Privacy Policy
Little Paws Dachshund Rescue ("Little Paws," "we," "us," or "our") is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming dachshunds and dachshund mixes. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect through our platform at littlepawsdr.org, how we use it, and your rights with respect to that information.
By using our platform you agree to the practices described in this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use our services.
Information We Collect
Account Information
When you create an account, we collect:
- First and last name
- Email address
- Phone number (optional)
- Account password (stored as a secure hash — we never store your plaintext password)
Payment Information
All payment processing is handled by Stripe, Inc. We do not store your raw credit card numbers, CVV codes, or full card details on our servers. What we store is limited to:
- A Stripe Customer ID — a tokenized reference to your record in Stripe
- Tokenized payment method references (last 4 digits, card brand, expiration date) provided by Stripe for display purposes only
- Order and transaction records including amounts, dates, and payment status
Stripe's handling of your payment data is governed by the Stripe Privacy Policy at stripe.com/privacy.
If you enable auto-pay for auctions, your saved payment method will be charged automatically if you win an item, without any further action from you. You can enable or disable auto-pay at any time in your account settings.
Transaction & Activity Data
We maintain records of your activity on our platform, including:
- Auction bids placed, items won, and winning bidder payment status
- Welcome Wiener donations and associated dogs
- Store orders and order items
- Adoption fee payments
- Instant buy transactions
You may enable anonymous bidding in your account settings to hide your name from other bidders during auctions. This setting does not affect our own records — your identity remains associated with your bids for administrative purposes.
Authentication Data
We use NextAuth.js to manage authentication. When you sign in, we create a session record in our database and issue a secure, HttpOnly cookie containing a session token that references it. This cookie does not itself contain your personal information — it is simply a reference our servers use to look up your active session. Sessions expire automatically and are removed when you sign out.
We offer three ways to sign in. If you sign in via Google or Facebook, we receive your name and email address from that provider. We do not receive your password or any other account data beyond what is needed to identify you. If you sign in via a magic link, we send a one-time link to your email address that signs you in automatically when clicked — no password is ever created or stored.
Communication Preferences
If you opt in to our newsletter or email communications, we store your email address and subscription preferences so we can send you updates about dogs, events, and fundraising campaigns.
Automatically Collected Data
When you visit our website, our hosting provider (Vercel) may automatically collect:
- IP address
- Browser type and version
- Device type and operating system
- Pages visited and time spent
- Referring URL
This data is used for security and performance monitoring. It is not sold or used for advertising.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site — which pages are viewed, how long visitors stay, and general geographic and device information. We do not use this data to identify individual visitors, and we do not combine it with your account information.
Google's use of this data is governed by the Google Privacy Policy at policies.google.com/privacy.
What We Do Not Collect
- Raw credit or debit card numbers — all payment data is tokenized by Stripe
- Adoption application data — applications are managed through Rescue Groups, a separate third-party platform governed by their own privacy policy
- Dog medical records, behavioral assessments, or veterinary data — this information is managed in Rescue Groups
- Biometric data of any kind
- Data from children under 13 — our platform is not directed at minors
How We Use Your Information
- To create and manage your account
- To process donations, auction payments, adoption fees, and store orders
- To send transaction confirmations, payment receipts, and outbid notifications
- To send winner notifications and payment reminders for auction wins
- To send newsletters and event updates if you have opted in
- To maintain auction integrity and prevent fraudulent bidding activity
- To comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests
- To improve our platform and troubleshoot technical issues
We do not use your personal information for advertising, sell it to data brokers, or share it with third parties for their marketing purposes.
How We Share Your Information
Service Providers
We share data with a limited set of trusted service providers who help us operate our platform. Each provider processes data only as necessary to perform their service:
- Stripe, Inc. — payment processing and fraud prevention
- Resend — transactional email delivery (order confirmations, auction notifications, magic link sign-in emails)
- Pusher — real-time auction bid updates and live event notifications
- Firebase (Google) — media file storage for dog images
- Vercel — website hosting and edge delivery
Legal Requirements
We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid legal process such as a subpoena, court order, or government request. We may also disclose information where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Little Paws, our users, or the public.
Organizational Transfers
In the unlikely event of a merger, acquisition, or transfer of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your information becomes subject to a materially different privacy policy.
Cookies & Local Storage
- Authentication cookie — a secure, HttpOnly cookie containing a session token. This cookie references your session record stored on our servers and does not itself contain your personal information. It is set when you sign in and expires when your session ends or you sign out. It cannot be accessed by JavaScript running on the page.
- Analytics cookies — Google Analytics uses cookies to collect anonymized information about how visitors use our site.
- Preference storage — we may store light preferences such as your dark/light mode setting in your browser's local storage.
We do not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies for marketing purposes. You can clear cookies at any time through your browser settings, but doing so will sign you out of our platform.
Data Retention
- Account information is retained for the life of your account plus a reasonable period thereafter in case of disputes or legal obligations
- Transaction records are retained for a minimum of 7 years to comply with nonprofit financial record-keeping requirements
- Auction and bidding records are retained indefinitely as part of our fundraising history
- Newsletter subscription records are retained until you unsubscribe
If you request deletion of your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate business purposes such as fraud prevention or pending disputes.
Your Rights & Choices
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights with respect to your personal information:
- Access — you may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- Correction — you may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete information
- Deletion — you may request that we delete your personal information, subject to legal retention requirements
- Portability — you may request your data in a structured, machine-readable format
- Opt-out of communications — you may unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email, or by contacting us directly
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information below. We will respond to verified requests within 30 days.
Security
- HTTPS encryption for all data in transit
- HttpOnly, Secure cookies to prevent client-side token theft
- Server-side session validation with automatic expiration to limit session lifetime
- Payment data handled exclusively by Stripe — we never receive or store raw card data
- Access controls limiting which team members can access user data
- Regular dependency updates and security patches
No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Third-Party Links
Our platform may contain links to third-party websites such as Rescue Groups, Give Lively, and event ticketing platforms. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you use.
Children's Privacy
Our platform is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us immediately and we will delete it promptly.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the effective date at the top of this document and, for material changes, notify registered users by email. Your continued use of our platform after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us:
Little Paws Dachshund Rescue
littlepawsdr.org/contact →We are a volunteer-run organization and will do our best to respond to all inquiries within 5 business days.
Little Paws Dachshund Rescue — Privacy Policy — Effective July 21, 2026
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