Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

1.1 Dog Access Mark is a trading name of MEEKOL LIMITED, a private limited company registered in England and Wales under company number 10736702.

1.2 For data protection purposes, MEEKOL LIMITED is the controller of personal information processed through Dog Access Mark unless we specifically state otherwise.

1.3 Our registered office is AAA, Shakespeare Street, Sunderland, England, SR5 2JF.

1.4 You can contact us about privacy matters at hello@dogaccessmark.co.uk.

2. What personal information we may collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal information, depending on how you interact with Dog Access Mark.

3. How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information:

• directly from you when you complete a form, apply, re-verify, recommend a business, submit a report, contact us or correspond with us;
• from a business representative acting on behalf of a business or premises;
• from Dog Access Mark representatives conducting an onsite registration or verification process;
• from information already held within the National Dog Access Register or associated Scheme records;
• from public sources where reasonably necessary to verify or correct business information;
• automatically through website, security and analytics technologies; and
• from service providers acting on our behalf.

4. Why we use personal information

We may use personal information to:

• operate and maintain Dog Access Mark and the National Dog Access Register;
• process business applications and onsite registrations;
• verify businesses and maintain Verified Business records;
• issue, administer, verify, replace and retire Dog Access IDs and sticker records;
• manage 24-month business re-verification;
• review and manage business recommendations;
• receive, assess, investigate and manage reports and concerns;
• communicate with businesses, applicants, reporters, recommenders and other users;
• display relevant public business information on Business Profiles and the National Dog Access Register;
• protect the integrity, security and lawful operation of the Scheme;
• prevent misuse, fraud, impersonation, unauthorised access and abuse;
• maintain appropriate internal records, audit trails and evidence;
• measure and improve public use of the National Dog Access Register and website;
• respond to enquiries, requests and complaints;
• establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
• comply with legal, regulatory, court, law-enforcement or other lawful requirements; and
• manage our organisation, systems and service providers.

5. Our lawful bases for processing

We rely on one or more lawful bases under UK data protection law depending on the purpose and circumstances.

5.1 Contract and steps before entering a contract

We may process information where it is necessary to take steps requested by a business before entering into the Business Participation Terms, or to administer the contractual relationship with a participating business.

5.2 Legitimate interests

We may process information where necessary for our legitimate interests or those of another person, provided those interests are not overridden by the rights and freedoms of the individual concerned.

Our legitimate interests may include:

• operating and improving the UK National Dog Access Scheme;
• maintaining an accurate and trustworthy National Dog Access Register;
• verifying participation and Dog Access IDs;
• preventing fraud, misuse and security incidents;
• handling reports, complaints, recommendations and disputes;
• maintaining records and audit trails;
• communicating with businesses and users about Scheme administration; and
• understanding how the website and register are used.

5.3 Legal obligation

We may process information where necessary to comply with legal obligations, including obligations relating to data protection, company administration, taxation, legal proceedings, court orders or lawful requests from competent authorities.

5.4 Consent

Where the law requires consent for a particular use, we will rely on consent. Where consent is the lawful basis, you may withdraw it at any time, although withdrawal will not affect processing already carried out lawfully before withdrawal.

Acceptance of the Business Participation Terms and acknowledgement of this Privacy Policy are not treated as blanket consent for all processing.

6. Public information in the National Dog Access Register

6.1 Certain business information is intended to be public as part of participation in Dog Access Mark.

6.2 This may include:

• business name;
• premises location and address information;
• business category and type;
• Dog Access Mark status;
• restrictions, where applicable;
• Dog Access ID;
• verification status and relevant validity information;
• business description;
• dog facilities and amenities;
• public website;
• public telephone number; and
• public email address.

6.3 Business contact details supplied specifically for Scheme administration, such as the name and direct contact details of a business representative, are not intended to be displayed publicly unless they are also deliberately provided as public business contact details.

6.4 Verification photographs are used as private verification evidence and are not intended to be displayed on the public Business Profile.

7. Business applications and onsite registration

7.1 When a business applies online or completes an onsite registration, we collect the information needed to assess and administer participation in Dog Access Mark.

7.2 We may record whether the business representative has accepted the Dog Access Standard, agreed to the Business Participation Terms, acknowledged this Privacy Policy, confirmed the accuracy of the information and confirmed their authority to act for the business.

7.3 We may retain submission timestamps, workflow records and related administrative records as evidence of the application and participation process.

7.4 Onsite registration may take place on a Dog Access Mark-controlled device handed temporarily to the business representative. The business representative should only enter information relevant to the registration.

