Animal Welfare Investigations Project Privacy
Your data: adoptions and fostering
What we collect when you apply to adopt or foster, why we hold it, who else sees it, and how to get it removed.
Who holds your data
Animal Welfare Investigations Project Limited (company number 13760374) and AWIP International Ltd (company number 15522405), both registered at 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, and both registered as data controllers with the Information Commissioner's Office.
What we collect, and why
| What | Why we need it |
|---|---|
| Your name, email, phone and address | To contact you, arrange a home check, and know where the animal will live |
| About your home: property type, owned or rented, landlord permission, garden and whether it is secure | To judge whether the home suits the animal, and whether you are permitted to keep pets |
| About your household: adults, children and their ages, other pets, hours the animal would be alone | To match an animal safely to the people and animals already in the home |
| Your experience with animals and why you are applying | To assess the application |
| Home check recordings: a video call, or video and photos you record of your home and garden | To carry out the home check. These can show the inside of your home |
| Your signature on the agreement, with the date and time you signed | To evidence the agreement you entered into |
| Payment records: the amount, date and status of any adoption fee or donation | To account for money received. We never see or store your card details |
| Messages you send us, and any photos or updates you share after adopting | To answer you, and to keep a record of how the animal is getting on |
Our lawful basis is normally legitimate interests, assessing whether a home is suitable for an animal in our care, and contract once you sign an agreement with us. Where we ask to use your photos publicly, we rely on your consent, which you can withdraw.
Who else sees it
We do not sell your data or share it for marketing. We use a small number of suppliers who process data on our behalf:
- Stripe, to take card payments. Your card details go directly to Stripe and never reach us.
- Twilio, if you text or leave a voicemail on our enquiry number.
- Our email provider, to send and receive email about your application.
- Jitsi Meet, if your home check is done as a video call.
- Anthropic, whose AI our team uses in two ways: to suggest which animals in our care might suit a foster applicant, and to power a staff assistant that answers questions about our records. Where these are used, relevant details from our records (which can include your application and contact details) are sent to be processed. The AI only ever suggests or answers, a member of staff always decides and confirms any change.
- postcodes.io, a UK postcode lookup service, used only to work out distances (for example, to find foster carers near an address). Only a postcode is ever sent, never a name or address.
We may also share information with a vet treating the animal, or with the police and other authorities where an animal's welfare or an investigation requires it.
Emails we send you
When we email you an agreement, invoice or update request, we record whether that email was opened, so our team knows whether to chase it. We do not use this for advertising.
Photos and video
Everything uploaded to us, including home check recordings and photos of animals, is private by default and visible only to our staff. A photo is only ever shown publicly if a member of our team deliberately publishes it. Home check recordings are never published.
How long we keep it
We keep the record of a placement for as long as the animal is alive, and for a period afterwards, so that we can honour our commitment to take any animal back and can answer questions about their history. Unsuccessful applications are kept for a shorter period so we understand our own decisions if you apply again. Where an animal was part of an investigation or prosecution, related records may be kept for longer as evidence.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask us to give you a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, or provide it in a portable form. Some data we may need to keep, for example where it forms part of evidence or an ongoing legal obligation, and we will explain if that applies.
To exercise any of these, email supporter.care@awip.org.uk or rehoming@adoptwithawip.org.uk.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.