PRIVACY POLICY

MeowMatch
Operated by The Hearts & Whiskers Foundation LLC
Websites: MeowMatch.org and MeowMatch.net

Effective Date: August 2026
Last Updated: August 2026

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1. INTRODUCTION

Welcome to MeowMatch.

MeowMatch is owned by Business Systems LLC, DBA as The Hearts & Whiskers Foundation. (“MeowMatch,” “Hearts & Whiskers,” “we,” “our,” or “us”).

We are committed to protecting the privacy, security, and trust of the individuals who visit our websites, communicate with us, support our work, apply to adopt or foster a cat, make donations, subscribe to communications, volunteer, partner with us, or otherwise interact with our organization.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we may collect, why we collect it, how we use it, when it may be shared, how we protect it, and the choices and rights available to you.

This Privacy Policy applies to MeowMatch.org, MeowMatch.net, and other online services operated by The Hearts & Whiskers Foundation LLC that link to this Privacy Policy.

By using our websites or voluntarily providing information to us, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

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2. INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT

The information we collect depends upon how you interact with MeowMatch.

We may collect information that you voluntarily provide to us, including:

• Name

• Email address

• Telephone number

• Mailing address

• Adoption application information

• Foster application information

• Volunteer information

• Donation-related information

• Information submitted through contact forms

• Information submitted when subscribing to newsletters or communications

• Information provided when requesting assistance or information

• Communications you send to us

• Information related to an adoption, foster placement, surrender, rescue, or other animal-welfare matter

• Photographs, documents, or other materials that you voluntarily submit

Some forms may request additional information necessary to evaluate an adoption, foster placement, volunteer request, or other service.

We will seek to collect only information reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it is requested.

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3. ADOPTION AND FOSTER APPLICATION INFORMATION

Because responsible placement of cats is central to our mission, adoption and foster applications may request information necessary to determine whether a prospective home is appropriate for a particular animal.

This information may include details concerning:

• Household composition

• Housing arrangements

• Landlord or property restrictions

• Current or previous pets

• Veterinary history

• Pet ownership experience

• Other animals in the household

• General plans for the care and housing of an adopted or fostered cat

• References

• Other information reasonably related to responsible placement

Providing an application does not guarantee approval or placement of an animal.

Information provided through adoption and foster applications will be used primarily for animal placement, follow-up, recordkeeping, safety, and related rescue purposes.

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4. INFORMATION COLLECTED AUTOMATICALLY

When you visit our websites, certain technical information may be collected automatically by our website platform, hosting providers, analytics services, security systems, or similar technologies.

This information may include:

• Internet Protocol (IP) address

• Browser type

• Device type

• Operating system

• General geographic area derived from an IP address

• Pages visited

• Referring website

• Date and time of access

• Time spent on pages

• Website interactions

• Device identifiers

• Cookie and similar technology information

This information may be used to operate and secure our websites, understand how visitors use them, diagnose technical problems, prevent abuse, and improve the visitor experience.

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5. HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We may use information we collect to:

• Process adoption applications

• Process foster applications

• Communicate with adopters and prospective adopters

• Communicate with foster caregivers

• Respond to questions and requests

• Coordinate rescue activities

• Provide information about available cats

• Maintain adoption and rescue records

• Process donations

• Provide donation acknowledgments or receipts

• Manage volunteers

• Communicate with supporters

• Send newsletters or organizational updates when requested or permitted

• Improve our websites and services

• Maintain website security

• Detect or prevent fraud, abuse, or misuse

• Comply with legal obligations

• Protect the welfare of animals in our care

• Protect the rights, safety, and property of MeowMatch, our visitors, supporters, volunteers, partners, and others

• Carry out the charitable, educational, rescue, adoption, and animal-welfare purposes of our organization

We will not use personal information for purposes materially unrelated to the reason it was collected without an appropriate legal basis or, where required, your consent.

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6. DONATIONS AND PAYMENT INFORMATION

MeowMatch may provide visitors with opportunities to make donations or otherwise financially support our rescue and animal-welfare activities.

Payments may be processed through third-party payment processors or fundraising platforms.

When you make a payment or donation, payment information such as a credit card or debit card number may be collected directly by the payment processor rather than by MeowMatch.

We do not intend to independently store complete credit or debit card numbers on our own website systems.

Third-party payment processors maintain their own privacy policies, security practices, and terms of service.

We may receive transaction-related information from a payment provider, such as your name, contact information, transaction amount, transaction date, transaction identifier, and donation status, for accounting, acknowledgment, recordkeeping, and donor-support purposes.

