Privacy Policy

Last updated:

Pet Wiki ("we," "us," or "our") respects your privacy. This policy describes what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. We have written it in plain language because the legalese is unhelpful.

1. Information we collect automatically

When you visit Pet Wiki, our servers and third-party services automatically receive:

  • Your IP address (anonymized after 30 days)
  • Browser type, version, and device screen size
  • The page you came from (referrer)
  • The pages you visit on Pet Wiki and how long you stay
  • Aggregated interaction events (clicks, scroll depth)

2. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and local storage for three reasons:

  1. Essential — to remember your category filter, search query, and dark-mode preference. These cannot be turned off without breaking site functionality.
  2. Analytics — to count visits, see which guides are read, and improve weak content. We use Google Analytics 4 with IP anonymization enabled.
  3. Advertising — Google AdSense, which uses cookies to show ads relevant to your interests. You can opt out of personalized ads at google.com/settings/ads.

3. Google AdSense and third-party advertising

Pet Wiki displays ads served by Google AdSense. Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to our site and/or other sites on the Internet.

You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings. You may also opt out of certain third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.

4. Affiliate links

Some of our guides contain links to products we genuinely use and recommend. When you buy through one of these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We never accept paid placements, and our editorial recommendations are independent of affiliate relationships. Every affiliate link is tagged rel="sponsored noopener".

5. Children's privacy (COPPA)

Pet Wiki is a general-audience site and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

6. Your rights (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)

If you are in the EU, UK, California, or another jurisdiction with data-protection laws, you have the right to:

  • Request access to the personal data we hold about you
  • Request deletion of your personal data
  • Opt out of the sale of your personal data (we do not sell data)
  • Lodge a complaint with your data protection authority

To exercise any of these rights, contact us via the address on our Contact page. We respond within 30 days.

7. Data retention

Aggregated analytics data is retained for 26 months. Server logs are retained for 90 days and then deleted. We do not maintain individual user profiles.

8. International data transfers

Pet Wiki is operated from the United States. If you visit from the EU, UK, or another region, your information will be transferred to and processed in the US. We use standard contractual clauses where required.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. Material changes will be announced with a banner on the homepage for 30 days. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the current version.

10. Contact

For privacy questions, see our Contact page.