Last updated: March 5, 2026
Who We Are
I Love Dog Pics ("we," "us," or "our") is a community-driven project dedicated to building a curated library of professional dog photography, organized by breed. This privacy policy explains how we handle your information when you use our website at ilovedogpics.com.
Information We Collect
Photographer Accounts: When you register as a photographer, we collect:
- Your name (first and last)
- Email address
- Optional: business name, website URL, social media links, and a short bio
Photo Submissions: When you submit a photo, we collect the image file along with details you provide such as the dog's name, breed, and an optional caption.
Automatically Collected: Like most websites, our server logs may record your IP address, browser type, and pages visited. We do not use third-party analytics or tracking services.
Cookies & Local Storage: We use essential session cookies to maintain your login state. We also use your browser's local storage to remember preferences such as guided tour completion. We do not use any tracking, advertising, or analytics cookies.
How We Use Your Information
- Display your work: Your name or business name is shown as a credit on every photo you submit. Your photographer profile (including your optional website and social links) is publicly visible.
- Account notifications: We use your email address to send you updates about your submissions (approval, rejection) and important account information.
- Site operation: We use server logs to maintain site security and fix technical issues.
- Social media promotion: Approved photos may be shared on our official social media accounts (such as our Facebook Page) with photographer credit included.
- Automated content screening: Submitted photos are analyzed by artificial intelligence technology (provided by Anthropic) to screen for content appropriateness. This AI screening checks that images contain dogs as the primary subject, screens for inappropriate content, and generates descriptive metadata. See "AI Content Screening" below for details.
What We Don't Do
- We never sell your personal information to anyone.
- We never share your email address publicly or with third parties.
- We don't run ads or use ad-tracking services.
- We don't use cookies for tracking. The only cookies used are essential session cookies for logged-in photographers.
- We never sell or sublicense your photos. You retain full copyright and ownership of every image you submit.
Your Photos & Copyright
You retain full copyright and ownership of every photo you upload. By submitting a photo, you grant us a non-exclusive license to display it on the I Love Dog Pics website, include it on your photographer profile, and share it on our official social media channels with credit to you. You may remove your photos at any time from your dashboard.
For more details about image rights, see our FAQ page.
Data Storage & Security
Your account information is stored in a secure database. Passwords are hashed using industry-standard methods and are never stored in plain text. We use HTTPS encryption for all data transmitted between your browser and our servers.
AI Content Screening
When you submit a photo, it is sent to our AI screening provider (Anthropic) for automated analysis. This screening:
- Verifies the photo contains a dog as the primary subject
- Screens for inappropriate or objectionable content
- Checks for identifiable people in the image
- Generates descriptive tags and alt-text for accessibility
The image data sent to Anthropic is used solely for screening purposes. Anthropic does not retain submitted images for model training. Photos flagged by AI screening may be held for additional human review. For more details, see Anthropic's privacy policy at anthropic.com/privacy.
Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services:
- GoDaddy: Website hosting and email relay
- Google Fonts: For typography (Playfair Display and Open Sans)
- Facebook/Meta: For automatically sharing approved photos to our Facebook Page
- Anthropic: For AI-powered content screening of submitted photos (see above)
These services have their own privacy policies. We do not share your personal data with these services beyond what is necessary for their function.
Your Rights
You have the right to:
- Access your personal information through your photographer dashboard
- Update your profile information at any time
- Delete your submitted photos at any time
- Request deletion of your account by contacting us
California Privacy Rights (CCPA/CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):
- Right to Know: You can request details about the personal information we collect and how it is used
- Right to Delete: You can request deletion of your personal information
- Right to Opt Out: We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is no need to opt out
- Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights
To exercise these rights, contact us at bigdog@ilovedogpics.com. We will respond to verified requests within 45 days.
International Visitors (GDPR)
If you are visiting from the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom, you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) including the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, data portability, and object to processing of your personal data. Our legal basis for processing your data is your consent (when you create an account) and our legitimate interest in operating the Site.
To exercise your GDPR rights, contact us at bigdog@ilovedogpics.com.
Children's Privacy
I Love Dog Pics is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your information, please contact us at bigdog@ilovedogpics.com.