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7. EMAILS, NEWSLETTERS, AND COMMUNICATIONS

Visitors may have the opportunity to subscribe to newsletters, rescue updates, adoption announcements, fundraising communications, educational information, or other MeowMatch communications.

You may unsubscribe from promotional or newsletter communications by using the unsubscribe mechanism included in the communication when available.

We may still send non-promotional communications when necessary, such as messages relating to an adoption application, donation, foster arrangement, volunteer activity, request for assistance, or other transaction or relationship you have initiated with us.

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8. COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

Our websites may use cookies and similar technologies.

Cookies are small data files stored on a user's device that may help websites function properly, remember preferences, maintain security, understand website traffic, and improve visitor experiences.

Cookies may include:

• Essential or functional cookies

• Security cookies

• Analytics cookies

• Preference cookies

• Other cookies or technologies provided through services integrated with our websites

Where required by applicable law, visitors may be provided with choices concerning non-essential cookies.

Browser settings may also allow users to block or delete cookies. Disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

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9. WEBSITE ANALYTICS

We may use analytics tools provided by our website platform or third-party service providers to understand how visitors interact with our websites.

Analytics information may help us understand matters such as which pages receive the most visits, how visitors reach our website, which devices are commonly used, and whether visitors encounter technical difficulties.

We use this information to improve website performance, accessibility, usability, security, and effectiveness.

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10. HOW INFORMATION MAY BE SHARED

We do not sell personal information as a source of revenue.

We may share information when reasonably necessary with organizations or individuals that assist us in operating MeowMatch or carrying out our mission.

These may include:

• Website hosting and technology providers

• Payment processors

• Email communication providers

• Adoption or animal-management platforms

• Veterinary providers when relevant to animal care or placement

• Rescue organizations, shelters, or animal-welfare partners when reasonably necessary

• Professional advisers

• Government agencies or law enforcement when legally required

• Service providers performing legitimate functions on our behalf

Service providers may receive only the information reasonably necessary to perform the services for which they are engaged.

We may also disclose information when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to comply with law, respond to lawful legal process, investigate fraud or abuse, protect an animal, protect an individual from harm, enforce our policies, or protect the rights and safety of MeowMatch or others.

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11. THIRD-PARTY SERVICES AND LINKS

Our websites may contain links to websites or services operated by third parties.

These may include animal-welfare organizations, adoption services, payment processors, social-media platforms, veterinary resources, educational resources, partner organizations, or other services.

Once you leave a MeowMatch-controlled website or interact directly with a third-party service, that organization's privacy policy and practices govern the information it collects.

MeowMatch is not responsible for the privacy, security, content, or practices of independently operated third-party websites or services.

We encourage visitors to review the privacy policies of third-party services before providing personal information.

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12. SOCIAL MEDIA

MeowMatch may maintain pages, profiles, or accounts on social-media platforms.

Information you voluntarily post publicly on a social-media platform may be visible to other users and is subject to the policies of that platform.

Interactions with MeowMatch through social media may also provide us with information made available by the platform according to your settings and the platform's policies.

Please use appropriate discretion before publicly posting personal information.

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13. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

MeowMatch's websites and services are intended for a general audience and are not directed specifically toward children under 13 years of age.

We do not knowingly seek to collect personal information online directly from children under 13 without appropriate parental or legal guardian consent.

If we learn that personal information from a child under 13 has been collected in circumstances requiring parental consent and such consent was not obtained, we will take reasonable steps to delete the information.

A parent or legal guardian who believes a child has provided personal information to us may contact us to request review or deletion of that information.

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14. DATA SECURITY

We take reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, loss, misuse, or destruction.

These measures may include protections provided through our website platform, hosting providers, payment processors, access controls, account security practices, and other appropriate safeguards.

However, no website, computer system, electronic transmission, or data-storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Visitors should therefore use reasonable care when transmitting information electronically and should not send highly sensitive information through ordinary website forms or email unless specifically requested through an appropriate secure process.

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15. DATA RETENTION

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and for legitimate organizational, animal-welfare, administrative, accounting, legal, or recordkeeping purposes.

Different types of information may be retained for different periods.

For example, adoption records may need to be maintained longer than an unanswered general website inquiry because adoption records can be important to animal identification, placement history, follow-up, and responsible rescue operations.

Information may also be retained when required by law or reasonably necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal rights.

When information is no longer reasonably required, we may delete, anonymize, or securely dispose of it.

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16. YOUR PRIVACY CHOICES AND RIGHTS

Depending upon where you live and the laws applicable to your information, you may have certain privacy rights.

