This website is owned and operated by Peddymark Limited t/a Microchip Central. 'DogTrac' and 'Check a Chip' are trading names of Peddymark Limited t/a Microchip Central. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy (together with our Terms and Conditions and any other documents referred to in it) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the "Act"), the data controller is Peddymark Limited t/a Microchip Central of Lawn House, Slough Lane, Horton, Wimborne, England, BH21 7JL . Registration ref: ZA171593.

Your consent

By using our Website, you understand and agree that personal information you provide through the Website will be held on a database created and operated by us or our group of companies.

Our database is fully compliant with current DEFRA regulations and The Microchipping of Dogs Regulations. Registering your pet's keepership on a DEFRA compliant database is not proof of ownership.

When registering you will be given consent options for displaying your data if your pets microchip is searched online. We only display critical data about you and your pet and never share you address via an online search. You may update these options at any time from within your account.

We will provide veterinary practices, welfares, dog wardens and other authorised bodies with keeper details listed on a microchip for reunification purposes.

We operate a 'double opt in' system for accounts created using email to verify the details and activate the account.

If an account is created on behalf of someone else, the account will need activating for us to gain consent to display contact details if a microchip number is searched online. This is usually for reunification purposes.

Inactive accounts will incur the fees as stated in section 15 of the terms and conditions. Accounts can be activated free for 28 days after their creation.

If you set a temporary keeper, we will contact them via email and SMS to notify them they have been added as a temporary keeper. If they do not want to be listed as a temporary keeper they are invited to ask us to remove their details.

What information do we collect and why?

When you make a purchase, sign up to 'MicroChip Central or DogTrac' or use other features on our website, you will be asked for some essential information including your title, first name, surname, postal address, email address, telephone and if applicable payment information. We are aware some users don't have email and we take this into account during the registration process.

This information is collected to help us:

• Enable you to be reunited quickly with lost pets
• Process your online orders including sending order confirmation and delivery information via email
• Contact you about your order or account
• Verify the creation of an account
• Start the transfer of a pet to a new keeper
• Deliver safe and secure shopping by helping to prevent and detect fraud
• Speed up your form filling processes if you've registered online
• Enhance your shopping experience by delivering a more personally tailored offer
• Respond to any issues or queries via the customer service advisor teams; and/or notify you about changes to our service.

We will also automatically collect data such as dates and times of your visits to the Website and information relating to the search of a microchip. This may include your IP address, internet service provider and operating system. This information is only collected to prevent fraud and help reunify lost pets.

How we protect your information

We protect your information by:

• Encrypting your personal information. When you place an order or access your account information, a secure server encrypts all of the information you input before it is sent to us. This protects your confidential data.
• Keeping your information up-to-date and accurate. We need you to tell us if any of your details change, such as your name, address, contact numbers or email. You can do this by logging into your account online. This may incur a small fee.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. We cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to and/or through the Website; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to prevent unauthorised access. If a data breach does occur, we will inform all affected parties at high risk and report the breach to the ICO within 72 hours.

Data retention

The following outline the retention of data for pets and user

• New accounts created by a user will be deleted if they are not activated within 28 days, have no pets, tags or microchips in the account, and are not registered as Scan Angels.
• To comply with the Microchipping of Dogs act we will retain all data on inactive accounts that have pets assigned for the lifetime of the pet unless asked to remove it by you.
• Accounts marked as 'Pet Owners' only with no active registrations (i.e. pets, ID Tags, Key Tags) will be deleted after 12 months, unless also registered as a Scan Angel.
• Breeder accounts will be retained for the lifetime of any pets they have previously breed. Following this, if there are no active registrations (i.e. pets, ID Tags, Key Tags, Microchips) they will be deleted after 12 months, unless also registered as a Scan Angel.
• Other account types will be retained unless you request we delete your account.
• We will remove all data relating to expired transfers after 12 months if the transfer is not accepted.
• Temporary keeper details will be retained for the lifetime of the account unless; we are asked to remove the data, or you remove the temporary keeper from within your account.
• We will remove all personal data relating to a 'microchip released for self registration' if the microchip is not registered within 12 months.
• Pets will be marked as deceased and removed from the database after the following time periods. If your pet lives longer than the below it is your responsibility to notify us. Note you can also update the status of your pet from within your account.
  
  • Dogs – 30 years
  • Cats – 40 years
  • Horses – 40 years
  • Rabbits – 20 years
  • Tortoises – 160 years
  • All other pets – 100 years
• You have a right to request we remove your data at any time.

Protecting your security

To ensure that your credit, debit or charge card is not being used without your consent, we will validate name, address and other personal information supplied by you during the order process against appropriate third-party databases. By accepting these terms and conditions you consent to these checks being made. All information provided by you will be treated securely and strictly in accordance with the Act.

Statement on the use and disclosure of Personal Data

We may send you by SMS, email or post, details on offers, products, reminders and services which may be of interest to you if you have given consent for us to do so. We may also telephone you to discuss order details.

We may monitor or record telephone calls to ensure our quality standards are maintained and for fraud prevention purposes. We will notify at the start of every call if it is being recorded.

We share you and your pet's critical data if the microchip is searched. We also share your critical contact data if you have consented for us to do so. We never share your address unless ordered to do so. The sharing of data is for reunification purposes.

The previous keeper, or the vet or implanter who microchipped our pet will be able to see your name, email and contact number within their MicroChip Central account. This is for reunification purposes if the new keeper can't be contacted or the data provided was inaccurate.

If a transfer has expired, we may restart the transfer at any time within 6 months.

We may disclose your personal information to third parties:

• Peddymark Limited t/a Microchip Central or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its customers will be one of the transferred assets; or
• If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation imposed by the courts.

The Website may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of our partner networks, advertisers and affiliates. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

Cookies

A cookie is an element of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then store it on the hard drive of your computer. Cookies allow us to understand who has seen which pages and advertisements on the Website and to make the Website more user friendly by, for example, allowing us to save your Website password so that you do not have to re-enter it every time you visit. We use cookies so that we can give you a better experience when you return to the Website.

Cookies are used to enable you to register and log on to the Website and make purchases and store items in your basket whilst on the Website. Please note, if your browser is set to reject cookies, then, unfortunately you will not be able to shop online. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies. You do not have to accept cookies and you should read the information that came with your browser software to see how you can set up your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. This will give you the opportunity to decide whether to accept it or not. We may also use cookies to provide you with customised information from the Website.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Any changes we may make to our Privacy Policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email.