8. Verification and verification photographs

8.1 Verification photographs are collected to help Dog Access Mark confirm that the appropriate sticker is displayed at or immediately beside the relevant customer entrance.

8.2 Photographs should show only what is reasonably necessary for verification. Businesses should avoid including unnecessary people, documents, vehicle registrations or other personal information in the photograph where practical.

8.3 Verification photographs are treated as private verification evidence and are not ordinarily made public.

8.4 We may retain verification evidence and related review records for as long as reasonably necessary to maintain Scheme integrity, resolve disputes, demonstrate verification history and meet legal or evidential requirements.

9. Business re-verification

9.1 Participating businesses may be asked to re-verify their information periodically, including through the 24-month re-verification process.

9.2 Re-verification may involve:

• confirmation or updating of business details;
• confirmation of dog access status and restrictions;
• updated contact details;
• fresh verification evidence;
• acceptance of the current Dog Access Standard and Business Participation Terms;
• acknowledgement of the current Privacy Policy; and
• administrative review and communications.

9.3 We may retain previous verification and re-verification records to maintain an audit trail and historical record of Scheme participation.

10. Recommendations

10.1 If you recommend a business, we may collect information about the business and limited information about you as the recommender where supplied.

10.2 We use that information to review the recommendation, assess whether the business may already be known to the Scheme, decide whether contact is appropriate and record the outcome.

10.3 We may contact the recommended business if we decide it is appropriate to do so.

10.4 We do not treat a recommendation as an application by the business.

10.5 We may retain recommendation records to avoid duplicate work, maintain an audit trail and understand Scheme engagement.

11. Reports, concerns and investigations

11.1 If you submit a report or concern, we may collect information about you, the business concerned, the circumstances described, supporting evidence and related communications.

11.2 We may use this information to:

• assess and investigate the report;
• contact the relevant business;
• request additional information or evidence;
• record internal review notes and outcomes;
• apply or review internal Scheme indicators;
• take proportionate action under the Dog Access Standard or Business Participation Terms;
• protect Dog Access Mark, businesses, users and the public; and
• establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

11.3 Information in a report may be shared with the relevant business where reasonably necessary to investigate or respond to the matter. We will consider whether the reporter’s identity or other personal information needs to be disclosed and will not disclose it automatically merely because a report has been made.

11.4 We may share information with professional advisers, insurers, regulators, law-enforcement bodies, courts or other competent authorities where lawful and appropriate.

11.5 We do not ordinarily publish unproven allegations or reports on public Business Profiles.

12. Website analytics and activity information

12.1 We may collect privacy-minimised information about how the website and National Dog Access Register are used.

12.2 This may include events such as:

• register searches;
• search result selections;
• Business Profile views;
• Dog Access ID checks;
• business website clicks;
• business telephone or email link clicks;
• application starts and submissions;
• broad search areas;
• selected business categories and types; and
• the result of a Dog Access ID lookup, such as current, expired, superseded, revoked or not found.

12.3 We use this information to understand public engagement, improve the Scheme, measure activity, identify technical issues and help protect the website from misuse.

12.4 We aim to minimise the personal information used for analytics and do not need to identify ordinary website users by name for these purposes.

13. Cookies and similar technologies

13.1 The website may use cookies and similar technologies for essential functionality, security, preferences and analytics.

13.2 More information is set out in our Cookie Policy.

13.3 Where consent is legally required for non-essential cookies or similar technologies, we will seek that consent through the website’s consent controls.

14. Service providers and processors

We use third-party providers to operate parts of Dog Access Mark. Depending on the service being used, these providers may process personal information on our behalf or, in some cases, act as separate controllers for their own purposes.

These may include:

• Duda, for website hosting and website functionality;
• Supabase, for database, authentication, storage, backend functions and related application infrastructure;
• Cloudflare Turnstile, for security and anti-abuse checks on relevant forms;
• Ideal Postcodes, for address search and address lookup functionality;
• postcodes.io, where used to derive approximate map coordinates from a postcode;
• email and communications service providers used to send Scheme-related messages;
• professional advisers, insurers, auditors and technology providers where reasonably necessary; and
• other suppliers used to support the operation, security and administration of Dog Access Mark.

We aim to use service providers who provide appropriate contractual, technical and organisational safeguards for personal information.

15. Sharing personal information

We may share personal information where reasonably necessary with:

• service providers acting on our behalf;
• the relevant business or business representative where necessary to administer participation, investigate a report or resolve a query;
• professional advisers, including legal advisers, accountants and insurers;
• courts, regulators, law-enforcement bodies and other competent authorities where required or permitted by law;
• a purchaser, investor or successor organisation in connection with a genuine corporate transaction, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal safeguards; and
• other parties where you have asked us to share information or where another lawful basis applies.

