This policy explains what Vivlo does with data, in plain English. Vivlo is a mobile app for people raising a puppy. "We", "us" and "Vivlo" mean the team behind the Vivlo app and the vivlo.co.uk website. If anything here is unclear, email us at [email protected] and we'll explain.
Who we are
Vivlo is provided by Joshua Thompson, a sole trader trading as Vivlo, of 124 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX. For data protection law, we are the "data controller" for the personal data described here. Contact us about privacy any time at [email protected].
Your puppy's data stays on your device
Vivlo is built to work on your phone. Your dog's profile, weigh-ins, body condition checks, feeding records, photos and notes are stored locally on your device. We do not receive them, so we do not have access to them. The one exception is family sharing, described below, which only happens if you switch it on.
Because this data is on your device, you are in control of it. Deleting a record in the app removes it from the app, and uninstalling the app removes the data Vivlo has stored on your device. Anything you have separately backed up yourself, for example through your phone's own backup service, is under your control rather than ours.
Family sharing (only if you turn it on)
Family sharing is one of two parts of Vivlo that puts your puppy's records on our servers (the other is cloud backup, described below), so we want to be plain about it. If you create an invite code, we store a copy of your puppy's profile, weigh-ins, food settings and toilet/sleep/walk logs (the last 90 days of those) so the people you invite can see them. Your photos, notes and Moments are not included.
We also store the first name each family member joins with, and any "cheers" they send, so everyone in the share can see who did what. Family members are not read-only: they can log toilet trips, walks and naps for your puppy, which are added to your records the same as if you'd logged them yourself. They cannot change your puppy's profile, weigh-ins, food settings or anything you've already logged.
This copy sits with a secure hosting provider that stores it on our behalf, and is refreshed whenever you or a family member logs something new. When you stop sharing, we delete it from our live systems, along with the invite codes and the family members' names. Copies may remain in routine backups for a short period before those backups age out.
Invite codes expire after 72 hours. Anyone holding a valid code can join the share, so treat one like a key and use "New code" to replace an old one.
Cloud backup (only if you turn it on)
Cloud backup is the other part of Vivlo that puts your puppy's records on our servers. If you turn it on, the app encrypts a copy of your puppy's record, profile, weigh-ins, body condition checks, food settings, treats, toilet/sleep/walk logs and Moments notes, on your device, before it's ever sent anywhere. Photos are never included; they stay on your device only.
We cannot read your backup. It's encrypted with a key derived from the 12-character recovery code the app shows you when you turn this on. That code is never sent to us, so we only ever hold an unreadable, encrypted file. If you lose the code, we cannot recover your data either, there is no "reset" on our end.
The encrypted backup updates automatically as you log things, so it stays current. When you turn cloud backup off, we delete it from our live systems. Copies may remain in routine backups for a short period before those backups age out. If you restore the same recovery code on a new phone, that phone becomes the one we back up going forward.
Usage and diagnostic data
To make Vivlo better, it helps us to know things like which features are used and whether something is broken. We collect usage and diagnostic information that is designed not to identify you, and you can switch it off whenever you like.
- What it includes: events like "opened the growth chart" or "a screen failed to load", plus basic app and device type.
- What it is designed to exclude: your name, your dog's name, weights, photos, notes, and other details that would identify you or your pet. The app applies a strict allowlist, so only the fields on that list can be recorded.
- It's your choice: basic diagnostics are recorded on your device by default, but nothing is shared with an analytics provider unless you opt in. You can change this any time in the app, under Profile, with the usage and crash reports switch.
Where this is enabled, it is handled by a privacy-focused analytics provider that processes it on our behalf. You can see exactly what would be reported under Profile, Usage & diagnostics.
Ask Vivlo (the in-app assistant)
Ask Vivlo lets you type a question and get a plain-English answer. When you ask a question, the text of your question and only the minimum information needed to answer it (such as your puppy's age or current weight) is sent securely to our AI service provider to generate a response.
- We do not send your name or contact details with the question.
- These messages are used to generate your answer, not to advertise to you.
- Ask Vivlo is general guidance and is not a substitute for your vet. If something looks urgent, the app will tell you to contact a vet.
The launch list on this website
If you enter your email on vivlo.co.uk to hear about launch, we use it to let you know when Vivlo is available and send the occasional update. Nothing else.
- Your email is collected and stored through our form processing provider, who handles it on our behalf.
- We do not pass it to advertisers or unrelated third parties.
- You can ask us to remove you at any time by emailing [email protected], and every update email includes a way to opt out.
When you contact support
If you send us a message through our support form or by email, we use what you give us to answer you and to fix what you've told us about.
- What we keep: your email address, your message, the topic you chose, and, if you're writing from the app, its version and platform. This is stored securely so a reply is never lost, and so we can spot patterns in what people report.
- Attachments: any screenshots or photos you add are sent on to our support inbox with your message. They travel with the email and are not stored separately by us.
- Who sees it: our own team, and the email and hosting providers that carry the message on our behalf. We do not use it for anything but supporting you.
- Ask us to delete a support conversation any time at [email protected].
Keeping the service running
When the app talks to our servers, for family sharing or for Ask Vivlo, our hosting provider records technical details of the connection, including your device's IP address. We use this to keep the service available and to prevent abuse, for example by limiting how many questions can be sent from one place in a minute.
These records are short-lived, are not used to build a profile of you, and are not linked to your puppy's records. This happens whenever your device contacts our servers, so it is not affected by the usage and diagnostics switch.
Who else touches your data
We keep third parties to a minimum. Where we use trusted service providers, they only process the information needed to provide the service on our behalf, under contract, and they cannot use it for their own purposes. This may include:
- AI services to generate Ask Vivlo responses.
