Privacy Policy
Last updated: 22 August 2026 · Effective date: launch date · Service-email notices take effect 22 August 2026
BarkGuard ("the App", "we", "our", "us") is operated by Erbacci Ltd, a company registered in the Republic of Cyprus under registration number HE 457237 (VAT CY60052196C), with registered office at Strovolou 77, Strovolos Center, Flat/Office 301, 2018 Strovolos, Lefkosia, Cyprus ("the Controller").
This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect when you use BarkGuard, why we collect it, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over your data. We aim to be plain-English. If anything is unclear, email info@erbacciltd.com.
1. Summary at a glance
- We connect to your Ring account via Ring's official Partner OAuth — we never see or store your Ring password.
- We process motion event metadata and snapshot images from your Ring camera(s) to provide pet activity tracking.
- We do not record audio. Ring's Partner API does not expose audio to us.
- A snapshot is stored only for events where BarkGuard detects an animal (your pet's activity). Motion with only a person or vehicle — and no animal — is analysed transiently in memory and never stored. Where a person happens to be present together with your pet, the pet-activity snapshot may include them.
- Stored snapshots are encrypted on Amazon S3 in the EU (eu-west-1 region) for 30 days via an automated lifecycle policy, then deleted.
- We do not sell your data, ever. Period.
- You can delete your account and all associated data at any time from the App or by emailing us.
2. Who is the Data Controller
Erbacci Ltd is the Controller of your personal data under the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR.
- Email: info@erbacciltd.com
- Postal: Strovolou 77, Strovolos Center, Flat/Office 301, 2018 Strovolos, Lefkosia, Cyprus
- Company number: HE 457237 · VAT: CY60052196C
3. What data we collect
| Category | Data | Source | Lawful basis |
|---|
| Identifier | Ring account ID (an opaque token like ava1.ring.account.XXX) | Ring OAuth | Contract |
| Email address | The email on your Ring account — used only to send you passwordless one-time sign-in codes for the dashboard | Ring OAuth (your Ring profile) | Contract |
| Device data | Ring device IDs, device names ("Living Room Cam"), camera capabilities | Ring Partner API | Contract |
| Activity data | Motion event timestamps, classification (animal/human/vehicle/package), camera snapshot images at event time | Ring Partner Webhook | Contract |
| App settings | Dog's name, push notification token, alert preferences | You | Contract |
| Subscription data | Ring Appstore subscription status (active/cancelled), number of subscribed cameras | Ring Billing | Contract |
| Diagnostic data | Anonymised error logs (no personal content) | App | Legitimate interest |
What we do NOT collect
- ❌ Audio recordings (Ring does not expose audio to us — and we have not requested it)
- ❌ Video recordings (we only request still snapshots, not the full video stream)
- ❌ Your real name, phone number, or home address (Ring does not share these with partners)
- ❌ Your location (we do not request location permission)
- ❌ Your contacts, photos, calendar, or other apps' data
- ❌ Browser tracking / advertising IDs / fingerprinting
4. How we use your data
We process the data above for the following purposes:
- Service delivery: detecting your dog's activity, sending you push notifications, displaying the dashboard with snapshots and stats.
- Passwordless sign-in: we email a one-time code to the address on your Ring account so you can open your dashboard on a new device. There is no password. These sign-in emails are transactional only — we do not use your email for marketing.
- AI scene analysis: motion snapshots are classified by a first-party vision model (Qwen 3.5, open-weights, running on infrastructure operated by Erbacci — an Erbacci-managed relay server in Germany (EU) and an Erbacci-owned machine in Dubai (UAE)). It answers a single constrained question per snapshot: which animal is present, how many, and whether a person is also in frame. This step is transient and in-memory only: images are encrypted in transit end-to-end and are never stored outside AWS. If that model is unavailable — error, timeout, or an invalid response — the snapshot is classified instead by AWS Bedrock running an Anthropic Claude vision model, with AWS Rekognition as a further fallback; that analysis happens transiently within the EU (eu-west-1). No image is retained by any model and none is used to train any AI model — this applies to the first-party model as well. Analysis is fully automated — no human reviews your snapshots. BarkGuard does not perform per-individual pet recognition — it does not biometrically identify or distinguish between specific dogs. The Ring camera monitors your own home, and any animal detected is presumed to be your pet. The dog name you set in Settings is used only for personalization of notification copy (e.g. "Rex is barking").
- Activity analytics: we compute aggregate counts (daily/hourly/weekly), restlessness scoring, sleep-period detection, and week-over-week anomaly detection from your own event log. These analytics are computed per-user from that user's own data only — there is no cross-user analysis and no third-party analytics SDK.
- Service improvement: aggregated, anonymised metrics (e.g. average snapshot processing time across all users).
- Customer support: when you email us, we use your message to help you.
