PawsFree, LLC ("PawsFree," "we," "us") makes software that helps veterinarians draft medical records. This policy explains what information we collect, what we do with it, and the choices you have.
We've tried to write this in plain language. If anything here is unclear, email us at [email protected] and we'll explain it.
1Who this policy covers
This policy applies to veterinarians, veterinary staff, and practice administrators who create a PawsFree account and use our browser extension, web application, or mobile app (together, the "Services"). It also covers visitors to our website.
This policy does not cover your clients' information. When you use PawsFree to document a visit, information about the pet owner and their animal is handled by us on your behalf. You decide what goes in, what it's used for, and how long you keep it. In privacy law terms, you are the controller of that information and we are your service provider. Your own practice's privacy policy governs it, not this one. Section 4 explains this in more detail.
2PawsFree uses artificial intelligence
Using PawsFree means your information is processed by artificial intelligence systems, including speech recognition and large language models. These systems generate draft medical records automatically or semi-automatically based on what you record, type, and upload.
AI output is a draft, not a medical record. You are responsible for reviewing, correcting, and approving every note before it becomes part of a patient's chart. PawsFree does not practice veterinary medicine and does not verify the clinical accuracy of anything it generates.
3Information we collect
Information you give us
Account information. PawsFree offers several ways to sign in. If you sign in through a third party identity provider such as Google, we receive your name, email address, and an account identifier from that provider, and we never receive or store your password for that provider. If you register directly with us, we store your email address and a cryptographic hash of your password, never the password itself. You may also give us your practice name, your role, the name and credentials of the attending doctor as they should appear on generated records, and which practice management software you use.
Billing information. Paid plans are processed by Stripe, our third party payment processor. We receive your subscription status, plan, and billing history from Stripe. We do not receive or store your full card number. If you request invoices for expense reimbursement, we store the billing details you provide for them. Stripe's handling of your payment information is governed by Stripe's own privacy policy.
Content you create. This is the substance of what PawsFree does:
- Audio recordings you make in the browser extension or the mobile app
- Transcripts generated from those recordings
- Text you type, including notes about what happened during a visit
- Documents you upload, including PDFs of lab results, imaging reports, and referral records
- Generated records, meaning the SOAP notes and other documents PawsFree produces
- Patient identifiers, meaning the patient's name and signalment (species, breed, sex, age)
Support communications. If you email us or send feedback, we keep that correspondence.
Information we collect automatically
- Usage data, including which features you use, how many notes you generate, when you're active, and errors the software encounters
- Device and technical data, including browser type and version, operating system, IP address, and extension version
- Cookies and similar technologies on our website and in the web application, used for authentication and to understand how the site is used
4Your clients' information
Veterinary records are about animals, but they contain information about people, including the pet owner's name, contact details, and sometimes details of conversations that happened in the exam room.
We handle that information strictly as your service provider:
- We use it only to provide the Services you've asked for
- We do not use it for our own purposes, and we do not combine it with information from other sources
- We do not contact your clients
- We do not sell it, share it for advertising, or disclose it except as this policy describes
Your clients' rights with respect to their own information run to you, not to us. If a pet owner contacts us directly about information in your account, we will refer them to your practice.
5How we use information
We use the information described above to:
- Generate, format, and deliver draft medical records
- Transcribe audio you record
- Retrieve and organize the clinical context a note depends on, including prior visits, lab results, imaging, and referrals
- Learn your documentation style, so that generated notes read the way you write (see Section 6)
- Maintain your account, process payments, and issue invoices
- Provide support, investigate problems, and fix bugs
- Understand which features are used and where the software fails, so we can improve it
- Send you service messages about your account, and, if you've opted in, product news
- Administer referral credits, if you participate in our referral program
- Detect fraud and abuse, enforce our terms, and comply with legal obligations
6Artificial intelligence and model training
Your content is not used to train AI models. Neither PawsFree nor the AI providers we work with train, fine-tune, or otherwise improve machine learning models using your recordings, transcripts, uploaded documents, or generated notes. Our agreements with these providers prohibit it. If our providers or our agreements with them change in a way that affects this, we will update this policy before the change takes effect.
We do use your content to personalize your own output. With your permission, PawsFree reads records you've written and approved in order to learn how you document, including your phrasing, your structure, and your preferences. This shapes the notes we generate for you. It is specific to your account, it does not train a model, and it does not affect what any other user sees. You can turn it off.
We use de-identified and aggregated data to improve the Services. This includes usage statistics such as how often features are used, how often generated notes are edited, and error rates. It may also include data derived from content submitted to the Services, but only after it has been processed so that it does not identify, and cannot reasonably be used to identify, you, your practice, any pet owner, or any individual animal. We do not attempt to re-identify this data and we do not authorize anyone else to.
We use de-identified and aggregated data to understand how the Services perform, to fix problems, and to build new features. We do not use it, or any other content you submit, to train machine learning models. Our Terms of Service say the same thing.
