SHELTERSCAN · EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 13, 2026 · NEARBY SEARCH V1

Privacy Policy

This policy describes the current ShelterScan prototype, a tool for comparing your pet’s photos with published shelter photos. This version includes email/password accounts and optional saved search preferences. We will update this policy before materially changing how we handle information.

Your pet’s photos

Photos you select are analyzed in your browser. ShelterScan does not upload or store those photos, or their visual descriptors, on its servers. By default, photos remain available only in the open page while selected. If you enable “Remember photos on this device” when saving a search, we store copies in IndexedDB in that browser profile. They can be restored when you reopen the saved search there, including after a reload or restart. These copies are not synced to your account or another device. Anyone with access to your browser profile may be able to access them. Use “Forget photos,” remove the saved search in that browser, or clear the browser’s site data to remove local copies. Deleting your account clears local copies in the browser used for deletion; clear site data on other devices separately. Browser settings or storage eviction can also remove local copies. The prototype does not use your photos to train a model.

Optional nearby search

When you select “Use my location,” your browser asks for permission to determine your location. ShelterScan uses the returned coordinates only in memory in the current page to calculate approximate straight-line distances to public shelter facilities. Our application does not transmit or persist those coordinates, include them in links, or save them with your account. Clear location removes them from the page; reloading also clears them. Your browser or operating system may use its own location services to determine your position, subject to its settings and privacy practices. Requests for public shelter images can reveal which shelters you are viewing to the image provider or our image proxy, and ordinary connection information such as your IP address can suggest an approximate area.

Account information

If you register, we store your email address, a salted password hash, the account creation time, and the versions and time of your acknowledgment of the Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and scanning limitations. We do not store your password in plain text. Email addresses are not verified in this version; registration does not establish that someone controls the supplied mailbox.

We store hashed session identifiers and expiration times to keep you signed in for up to 14 days. A necessary, HttpOnly session cookie is set when you sign in. Signing out revokes that session; changing your password revokes all your sessions. You can change your password or delete your account on the account page. Account deletion removes your account, password hash, acknowledgment records, saved searches and sessions from the active account database. Browser caches and infrastructure logs are separate; clearing site data removes local caches. If you cannot sign in, contact us using the email below; an email request alone does not establish account ownership.

We use this information to provide accounts and prevent abuse. Temporary sign-in attempt counters use network addresses and hashed email identifiers and expire after 15 minutes. Your account is not linked to your selected pet photos or their descriptors. We do not automatically record a search history. If you choose Save search, we store the name you enter, the selected animal type and shelter area, and the latest update time with your account. Saved searches remain until you remove them or delete your account. You can reopen, change, or remove them from your account. Match results and photos are not saved to your account. Local photo storage is optional and described above. Email verification, password-reset emails, social sign-in and marketing emails are not implemented.

Information used to run the service

We retrieve public shelter listings and their photos. When your browser cannot read a shelter image directly, it requests that image through our service. Our service receives the requested public image identifier and ordinary connection information needed to deliver the response. Infrastructure and security logs may include IP addresses, timestamps, requested URLs, and errors.

We retain aggregate delivery counts, byte totals, and content identifiers for public shelter images to measure bandwidth and plan improvements. Those counters are not keyed to an account or to your selected pet photos. Counter records expire after 30 days without a recorded delivery. Public listing snapshots remain until replaced; infrastructure log retention depends on the hosting providers and their settings.

Browser storage

Your browser may cache the AI model, shelter images, and descriptors of public shelter photos to make repeat searches faster. You can remove this stored material through your browser’s site-data controls. The current application does not add advertising or analytics cookies.

Service providers and external sites

Cloudflare and DigitalOcean provide site delivery and hosting. Cloudflare’s performance beacon is enabled on this site and sends page-visit and loading-performance information to Cloudflare. See Cloudflare’s description of its performance beacon. Your browser also contacts Hugging Face and jsDelivr for model/runtime files, Google Fonts for fonts, and shelter image providers for public photos. Those requests disclose ordinary connection information, such as your IP address and requested resource, to the receiving provider. Your selected pet photos are not included in those requests.

Following a shelter listing takes you to a separate service with its own privacy practices. We do not control those sites. The current prototype does not sell your selected pet photos or run targeted advertising.

Changes

Changes will be posted here with a new effective date. Account registration presents the then-current Privacy Policy and Terms of Service before an account is created. The version acknowledged during registration is retained at a versioned policy URL.

Contact

For questions about this Privacy Policy or your privacy, email [email protected].