It’s essential for you to be informed about how Pet Share & Shop and our partners utilise cookies. These technologies play a crucial role in ensuring Pet Share & Shop operates effectively, helping us understand how you interact with our Services, and serving a range of purposes that extend beyond advertising, as detailed in this policy.
1. Types of cookies
Cookies
Cookies are small data files sent from a server to your web browser. They are stored in your browser’s cache and enable a website or third party to recognise your browser. There are three main types of cookies:
- Session cookies: These are specific to a single visit and carry information across different pages to avoid re-entering details each time you navigate or try to check out. Session cookies automatically expire and delete themselves shortly after you leave the site or close your browser.
- Persistent cookies: These remember specific preferences for viewing the site, allowing Pet Share & Shop to recognise you each time you return. Stored in your browser cache or mobile device, persistent cookies remain until you decide to delete them or they expire.
- Third-party cookies: Set by entities other than Pet Share & Shop, these cookies can track browsing activity across multiple websites and sessions. Typically a form of persistent cookies, they stay stored until you delete them or they expire based on the time frame set by the third-party.
Cookies store data about your usage and help Pet Share & Shop to tailor your experience. You can adjust your desktop or mobile browser’s settings to accept or reject cookies according to your preferences, including how third-party cookies are managed.
Other technologies
Beyond cookies, Pet Share & Shop and other online or mobile platforms use a variety of similar technologies:
- Web beacons: These are tiny graphics, often called “clear GIFs” or “web pixels,” that have unique identifiers used to monitor browsing behavior. Unlike cookies, which are stored on your computer’s hard drive, web beacons are embedded invisibly within web pages when they load.
- UTM codes: These are text strings added to a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) as you navigate from one web page or site to another, capturing details about your browsing, such as which ad, page, or publisher directed you to the site.
- Local storage objects: These are sets of data that can be stored by a site in your browser. They can be used to retain preferences, track usage history, or maintain the state or settings of a site or app.
- Social widgets: These are buttons or icons provided by third-party social media platforms, enabling interaction with those services directly from a web page. These widgets may collect browsing data, which is transmitted to the third party that supplied the widget and are managed by those third parties.
- Internet of Things (IoT) identifiers: Similar to mobile identifiers, internet-connected devices like voice-activated assistants or smart TVs may transmit identifiers and data similar to those sent by web browsers or mobile SDKs.
2. Purposes
Pet Share & Shop employs Cookie Technologies to recognise when you’re logged in, to understand which products and services you’re interested in, to make the Site function effectively, and to provide a more personalised browsing experience. Specifically, Pet Share & Shop uses Cookie Technologies for the following purposes:
- User preferences: Certain technologies are used to remember your account and preferences over time, such as keeping you logged in on Pet Share & Shop, retaining your choices for Pet Share & Shop features, and customising how Pet Share & Shop appears (including tracking your preferred language and country), as well as tailoring content based on your interactions with Pet Share & Shop.
- Security and authentication: Some cookie and similar technologies are crucial for Pet Share & Shop’s proper operation, ensuring the security, safety, and integrity of the Site. These technologies also support authentication, logging into Pet Share & Shop (including remembering permissions and consents), and securely completing transactions.
Performance analytics
Various technologies help gather performance data on how the services function, aiding in the improvement of Pet Share & Shop. This includes data on site performance and speed, which assists in optimising Pet Share & Shop, understanding how the services are used, and detecting and reporting bugs to improve Pet Share & Shop’s functionality.
Additionally, Pet Share & Shop may use transient technologies, such as cookies or locally stored objects, for site performance, experiments, form data, and site interactions. Temporary, short-term cookies may also be used for limited-time events like sales and promotions.
The Site uses Google Analytics to gain insights into how the Pet Share & Shop community interacts with the platform. For some advertising features, such as retargeting, data from Google Analytics may be combined with Pet Share & Shop’s first-party data and third-party cookies (like Google’s advertising cookies), in compliance with Google’s and Pet Share & Shop’s policies.