These may include the right to request:

• Confirmation of whether we maintain certain personal information about you

• Access to personal information we maintain about you

• Correction of inaccurate information

• Deletion of certain personal information

• Information concerning how personal information is used

• Information concerning categories of third parties with whom information may be shared

• Withdrawal of consent where processing is based upon consent

• Other rights provided by applicable law

Not every right applies in every circumstance, and certain information may be exempt from a request when retention or use is permitted or required by law.

We may need to verify your identity before completing certain privacy requests.

We will not unlawfully discriminate against an individual for exercising privacy rights provided by applicable law.

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17. FLORIDA RESIDENTS

The Hearts & Whiskers Foundation LLC is organized in Florida, and MeowMatch operates from Florida.

We intend to handle personal information in accordance with privacy and consumer-protection requirements applicable to our operations, including applicable Florida law.

Privacy laws may impose different obligations depending upon an organization's size, activities, revenue, use of personal information, and other statutory thresholds.

Where a Florida privacy law applies to our activities, we will honor the rights and obligations required under that law.

Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to limit any privacy right that cannot legally be waived.

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18. PRIVACY RIGHTS IN OTHER U.S. STATES

Privacy laws continue to develop throughout the United States.

Residents of certain states may have additional privacy rights under their state's law, including rights concerning access, correction, deletion, portability, disclosure, targeted advertising, profiling, or the sale or sharing of personal information.

Whether a particular state privacy law applies to MeowMatch may depend upon statutory thresholds and the nature and scale of our activities.

When an applicable state law provides an individual with rights beyond those described in this Privacy Policy, we intend to honor those rights as required by law.

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19. DO NOT SELL OR SHARE PERSONAL INFORMATION

MeowMatch does not operate its animal-rescue mission around the sale of people's personal information.

We do not sell personal information for monetary compensation.

Certain privacy laws use technical definitions of terms such as “sell,” “sale,” “share,” or “targeted advertising” that may extend beyond the ordinary meaning of selling information for money.

As our website, technology, and services develop, we will periodically evaluate the technologies and third-party services we use to determine whether additional notices or privacy choices are required.

If our practices materially change, we will update this Privacy Policy and provide any choices required by applicable law.

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20. POLICY REVIEW, REGULATORY COMPLIANCE, AND UPDATES

Privacy and data-protection laws in the United States continue to evolve.

For that reason, The Hearts & Whiskers Foundation LLC will formally review this Privacy Policy at least once every six months to evaluate whether changes are necessary to reflect developments in applicable U.S. federal and state privacy laws, regulations, regulatory guidance, our technology, our organizational practices, or the services provided through MeowMatch.

This six-month review schedule represents our commitment to maintaining a Privacy Policy that evolves along with our organization and the legal environment in which we operate.

A review does not necessarily mean the policy will change every six months. If our review determines that the existing policy remains accurate and compliant with applicable requirements, no substantive amendment may be necessary.

We may also review or revise this Privacy Policy sooner whenever significant legal, regulatory, technological, organizational, or operational changes make an earlier review appropriate.

When this Privacy Policy is revised, the “Last Updated” date at the beginning of the policy will be changed.

Material changes may also be communicated through an appropriate notice on our website or through another reasonable method when required by applicable law.

Continued use of our websites following the effective date of an updated Privacy Policy will be subject to the revised policy, to the extent permitted by law.

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21. CONTACTING US ABOUT PRIVACY

Questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the handling of personal information may be directed to:

The Hearts & Whiskers Foundation LLC
MeowMatch
Florida, United States

Website: MeowMatch.org

Additional contact information, including an appropriate privacy or general contact email address, may be provided on the MeowMatch website.

When submitting a privacy request, please provide sufficient information for us to understand and respond to the request.

For security purposes, we may request reasonable verification before providing, modifying, or deleting personal information.

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OUR COMMITMENT TO YOU

At MeowMatch, privacy is more than a legal requirement. It is part of the trust people place in us when they adopt from us, foster for us, volunteer with us, support our work, make a donation, ask us for help, or simply visit our website because they share our concern for cats in need.

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Our mission depends upon relationships built on compassion, responsibility, and trust.

We believe the people who help us care for and protect animals deserve that same care and respect when they entrust information to us. We will work to collect only the information we reasonably need, use it responsibly, protect it appropriately, and remain transparent about our practices.

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As MeowMatch grows, our technology develops, and privacy laws change, The Hearts & Whiskers Foundation LLC will continue reviewing and improving our privacy practices while keeping that trust at the center of what we do.

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The Hearts & Whiskers Foundation.
MeowMatch.org | MeowMatch.net

(Owned and operated by Business Systems LLC.)

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Helping Every Cat Find a Loving Forever Companion.