8Where your information is stored
PawsFree stores information on servers located in the United States. Our infrastructure providers are US-based. If you use PawsFree from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where it is subject to US federal and state law.
9Retention and deletion
You can delete your content at any time. Recordings, transcripts, uploaded documents, and generated notes can be deleted from within PawsFree.
Deletion happens in two stages. When you delete something, it is immediately removed from your account and is no longer accessible to you or to us in the normal course of operating the Services. It is permanently destroyed 30 days later. The 30-day window exists so that we can restore your work if you delete something by mistake, because accidental deletion of a medical record is a serious problem. If you want something destroyed sooner, email [email protected] and we will do it.
We do not commit to a fixed retention period for content you haven't deleted. The right period depends on how you use PawsFree: a note stored in your PawsFree account may be the only copy of that record, while a note you've written into your practice management system is retained by that system under your practice's own record-keeping policy. We retain your information for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide the Services, resolve disputes, and meet our legal obligations.
As a matter of current practice, audio recordings are typically removed within approximately 90 days of the note being generated. This describes how we operate today. It is a description of our practice, not a contractual guarantee, and we may change it. If we do, we will update this policy.
When you close your account, we delete your content on the same two-stage schedule. We retain billing and transaction records as long as tax and accounting rules require, and we may retain information where the law requires us to.
Backups. Deleted information may persist in encrypted backups for a limited period before those backups cycle out. It is not restored to active systems.
10Recording conversations
PawsFree can record conversations, including conversations with your clients.
Obtaining consent to record is your responsibility. Recording laws vary by state. Some states require the consent of every participant in a conversation; others require only one. By using PawsFree's recording features, you represent and warrant that you have obtained all notices, permissions, and consents required by applicable law from every person whose voice is captured.
Many states, including Maryland, require the consent of every party to a conversation before it may be recorded. We are not in a position to know who is in your exam room or what your state requires. Please consult your own counsel if you're unsure. Section 9 of our Terms of Service sets out the full allocation of responsibility, including your indemnification obligation.
11Security
Protecting veterinary records is a core part of what we do, and we treat security as an ongoing practice rather than a one-time setup.
Protecting data in our systems
- All traffic to and from PawsFree is encrypted in transit using TLS
- A web application firewall sits in front of our infrastructure, filtering malicious traffic and blocking common attacks
- Access to production systems is restricted to the people who need it, and every access is logged
- We maintain audit logs of activity in our systems so that we can investigate anything unusual
Protecting accounts
- We offer two-factor authentication on PawsFree accounts, and we encourage you to turn it on
- Two-factor authentication and passkeys are enforced on our own accounts with every service we use, wherever those services support them
- If you sign in through a third party identity provider, your credentials stay with that provider and are never transmitted to us
Finding problems before they find you
- We scan our systems and dependencies regularly for newly disclosed vulnerabilities and patch them
- We perform periodic penetration testing to proactively identify and fix weaknesses
Being honest about the limits. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and no organization can guarantee that information will never be accessed improperly. What we can commit to is taking the problem seriously and continuing to invest in it. In the event of a security incident affecting personal information, we will provide notice in accordance with applicable law.
If you believe you have found a security vulnerability in PawsFree, please report it to [email protected]. We take these reports seriously and will respond.
12Your privacy rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- Know what personal information we've collected about you, where we got it, why we have it, and who we've shared it with
- Access a copy of your personal information in a portable format
- Correct inaccurate personal information
- Delete your personal information
- Opt out of the sale of personal information or sharing for targeted advertising. We do not do either, but the right exists.
- Not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights
These rights are available to residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, among others. The exact scope varies by state.
How to exercise them. Email [email protected]. To protect your information, we will verify your identity, normally by confirming control of the email address on your account. You may use an authorized agent if you give them written permission. We will respond within 45 days, and will tell you if we need more time.
If we deny your request, we will explain why, and you may appeal by replying to our response. We will answer an appeal within 45 days.
Global Privacy Control. We honor GPC and other universal opt-out signals sent by your browser.
Maryland residents. PawsFree is a Maryland company. The Maryland Online Data Privacy Act limits the collection of personal data to what is reasonably necessary and proportionate to provide the Services, and prohibits the sale of sensitive personal data. We do not sell personal data.
13Children
PawsFree is professional software for veterinary practices. It is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, email [email protected] and we'll delete it.
14Changes to this policy
We'll update this policy as the product changes and as the law changes. When we do, we will post the revised policy here and update the "Last updated" date at the top. We may also provide additional notice through the Services where we consider it appropriate.
Please review this page from time to time so that you know where things stand. Continuing to use PawsFree after a change means you accept the updated policy.
15Contact us
PawsFree, LLC
Maryland, United States
[email protected]
For questions about this policy, to exercise your privacy rights, to request our current list of service providers, or to raise a concern, email us. We read everything sent to that address.
This policy is governed by the laws of the State of Maryland.