We do not sell personal information.

We do not provide advertisers with access to private Dog Access Mark application, verification, report or administration records for advertising purposes.

16. International data transfers

16.1 Some service providers may process or store information outside the United Kingdom.

16.2 Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take steps intended to ensure that the transfer is lawful and that appropriate safeguards are in place where required.

16.3 These safeguards may include transfers to countries recognised as providing an adequate level of protection, use of approved contractual safeguards, or another lawful transfer mechanism.

17. How long we keep information

17.1 We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including Scheme administration, verification, dispute handling, audit, security, legal and evidential purposes.

17.2 Retention periods may differ depending on the type of information and the context.

17.3 In deciding how long to retain information, we may consider:

• whether a business remains active within the Scheme;
• whether the information forms part of a verification or Dog Access ID history;
• whether a report, complaint, investigation or dispute is ongoing or reasonably foreseeable;
• whether retention is required to demonstrate acceptance of Scheme terms or standards;
• legal limitation periods;
• regulatory, accounting or insurance requirements;
• fraud prevention and security needs; and
• whether the information is needed to maintain an accurate audit trail.

17.4 Some records may therefore be retained after a business has left the Scheme or after a particular verification has expired where continued retention is reasonably necessary and lawful.

17.5 Where information is no longer needed, we will delete, anonymise or otherwise securely dispose of it as appropriate.

18. Security

18.1 We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

18.2 These measures may include access controls, authenticated administrator access, restricted administrative functions, secure backend systems, private storage for verification evidence, security checks and audit records.

18.3 No internet-based system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should avoid sending unnecessary confidential or sensitive information through general contact channels.

19. Special category and highly sensitive information

19.1 Dog Access Mark does not ordinarily need special category personal information to operate the Scheme.

19.2 Please avoid providing health, disability or other sensitive personal information unless it is genuinely necessary to explain a relevant issue, such as a report relating to assistance dog access.

19.3 Where sensitive information is provided and we need to process it, we will consider the appropriate legal basis and additional condition required by law.

19.4 We may redact, restrict or delete unnecessary sensitive information where it is not required for the purpose of the submission.

20. Children

20.1 Dog Access Mark is primarily intended for businesses and adults using the National Dog Access Register.

20.2 We do not intentionally design the Scheme to collect personal information from children.

20.3 If a child submits information to us, we may take reasonable steps to limit, remove or appropriately handle that information depending on the circumstances.

21. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may have rights including:

• the right to be informed about how your personal information is used;
• the right to request access to your personal information;
• the right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• the right to ask us to erase personal information in certain circumstances;
• the right to ask us to restrict processing in certain circumstances;
• the right to object to certain processing, including some processing based on legitimate interests;
• the right to data portability where the legal requirements are met;
• rights relating to certain automated decision-making and profiling; and
• the right to withdraw consent where consent is the lawful basis for processing.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to exemptions or limitations under applicable law.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a rights request.

22. Requests relating to business records

22.1 A business record can contain both public business information and personal information relating to individual representatives.

22.2 A request by a business to change or remove its public listing is not necessarily the same as a data protection request by an individual.

22.3 We may retain certain historical, contractual, verification, security, investigation or evidential records even where a public Business Profile is removed or a business leaves the Scheme, where continued retention is lawful and reasonably necessary.

23. Automated decision-making

23.1 Dog Access Mark may use automated checks, validation, workflow rules, fraud-prevention measures and status logic to help operate the website and Scheme.

23.2 We do not intend to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects on individuals unless permitted by law and appropriate safeguards are in place.

23.3 Material Scheme decisions such as verification approval, report outcomes and significant participation decisions may involve human review.

24. Marketing communications

24.1 We may send operational and administrative communications where necessary to manage an application, verification, re-verification, recommendation, report, account or other Scheme interaction.

24.2 Operational communications are not the same as marketing messages and may still be sent where reasonably necessary to administer the relevant relationship.

24.3 Where we send marketing communications, we will do so in accordance with applicable law and provide an appropriate way to opt out where required.

25. Complaints about how we use personal information

If you have concerns about how Dog Access Mark has handled your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue.

You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

26. Changes to this Privacy Policy

26.1 We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in law, technology, the website, the Scheme, our service providers or our processing activities.

26.2 The current version and effective date will be shown on this page.

26.3 Where changes are material and it is appropriate to do so, we may provide additional notice through the website, forms or relevant communications.

27. Contact

For privacy questions, rights requests or concerns about personal information: