otherwise indicated at the time of posting). In all cases, your continued use of the Site after the posting of any modified Privacy Policy indicates your acceptance of the terms of the modified Privacy Policy.

Copyright

All text, graphics, logos, icons, images, audio clips, video clips, and other content on this Site are the property of Lancaster Puppies or its content providers and are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. The compilation, organization, and arrangement of all content on this Site are the exclusive property of Lancaster Puppies and are likewise protected under copyright laws.

Any unauthorized use, including but not limited to aggregating, posting, reproducing, modifying, distributing, transmitting, republishing, displaying, or performing any content from this Site, is strictly prohibited.

Contact

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, or to exercise your rights, you may email us on dpo@petmediagroup.com or contact us at:

PMG U.S., LLC, 54510 Township Road 172, Fresno Ohio 43824

By using Lancaster Puppies, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.