Privacy Policy

Effective 2026-07-09

1. The short version

We collect what we need to run the Service and to keep your data safe. We don't sell your personal information. The public-directory features only show what you opt in to publish. You can export or delete your account at any time.

2. What we collect

Account information

Email address, name, password (hashed), and the kennel profile information you fill in. We use this to identify you, authenticate you, and run the Service.

Breeding records you enter

Litters, puppies, parent dogs, weight logs, health tests, applications you receive, finances, and similar operational records. This is your data, we host it on your behalf.

Usage data

We log API requests, error reports, and high-level interactions (e.g. which page caused an error) so we can debug issues and improve the Service. We don't sell this data and we don't share it for advertising.

Cookies and similar technologies

We use a small number of cookies and local storage entries to keep you logged in, remember your preferences, and detect when you've dismissed an in-app banner. We do not use third-party advertising cookies.

3. How we use your data

Run the Service and authenticate you
Provide the features you've asked for (e.g. publish your kennel profile if you opt in)
Send transactional emails (account verification, password reset, important account notices)
Debug, monitor, and improve the Service
Detect and prevent fraud and abuse
Comply with legal obligations

4. Public visibility, what other people see

By default, your data is private to you. If you opt your kennel into the public directory, the fields you've marked as public become visible to anyone browsing the site. Same for individual litters and stud listings: you choose which ones to publish, and you can take them down at any time.

Per-field public visibility controls are part of the kennel, dog, litter, and stud settings. We try to make the controls clear, but if a setting is confusing, that's our bug and we want to know.

A few surfaces are inherently public when you use them: your kennel profile URL (if published), your dog profiles (if you set them public), your stud listing (if activated for the directory), and the contents of any inquiry you send to another kennel or stud owner via CohortKit's messaging tools.

5. Public records and how CohortKit links to them

Some of the information a breeder shares about their dogs, health test results at OFA / PennHIP, AKC / UKC / CKC / FCI registration numbers, CHIC numbers, and titles, is already publicly searchable at the registry. CohortKit does not create these public records; the registries do. What we do is make it easier for a family or another breeder to find your program by the testing and titling you've already done.

When you add a CHIC number or a registration number to a dog and set the dog's profile public, we may deep-link to the registry's own public page for that record so a buyer can verify it independently. If a health test you enter is verifiable at OFA, our system may fetch the public OFA record to confirm the name and number match, and we store a small snapshot of that check so we're not hammering their servers.

We do our best to keep private things private and to give you real per-field controls. But records that were already public at the registry remain public whether or not you use CohortKit. If you'd rather not link to the public record, leave the CHIC / registration number field blank, or hide the dog from public surfaces via the visibility toggles.

6. AI features

Some CohortKit features use AI to help you work faster: parsing an applicant's answers into a summary, extracting scores from a photo of a paper temperament test, mapping columns when you import applications from Google Forms or JotForm, or reading a health certificate to check it matches the dog it's attached to.

These features run on Google's paid Gemini API. On the paid tier, your data is not used to train Google's foundation models and is not retained by Google beyond the short window needed to serve the request. See Google's terms for details.

AI features are available on CohortKit Pro. Free-tier accounts don't trigger AI requests, and Pro users can turn individual AI features off from account settings. When AI is used, we always tell you (the "AI insights" panel, the "Checking cert" chip, etc.). AI makes mistakes and we say so wherever an AI output is shown.

7. Sharing with third parties

We use a small number of service providers to run CohortKit. They process your data on our behalf under contracts that restrict their use:

Hosting and database. Railway, Neon (US, EU regions)
File storage. Cloudflare R2
Transactional email. Resend
AI features (Pro only). Google Gemini API (paid tier, no training on your data)
Payments (optional). Stripe, PayPal (breeder-connected accounts only; see Terms)
Error reporting, internal logs only

We do not sell personal information. We do not share your breeding records with anyone outside CohortKit unless required by law (e.g. a valid court order) or unless you explicitly publish them.

8. Your rights

You can:

Access and download the data we have about you
Correct or update inaccurate information from your account pages
Delete your account, which removes all data associated with it (subject to limited retention for legal/operational reasons)
Opt out of any non-essential email

To exercise these rights, use the controls in your account settings or email [email protected].

9. Retention

We keep your data for as long as your account is active. After deletion we remove personal information promptly. Audit logs and security logs are retained for up to 90 days; backups roll off on the schedule of our hosting provider.

10. Children

CohortKit is not intended for children under 18 and we don't knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we'll delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy materially, we'll notify you by email or in-app banner before the change takes effect.

12. Contact

Privacy questions or requests: email [email protected].