- Legal compliance: where required to respond to lawful requests.
4a. Emails we send
We send only service email, never marketing:
- Sign-in codes — the passwordless one-time codes you request to open your dashboard.
- Trial & subscription notices (from 22 August 2026) — a reminder before your free trial ends, a notice when alerts pause (trial or subscription ended), a confirmation when your subscription activates, and a notice if BarkGuard loses its connection to your Ring account.
- Weekly activity digest (optional, off by default) — a summary of your own dog's activity, only if you turn it on in Settings.
You can switch off trial/subscription notices and the digest at any time in your dashboard Settings. Sign-in codes cannot be disabled — they are how you sign in.
5. Who we share data with
| Recipient | Purpose | Location |
|---|
| Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Hosting (Lambda, DynamoDB, S3); AI vision classification via AWS Bedrock (an Anthropic Claude vision model), with AWS Rekognition as automatic fallback — no training on your data | EU (eu-west-1, under the AWS Data Processing Agreement) |
| Ring LLC / Amazon.com Services | Source of camera events and billing platform | USA / EU as per Ring's policy |
| Contabo GmbH | Hosting of an Erbacci-managed relay server used solely for encrypted forwarding of vision-classification requests — Contabo has no access to your data, and no image is stored on it | Germany (EU) |
| Amazon Web Services (SNS) | Routes push notifications to your device; stores your device push token for delivery — never any camera image | USA (us-east-1) |
| Apple Inc. (Push Notification service) | Delivers push notifications to iPhone and iPad — receives the device push token and the notification text only | USA |
| Google LLC (Firebase Cloud Messaging) | Delivers push notifications to Android devices — receives the device push token and the notification text only | USA |
| Resend | Delivers your passwordless sign-in codes by email — your email address only, never any camera image or event content | USA |
| Apple App Store / Google Play | App distribution; payments via Ring's billing, not Apple/Google | USA / EU |
We never sell your data. We never share for advertising. Sub-processors above are bound by data protection agreements.
6. Where your data is stored
All your activity data, snapshots, and account record are stored in the European Union (Ireland — AWS eu-west-1 region). During classification, a motion snapshot transits transiently — in memory only, encrypted in transit — via an Erbacci-managed relay in Germany (EU) and an Erbacci-owned machine in Dubai (UAE); nothing is stored on either. Push notifications are routed through Amazon SNS in the United States (us-east-1), which stores your device push token in order to deliver them, and are delivered by Apple Push Notification Service (USA) or Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (USA). No image and no event history leaves the EU by that path — only the push token and the short notification text. These transfers are covered by Standard Contractual Clauses where required.
7. How long we keep your data
| Data type | Retention |
|---|
| Camera snapshots | 30 days via an automated S3 lifecycle policy, then deleted (purged immediately if you delete your account or remove the integration) |
| Motion event timestamps and metadata | 30 days (TTL applied at write time) |
| Account record (Ring ID, settings) | Until you delete your account, then 30 days for backup retention |
| Subscription / billing records | 7 years (UK/EU tax law) |
| Diagnostic logs | 14 days |
8. Your rights (UK GDPR / EU GDPR)
You have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Access: get a copy of your data
- Rectification: correct inaccurate data
- Erasure: delete your data ("right to be forgotten")
- Portability: get your data in a machine-readable format
- Restriction / Objection: limit or object to certain processing
- Withdraw consent: where consent is the basis
- Complain to your data protection authority — for Cyprus: the Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection (dataprotection.gov.cy); for other EU/UK residents your local supervisory authority
To exercise any right, email info@erbacciltd.com. We respond within 30 days.
How to delete your account
- Open BarkGuard → Settings → Delete Account, OR
- Email info@erbacciltd.com from the email associated with your Ring account.
- We delete all your data within 14 days. Some backups may persist up to 30 days.
9. Children's privacy
BarkGuard is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If we learn we have, we delete it.
10. Cookies and tracking
The web dashboard uses a single first-party session token stored in localStorage for authentication. We do not use third-party analytics, advertising cookies, or tracking pixels.
11. Security
- All data in transit uses TLS 1.2+
- Snapshots stored in S3 with server-side encryption (AES-256)
- Tokens encrypted at rest in DynamoDB
- Lambda functions follow least-privilege IAM
- Vision classification is fully automated — a first-party vision model, with AWS Bedrock (Anthropic Claude) and AWS Rekognition as automatic fallbacks — no human reviews your snapshots, and no model is trained on your data
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. Material changes will be notified via email and an in-app banner at least 30 days before they take effect. The "Last updated" date above always reflects the current version.
13. Contact
Questions, complaints, or rights requests:
- Email: info@erbacciltd.com
- Post: Erbacci Ltd, Strovolou 77, Strovolos Center, Flat/Office 301, 2018 Strovolos, Lefkosia, Cyprus