Social networks
Certain technologies enable you to engage with social networks you’re logged into while using our Services. This includes sharing content, logging in, and using other features associated with the social network, all in line with the social network’s privacy policies. These settings may be managed and controlled by the social networks and your preferences within them.
Social networks may collaborate with Pet Share & Shop or directly with you for analytics or marketing purposes, as outlined below. You might have options to manage your privacy preferences related to these social networks and their tools through your social network account.
Interest-based ads
Pet Share & Shop collaborates with third-party service providers who may use various Cookie Technologies to help us and them understand which ads you view and interact with on Pet Share & Shop and affiliated sites, or to display ads to you both on and off Pet Share & Shop. These may include the following:
- Frequency capping: Limits the number of times the same ad is shown to your browser or mobile device.
- Cross-device recognition: Identifies actions across multiple devices or browsers.
- Remarketing: Displays relevant ads based on your prior shopping and browsing behaviour on Pet Share & Shop.
- Audience targeting: Directs ads to a broad audience based on known or inferred demographics.
- Attribution tracking: Determines which advertising or marketing source brought you to Pet Share & Shop or led to actions such as visits or purchases.
Some third-party providers may offer data such as demographics, cross-device information, or interest categories from various sources that, while not personally identifying you, allow us to deliver more relevant and useful ads. In certain cases, this information may also be used for non-marketing performance analytics.
These technologies enable partners to recognise your computer, mobile device, or network device each time you visit Pet Share & Shop or other websites. They do this by using data such as cookies, your IP address, or device ID, but they do not grant access to other personal information from Pet Share & Shop.
However, these technologies may allow us or third parties to identify you across devices over time. These third parties are obligated to comply with applicable laws, self-regulatory programs, and Pet Share & Shop’s data protection policies where relevant. Pet Share & Shop has no control over these third parties, each of which has its own privacy policies and practices.
For audience targeting, Pet Share & Shop may share hashed identifiers representing an email address or name, along with other information you provide, such as your approximate location, birthday, and/or phone number, with partners like Google and/or Facebook. These partners use this data to provide Pet Share & Shop with audiences interested in specific products and services. Google and/or Facebook can only use this information based on their own policies and agreements with their users. Additional information is available in Pet Share & Shop’s Cookies and Similar Technologies Disclosures.
Opting-out of third-party networks
If you prefer not to have this information used for interest-based advertising, you can manage your preferences. Please note that this does not prevent you from receiving advertisements; you will still see generic ads. Blocking or rejecting all cookies in your browser settings may prevent you from fully utilising Pet Share & Shop’s Services, as some cookies are essential for the Site’s proper function.
3. Consent and legitimate interests
Some Cookie Technologies are necessary for the Site to function as intended and are provided based on the contractual necessity of your agreement with Pet Share & Shop to deliver the services you’ve requested. These include functions that are strictly necessary for the Services.
By choosing to use our Services after being informed of our use of Cookies as outlined in this Policy, and, in relevant jurisdictions, through notice and clear acknowledgment of your consent, you agree to such use.
4. Your preferences
You have the option to control the use of certain Cookie Technologies. You can opt out of third-party marketing cookies via the GDPR Preferences link.
Browser opt-in and opt-out
When using Pet Share & Shop through a browser, you can adjust your settings to match your cookie preferences. Each browser varies slightly, but these settings are typically located under the “options” or “preferences” menu.
Google Analytics opt-out
For Google Analytics Advertising Features, you can opt-out using Google Ads Settings or other available methods (such as the NAI’s consumer opt-out mentioned earlier). Google also offers a Google Analytics opt-out plug-in for web browsers.
Third-party tools
Various third parties offer browser plug-ins and apps that provide information and help limit or block third-party cookies, web beacons, and some JavaScript-based technologies.
Both Google and Facebook offer tools to manage advertising on their platforms, including ads on and through Pet Share & Shop. More information can be found in your account settings on each platform, including Google’s Privacy Center and Facebook’s Ad Settings.
5. Contact is
If you have any questions regarding the use of Cookie Technologies at Pet Share & Shop, please contact us.
