Retain what the workflow needs. Delete with care.
Consumer prototype data stays in the current browser; configured public submissions and organization records use the backend. Retention is described separately for each path.
Retention follows the record's purpose and account lifecycle.
Backend records are retained while needed to operate the service, support the applicable organization, preserve security and accountability, resolve disputes, or meet legal obligations. Shelters and rescues decide what applicant, animal, foster, medical, behavioral, volunteer, and operational information they are permitted or required to retain. WhiskerMatch provides software and technical controls; it does not provide legal advice or replace an organization's retention policy.
Current records
Browser-local data, Lost & Found reports, external discovery records, applications, questionnaire submissions, usage counts, accounts, organization records, audit events, and uploads.
Current records
Browser-local data, Lost & Found reports, external discovery records, applications, questionnaire submissions, usage counts, accounts, organization records, audit events, and uploads.
Browser-local consumer data
Saved demo profiles, recent views, searches, matching preferences, lost-and-found drafts, care notes, and reminders remain in unencrypted localStorage when available. Session-only fallback data ends with that browser session. Users can remove records in the interface or clear the site's browser data; WhiskerMatch has no server copy to delete from these prototype surfaces.
Lost & Found reports (only when switched on)
Reports expire 60 days after posting unless the poster extends them, and are deleted 30 days after being closed. Expired reports are hidden from every public view immediately and removed from the database by a retention job. The poster can delete a report and its photos and messages at any time. Rate-limit hashes of a network address are cleared after 30 days. Reports flagged by several people are hidden until a person reviews them.
External discovery records
RescueGroups records are temporary. The current server slice keeps successful search and detail responses only in a bounded process-local cache for 60 to 3,600 seconds, does not use stale fallback, and does not write raw provider payloads to the database. Source-hosted media and tracker requests follow the provider's own logging and retention policies.
Public adoption applications
Name, email, optional phone, and optional household notes are stored as an applicant record for the organization responsible for an eligible public listing. The organization controls the operational retention decision, subject to its agreement, applicable obligations, and verified access or deletion requests.
Questionnaire submissions
Retained so WhiskerMatch can review the submission, generate and display reports, understand recurring workflow needs, and respond to the submitter. Deletion or correction may be requested.
Pilot requests (historical)
Requests submitted through the earlier pilot-request form are retained to honor follow-up and to provision organizations that arose from them. The public form has been retired, new inquiries arrive by direct email, so no new pilot-request records are created. A request does not create an organization account by itself.
Usage counts
Allowlisted event counts (an event name, a public page path without its query string, an optional tool or guide id, and the time) carry no identity, so there is nothing to look up or delete per person. Rows older than about 13 months are deleted automatically.
Accounts and sessions
Identity, role, organization membership, security state, invitations, password-reset records, and session-related information are retained as needed to authenticate users, enforce permissions, and investigate account events.
Organization records
Animal records, applicants, fosters, notes, tasks, holds, statuses, reviews, and related operational information generally remain available while the organization's account or pilot is active, subject to deletion and agreement terms.
Audit events
Audit records may be retained longer than ordinary editable records when needed for accountability, security review, incident investigation, or dispute resolution.
Private uploads
Photos and documents remain in private storage while attached to active records or otherwise needed for the organization's workflow. Deleting a record may require a coordinated deletion of related storage objects and backups.
My Pets (preview)
Owner records in My Pets stay in your browser.
My Pets (preview)
Owner records in My Pets stay in your browser.
The pets, entries and dates you add in My Pets are saved only in your own browser on your own device. They are not sent to or stored by WhiskerMatch, so we cannot retain, recover, export or delete them for you. Clearing your browser data, or using the erase option in My Pets, removes them. A backup file you download is yours to keep or delete. The preview has no accounts and no sync. If that changes, this page will say so before any owner data is collected.
Infrastructure records
Vercel and Supabase may retain request, database, storage, backup, or diagnostic information. Limited residual copies may remain until normal backup rotation completes.
Infrastructure records
Vercel and Supabase may retain request, database, storage, backup, or diagnostic information. Limited residual copies may remain until normal backup rotation completes.
Access and diagnostic logs
Request metadata, timestamps, status codes, and error information may be retained for reliability, abuse prevention, and security investigation.
Backups
Database or storage backups may contain deleted information for a limited period until routine backup expiration or rotation. Backups are not used to restore an intentionally deleted active record except where required for disaster recovery or legal obligations.
Security records
Rate-limit, session-revocation, invitation, reset, and incident records may be retained long enough to enforce security controls and investigate misuse.
Optional email
Automated email is optional. Where email is used, the email provider and recipient mailbox may retain message metadata or content under their own policies. Core invitation and reset workflows also support manual copy-link delivery.
Requests and account closure
Access, correction, export, and deletion require verification. WhiskerMatch will not delete or disclose another person's or organization's information merely because someone asks.
Requests and account closure
Access, correction, export, and deletion require verification. WhiskerMatch will not delete or disclose another person's or organization's information merely because someone asks.
Access and correction
Public submitters and authorized organization representatives may ask what information WhiskerMatch holds about them and request correction of inaccurate information.
Organization export
Authorized organization owners may request an export of organization records in a reasonably available format, subject to current product capabilities and any signed agreement.
Deletion
Deletion requests are evaluated promptly. Some records may need to be retained for security, audit, contractual, dispute, fraud-prevention, backup, or legal reasons.
End of pilot or account
When a pilot or account ends, export and active-data deletion are handled under the applicable agreement and operational plan. Organizations remain responsible for preserving any records they are legally or operationally required to keep.
Request access, correction, export, or deletion.
Contact us with enough information to verify the request without sending unnecessary credentials, applicant records, animal medical information, or other sensitive data by email.