Updated November 14, 2021

At Helping Fido, we take online privacy seriously and we respect the concerns of our community of users. In this policy (the “Privacy Policy”) we describe our privacy practices with regard to information we collect through helpingfido.com and its affiliated sites (collectively, the “Site”), to help you make informed decisions about how you share information when you visit or use the site, as well as your rights in determining what we do with the information that we collect or hold about you.

Understanding How Information Is Collected on Helping Fido

Information You May Choose to Provide to Us
We may collect information, including personal data, directly from you if you choose to provide that information. For example, you may provide us with your name and contact information (such as an email address), date of birth, or other details of that nature, when you sign up for our newsletters or participate in promotions or surveys on the Site.

You also may choose to provide personally identifiable information about yourself when you participate in forums or discussions on the Site. Please be aware that information you post in these forums may be viewed or captured by anyone who visits the Site, therefore you should avoid posting sensitive personal data that you would not want to be available to the public.

Information That Is Automatically Collected When You Visit Helping Fido
When you access the Site, we and our third-party partners and vendors may automatically collect certain information about your visit using tools such as cookies, web beacons, and other similar technologies. The information collected automatically when you visit the Site may include your IP address, characteristics of your operating system, information about your browser and system settings, data about the computer or mobile device you use to access the Site, unique device identifiers, clickstream data (which shows the page-by-page path you take as you browse the Site). We or our third-party partners may combine information that each of us collects automatically with other information about you, including information you choose to provide.

Cookies are small files that websites and other online services use to store information about users on the users’ own computers. This Site may use cookies (such as HTTP and HTML5 cookies, as well as other types of local storage. For more information about cookies, you may visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.

To manage our automatic data collection, we may place tags (often referred to as “web beacons”) on pages on the Site or in emails we send to you. Web beacons are small files that link web pages to particular web servers and their cookies, and they may be used for a variety of purposes, such as counting the number of visitors to the Site, analyzing how users navigate around the Site, assessing how many emails that we send are actually opened and which articles or links are viewed by visitors.

We also use third-party web analytics services, such as Google Analytics, on the Site, to provide us with statistics and other information about visitors to the Site.

“Do Not Track” Signals. Your browser settings may allow you to automatically transmit a “do not track” signal to websites and online services you visit. At this time there is no consensus among industry participants as to the meaning of “do not track” in this context. Like many other websites, HelpingFido.com is not configured to respond to “do not track” signals from browsers. Click here to learn more about “do not track” signals.

Finally, companies that provide certain third-party apps, tools, widgets, and plug-ins that may appear on the Site (for example, Facebook “Like” buttons), also may use automated means to collect information regarding your interactions with these features. This information collection is subject to the privacy policies or notices of those providers.

Further information regarding our use of cookies and other tracking technologies is described in our Cookies Disclosure here.

How We May Use Information We Collect
We may use the information gathered on Helping Fido for various purposes, including the purposes listed below. For example, if you were to contact us with a question and provide your email address, we would use the email address you provided to respond to your inquiry. In addition, we use information we collect from you and through the Site to:

  • Provide products and services you request (such as when you sign up to receive our email newsletters);
  • Respond to requests, questions, and comments, and provide other types of user support;
  • Offer you products and services, or direct you to portions of this Site or other websites, that we believe may interest you;
  • To serve advertising, content and offers to you based on your interests and online activities, from us or third parties;
  • Communicate about, and administer your participation in, events, programs, contests, and other offers or promotions;
  • Carry out, evaluate, and improve our business (which may include developing new features for the Site; analyzing and enhancing the user experience on the Site; assessing the effectiveness of our marketing and advertising; and managing our communications);
  • Perform data analytics regarding usage of the Site (including market and customer research, trend analysis, and financial analysis);
  • Guard against, identify, and prevent fraud and other criminal activity, claims, and other liabilities; and
  • Comply with applicable legal requirements, law enforcement requests, and our company policies.

How We May Share Information
Our agents, vendors, consultants, and other service providers may have access to information we collect through the Site to carry out work on our behalf. Those parties are subject to confidentiality obligations and are restricted from using personal data collected through the Site for purposes other than to provide the requested assistance. In addition, we may share information:

  • With our affiliates for internal business purposes;
  • With third parties for marketing purposes, including social media networks, data management platforms, and other advertising technology providers; for example, we may match your email address with third parties with whom you have also consented to share your email address and use such match to deliver custom offers or emails to you on the Sites and elsewhere online;
  • If we are required to do so by law, regulation, or legal process (such as a court order or subpoena);
  • In response to requests from government agencies, such as law enforcement authorities, including to meet national security requirements;
  • If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent physical harm or financial loss, or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual illegal activity;
  • With respect to analytics and statistical information, to inform advertisers about the nature of our user base;
  • In the event we sell or transfer all or a portion of our business or assets (including a reorganization, dissolution, or liquidation). In such an event, we will seek to provide you with commercially reasonable notice, e.g., via email and/or notice on our website, of any change in ownership, incompatible new uses of your personal information, and choices you may have regarding your personal information; and
  • With your consent or at your discretion.

