Privacy policy

Last updated October 14, 2026

Who is responsible

The controller for the Dock Pets app and dock-pets.com is:

Write to that address with any privacy question or request. We process personal data under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) and, where it applies to visitors and users in the EU or EEA, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The legal bases below refer to the GDPR; under the FADP, we rely on the same reasons as justification where one is needed. We don't have a data protection officer, as the law doesn't require one for a business our size.

The Dock Pets app

What stays on your Mac

The app works without an account. Apart from the install ID described under "Making your own pet", your pets, the finished pixel versions of your own pets, and your settings (such as which pets are on your Dock, pausing and opening at login) are stored only on your Mac. The app contains no advertising, no analytics and no tracking code, and it doesn't read your files, your screen or what you do in other apps. To know where to walk, it only reads the Dock's position and size and whether an app is in full screen.

Making your own pet

When you make your own pet, this is what happens to the photos you choose:

1. The app sends the photos over an encrypted connection to our server.
2. Our server asks an AI image model what your animal looks like: the species, the breed or body type, the coat colours and the markings. The model's provider receives the photos only for this request. We only use providers whose terms say they don't use the photos to train models or keep them after the request.
3. From that description, our server paints one of our hand-drawn pet bodies in your pet's colours and sends the finished pet to your Mac.
4. The photos are kept only while you look at the preview. They're deleted as soon as you keep your pet, and if you stop without keeping it, within a day at the latest. The finished pet's files (its pixel sprite sheet and animation settings, never the photos) stay on our server, so you can restore your pet on another Mac.

To keep the pets made on your Mac together, the app creates a random install ID the first time you make a pet. It isn't derived from your name, your Apple Account or your Mac's hardware, and it's stored only in the app's settings on your Mac. The app sends it with each request to make a pet, and our server keeps it with the record of the pets made under it (each pet's ID, its progress, the number of photos and the date, but never the photos), so that previews, repaints and the purchase reach the right pet and the service isn't abused (Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR). We delete these records once they're no longer needed for that, except where the law requires us to keep purchase records. Deleting the app removes the ID from your Mac.

Please choose photos of your animal only. If a person happens to be in the picture, the photo is treated and deleted in exactly the same way. Our process doesn't try to recognise people.

Legal basis: performing our contract with you, which is making the pet you asked for (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). You don't have to provide a photo, but without one we can't make your pet.

The model's answer (for example, that a dog's breed isn't one we can draw) only decides how your pet is made and whether the app offers to make it. There is no automated decision with legal or similarly significant effects on you within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR, and you can always try another photo.

Purchases

Apple handles every purchase through the App Store. We never see your name, Apple Account or payment details. Apple tells the app which purchase was made so it can unlock your pet (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). Apple's handling of your data is described in Apple's privacy policy.

Creator codes

If you enter a creator's code when you make your pet, we record the code together with the purchase (a transaction reference, the date and the price) so we can pay the creator their share. The creator sees only totals, never anything about you (Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR). We keep these records for as long as the law requires us to keep business records, up to 10 years.

Crash reports

If you have chosen in macOS to share analytics with app developers, Apple may send us anonymous crash reports and usage statistics. We use them only to fix problems (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is a working app). You can turn this off in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.

This website

Visiting the site

The website and the server that makes custom pets are hosted in Switzerland. When you open dock-pets.com, our host's servers receive what every browser sends: your IP address, the date and time, the page requested, the referring page and your browser and system. This is needed to deliver the page and keep the site secure (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). These server logs are deleted after 14 days at the latest.

Every request to the website and to our server, including the app's, passes through Cloudflare's network first. Cloudflare protects the site and the server against attacks, overload and abuse, and sees the same request data while doing so (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR: our legitimate interest in a secure, available service).

We set no cookies. To tell people from bots, Cloudflare may set a strictly necessary security cookie that isn't used for tracking. The site loads no fonts, scripts or images from other companies, apart from the visit counter below. The pixel pets that walk around the page run entirely in your browser. If you hide the roaming cat, your browser remembers that choice in its local storage; it never leaves your device, and you can clear it in your browser's settings.

Creator links

If you open dock-pets.com through a creator's link (with ?ref= and the creator's name in the address), the page shows who recommended Dock Pets and adds the creator's name to the App Store link as a campaign name, so Apple can tell us how many downloads and purchases came through that creator. This happens in your browser; nothing is stored on your device, and Apple reports only totals to us.

Visit statistics

We count visits with Plausible Analytics, a privacy-friendly tool made in the EU (Plausible Insights OÜ, Estonia; data stored in the EU). It uses no cookies and stores no IP addresses or other identifiers: it counts page views, where visitors came from, their country, device type and a few clicks (such as on the App Store badge or a pet) only in aggregate. No one, including us, can follow you across sites or recognise you on a later visit (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is knowing which parts of the page are useful).

"Send to my Mac" and "Request your pet"

If you use one of these forms, we receive what you type: for "Send to my Mac", your email address; for a pet request, the kind of animal, anything you tell us about it and, if you give it, your email address.

• We use your email address only for what you asked: to send you the App Store link, or to tell you when your kind of animal is available. No newsletter, no marketing, and we don't pass it on to anyone except the service providers listed below.
• Legal basis: your request (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and, for being told when your animal is ready, your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), which you can withdraw at any time by writing to us.
• "Send to my Mac" addresses are deleted as soon as the link is sent. Pet requests are kept until we have told you your animal is ready, and at most two years. Requests without an email address carry no personal data.

If the form opens your email app instead, your request reaches us as a normal email, which we treat in the same way.

Creator program

If you apply to the creator program, we receive your name, email address, the platform you post on, your follower range, your profile link and anything else you tell us. We use this to review your application and reply (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). If we don't work together, we delete it after six months, so we can recognise a repeat application; tell us if you'd like it deleted sooner.

If you become a creator, we also process your payout details (bank or PayPal account) and the figures for your link and code, to pay you and to keep our accounts (Art. 6(1)(b) and (c) GDPR). We keep them while you take part and then, for payouts and invoices, as long as Swiss law requires us to keep business records (10 years, Art. 958f Swiss Code of Obligations). We may share and credit your public posts about Dock Pets as set out in the creator agreement.

Emails to us

If you write to us, we use your message and address to answer you (Art. 6(1)(b) or (f) GDPR) and delete the conversation once the matter is closed, unless the law requires us to keep it longer.

Who else processes data

We use these service providers, bound by data processing agreements, and only for the purposes above:

Switzerland and the EU recognise each other's data protection as adequate. Where data goes to the USA, the transfer is covered by the Swiss–US and EU–US Data Privacy Frameworks where the provider is certified, and otherwise by standard contractual clauses recognised by the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner and the European Commission (Art. 16 FADP; Art. 45 and 46 GDPR).

Your rights

You have the right to access the data we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict its processing, to receive it in a portable format, to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to withdraw any consent with effect for the future (Art. 25–32 FADP; Art. 15–21 GDPR). Write to [email protected]. You can also complain to a supervisory authority: in Switzerland, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC); in the EU, the data protection authority where you live.

Most of the time there's very little to ask about: we don't keep your photos, and the app has no account.

Children

Dock Pets is suitable for everyone, but it isn't aimed at children under 16, and we don't knowingly collect personal data from them. The custom pet purchase goes through Apple, where parents can use Ask to Buy.

Security

We protect data with encrypted connections and keep as little as possible for as short as possible. No system is completely secure, but the less we keep, the less there is to lose.

Changes

If the app or the site changes how it handles data, we'll update this page and the date at the top. Significant changes will also be noted in the app's release notes.