- Form processing services for launch-list sign-ups.
- Privacy-focused analytics services, if you choose to share diagnostics.
- Secure hosting services for optional features such as family sharing.
- Subscription management services to process your purchase and subscription details when you buy Vivlo Premium.
We describe these by what they do rather than by name, so this policy stays accurate if a provider changes. Ask us at any time and we will tell you who they currently are. Some providers may process data outside the UK. See "Sending data outside the UK" below.
When the law requires it
We may have to share personal data where the law obliges us to: to comply with a court order, to answer a lawful request from an authority, or to establish or defend a legal claim. If that happens we will share only what is genuinely required, and we will tell you unless we are legally prevented from doing so.
If Vivlo ever changes hands
Vivlo is a small independent product today. If it is ever sold, or merged into or bought by another company, the data described in this policy may transfer with it, because whoever runs Vivlo needs it to keep the app working.
If that happens we will let you know. The new owner stays bound by this policy until they publish their own, and you can withdraw your consent or ask for your data to be deleted at any point, before or after.
What we collect, why, and our legal basis
Under UK data protection law we need a "lawful basis" to use personal data. Here is the whole picture in one place:
- Your puppy's records on your device (profile, weigh-ins, photos, notes): we do not receive them, so we do not process them as a controller. You are in control of them.
- Family sharing, if you turn it on (your puppy's profile, weigh-ins, food settings and recent toilet/sleep/walk logs, plus family members' first names): used to show your puppy's routine to the people you invite, and to let them log for your puppy too. Lawful basis: your consent, which you withdraw by stopping sharing.
- Cloud backup, if you turn it on (an encrypted copy of your puppy's record): used to restore your data if you lose your phone. We hold it in a form we cannot read. Lawful basis: your consent, which you withdraw by turning cloud backup off.
- Launch-list email: used to tell you when Vivlo launches and send occasional updates. Lawful basis: your consent, which you can withdraw any time.
- Ask Vivlo questions: the text of your question and minimal context is sent to our AI service provider to generate an answer. Lawful basis: providing the service you asked for (contract) and our legitimate interest in offering a helpful assistant.
- Buying Vivlo Premium: a subscription-management provider processes your purchase and an app-assigned identifier so we can unlock and restore your subscription. We never receive your card details; the app store handles payment. Lawful basis: performance of our contract with you.
- Usage and diagnostic data: basic diagnostics are recorded on your device to help us fix and improve the app; sharing them with an analytics provider happens only if you opt in. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest for on-device diagnostics (limited to fields designed not to identify you), and your consent for sharing them, which you can withdraw any time.
- Connection and technical data (including your IP address, when your device contacts our servers): used to keep the service available and prevent abuse. Lawful basis: our legitimate interest in running a secure, working service, balanced against your privacy by keeping these records short-lived and separate from your puppy's records.
- Sharing where the law requires it, or if Vivlo changes hands: Lawful basis: our legal obligation where the law compels us, and our legitimate interest in being able to sell or transfer the business as a going concern.
How long we keep it
- On-device records: for as long as you keep them. Deleting them in the app, or uninstalling, removes them from your device.
- Shared copy, if you use family sharing: until you stop sharing, at which point we delete it from our live systems. Invite codes expire after 72 hours on their own.
- Encrypted backup, if you use cloud backup: until you turn it off, at which point we delete it from our live systems.
- Launch-list email: until you ask us to remove you.
- Ask Vivlo questions: we do not keep a record of your conversations linked to you.
- Usage and diagnostic data: a small rolling buffer of recent events on your device, plus aggregated data held by our analytics provider for a limited period.
- Connection and technical data: kept only briefly by our hosting provider for security and abuse prevention, then deleted.
Where we delete something, we remove it from our live systems. Copies can persist in routine backups for a short period before those backups are overwritten in the normal course.
Sending data outside the UK
Some providers (for example our AI provider) may process data on servers outside the UK. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on appropriate legal safeguards, such as UK "adequacy" regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, so your data keeps a similar level of protection.
How we keep data safe
We hold as little personal data as we can and use encrypted connections when data is sent to a provider. Shared records are reachable only with the access token your device is issued when you create or join a share, and that token can be replaced by generating a new invite code. No system is perfectly secure, but we take steps appropriate to the sensitivity of the data to protect your information.
No automated decisions about you
Vivlo's growth curves and projections are there to inform you, not to make decisions about you. We don't use your data for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
Cookies and this website
The vivlo.co.uk website does not use tracking or advertising cookies. If you sign up for launch updates, your browser sends the email you type to our form processing provider so we can store it and let you know when Vivlo launches. That is the only data the website collects.
What we don't do
- We do not sell your data, or your puppy's records, to anyone.
- We do not show third-party advertising in Vivlo.
- Beyond the family members you invite and the providers described above, we only share your puppy's records where the law obliges us to.
Children
Vivlo is made for adults raising a puppy. It is not directed at children under 16, and we don't knowingly collect their personal data.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to access, correct, delete, or restrict the personal data we hold about you, to receive a copy in a portable form, to object to our use of it, and to withdraw consent at any time. Because most of your puppy's data sits on your device, you can exercise much of this directly in the app. For the data we hold, such as your launch-list email, a shared copy, or a cloud backup, contact us and we will act on your request. For an encrypted backup, remember we cannot read the contents ourselves, deleting it is straightforward, but correcting a single detail inside it is not, since we cannot see what's in there to correct.
To make a request, or if you have a concern, email [email protected]. We will respond within one month, as the law requires. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk, though we would like the chance to put things right first.
Changes to this policy
As Vivlo grows, this policy may change. When it does, we'll update the date at the top of this page, and we'll flag anything significant.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email [email protected] and a real person will reply.