Data Retention and Access
We will retain your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes it was retained, such as to enable you to use the Website and your products or to provide services to you. In some instances, we may retain data for longer periods in order to comply with applicable laws (including those regarding document retention), resolve disputes with any parties, and otherwise as necessary to allow us to conduct our business. All personal data we retain will be subject to this Privacy Policy and our internal retention guidelines. We respect your control over your information and, upon request, we will seek to confirm your identity and whether we hold or are processing information that we have collected from you. You also have the right to amend or update inaccurate or incomplete personal information, request deletion of your personal information, or request that we no longer use it. Under certain circumstances we will not be able to fulfill your request, such as if it interferes with our regulatory obligations, affects legal matters, we cannot verify your identity, or it involves disproportionate cost or effort, but in any event we will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and provide you an explanation. In order to make such a request of us, please email us at privacy@helpingfido.com.

Your Choices

Unsubscribe from emails. To unsubscribe from a particular newsletter, click the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of that email newsletter. If you would like to globally opt-out from ALL Helping Fido email campaigns please send an email to optout@helpingfido.com with “Unsubscribe” in the subject line. When we send newsletters to subscribers we may allow advertisers or partners to include messages in those newsletters, or we may send dedicated newsletters on behalf of those advertisers or partners. We may disclose your opt-out choices to third parties so that they can honor your preferences in accordance with applicable laws.

Blocking cookies. Certain browsers may be configured to notify you when you receive cookies, or allow you to restrict or disable certain cookies. If you choose to disable cookies, however, that could affect certain features of the Site that use cookies to enhance their functionality.

Disabling local shared objects . We may use other kinds of local storage that function similarly, but are stored in different parts of your computer from ordinary browser cookies. Your browser may allow you to disable its HTML5 local storage or delete information contained in its HTML5 local storage. Click here for details about deleting information contained in “local shared objects” or adjusting related preferences.

Options concerning third-party ad networks. As described in this Privacy Policy, we and third parties may use cookies and similar tracking technologies to collect information and infer your interests for interest-based advertising purposes. if you would prefer to not receive personalized ads based on your browser or device usage, you may generally opt out of interest-based advertising by clicking here. Please note that you will continue to see advertisements, but such advertisements will no longer be tailored to your interests. For more information about third-party ad networks and services that use these technologies, you can visit www.aboutads.info and click here to opt out or to learn more about your options. You also may visit the NAI’s site for additional options on how to opt out of interest-based advertising.

How We Protect Personal Data
We maintain appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal data you provide against accidental, unlawful, or unauthorized destruction, loss, alteration, access, disclosure, or use. That said, it is not possible to guarantee the security of information transmitted online, and you assume some risk with regard to the security of information you provide through any website, including this Site. If you have a data security inquiry, you may contact us by emailing security@helpingfido.com.

Links From Helping Fido to Other Sites
On this Site we may provide links to other websites that are controlled by third parties. Linked websites may have their own privacy notices or policies, which we strongly suggest you review. We are not responsible for the content, usage terms, privacy policies of websites that we do not own or control.

Surveys and Quizzes
While you are visiting Helping Fido, you may have the opportunity to participate in surveys, quizzes, or other interactive features that request information about you and your opinions and preferences. Your participation in these features is entirely voluntary. If you do choose to participate, please be aware that these features may be operated by a third party that is not controlled by Helping Fido, and therefore the information you provide may be collected by the third party and subject to its privacy policy.

Children’s Privacy
This Site is not designed or intended for use by children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child under the age of 13, we will delete any such information.

Information for Users Outside the United States
Your personal data may be stored, transferred and processed in and to the United States and in other countries by our affiliates and/or service providers. The data protection laws in these countries may provide a lower standard of protection for your personal data than your country of residence. We take great care in protecting your personal data and have put in place adequate mechanisms to protect it when it is transferred internationally. We will transfer your personal data in compliance with applicable data protection laws and will implement suitable safeguards to ensure that your personal data is adequately secured by any third party that will access your information (for instance, by using the Model Clauses as approved by the European Commission).

By using our Site and providing personal data to us, you consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the collection, use, maintenance, transfer to and processing of your personal data in the United States or other countries or territories, and, unless otherwise stated in this Privacy Policy, we use this consent as the legal basis for that data transfer.

If you have questions or wish to obtain more information about the international transfer of your personal data or the implemented safeguards, please send us an email to privacy@helpingfido.com.

How We’ll Inform You About Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this online privacy policy periodically to reflect changes to our privacy practices, such as how we collect or use personal data. If we propose to make any material changes, we will post a prominent notice on the HelpingFido.com home page to notify you of significant changes to this policy, and we indicate at the top of the policy the date when it was most recently updated. We encourage you to periodically review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.

How to Contact Us
If you have questions about this policy or about our privacy practices, you may contact us by emailing privacy@helpingfido.com.

If you are a California resident inquiring about your California privacy rights, please include “California privacy rights request” in the subject line of your email.

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area inquiring about your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), please include “GDPR privacy rights request” in the subject line of your email.

You may also write to:

Helping Fido
210 S. Ellsworth Ave #2005
San Mateo, CA 94401