Privacy policy
What this site collects, why, and who else sees it.
Last updated: October 17, 2026
This page explains, in plain words, what ncpetproject.org collects when you use it, what we do with it, and which outside services are involved. If something here does not match what you see on the site, please tell us at info@ncpetproject.org.
What we collect
When you sign the petition
We save your name, email address, ZIP code and county. If you leave the county blank, we work it out from your ZIP code. We also save the IP address you signed from and, if you came to the page through one of our share links, which kind of link it was (for example a Facebook share or an email from a friend). We never record who shared the link.
Signing also adds your name and email address to our email list, as the petition form says. You can unsubscribe at any time (see Email below).
If you reach the petition from the "Sign the petition" button shown after a new pet alert sign-up, your email address is filled in for you and we note that you came from that button. You still decide whether to sign; signing up for an alert never signs the petition for you.
When you sign up for new pet alerts
New pet email alerts are not running yet. If you sign up now, we save your email address, the kind of pet you asked about (a breed, an age group, a type of pet or a county), and the ZIP code and distance if you give them. We send nothing yet: no alerts and no confirmation email, and we do not add you to our contact list.
When alerts start, we will send you one email asking you to confirm. No alert is sent unless you click it, and if you do not, we send nothing more. After you confirm, we email you at most once a day, only on days a matching pet is listed, every email has a one-click unsubscribe, and your email address and alert are kept in GoHighLevel. To cancel a sign-up before alerts start, or to have it deleted, email info@ncpetproject.org and we will remove it.
When you use the contact-your-legislator tool
You type your street address, city and ZIP code. Our server sends that address to the US Census Bureau's address lookup (geocoder) to find your state House and Senate districts. It then asks Open States for the legislators who represent those districts. Open States receives only the district numbers, not your address. We do not save your street address.
The letter opens in your own email app. You decide whether to send it, and it goes from your email account. The letter never passes through our server. When you open it, we record which legislator you chose, their district, your ZIP code and your county, and our server emails a notice of that contact, including your IP address, to the site administrator.
When you fill out the volunteer form
We receive your name, email address, county, ZIP code, the volunteer roles you pick and anything you write in the message box. We save your answers in our database and email them to us (delivered through Brevo) so we can follow up.
When you fill out the veterinary partner form
We receive your practice's name, county and website, your name, role, email address and phone number, the ways you might take part and anything you write in the message box. We save them in our database and email them to us (delivered through Brevo) so we can follow up about the partner program.
When you submit an event
We receive the event details, any flyer you upload, and your name and email address. We save them in our database and email them to us (delivered through Brevo) so we can check the event; the flyer is stored privately, not on the public website. We publish only the event details, never your name or email, and we do not add you to any mailing list.
When you search for a clinic by ZIP code
We use the ZIP code to find nearby spay/neuter providers in our directory. We do not save your search.
When you use a share or invite button
We count how many times each kind of share button is used (email, Facebook, X, Nextdoor, the phone share menu or copied link). When you use the Facebook button we copy a suggested post to your clipboard so you can paste it; nothing is read back. We do not record who clicked. Invite emails open in your own email app, and we never see who you send them to.
How often our tools are used
On our own server we count uses of the site's tools: share buttons, ZIP code searches, legislator lookups, taps on clinic phone numbers and websites, and clicks on our action boxes. Each count stores only what happened (for example "ZIP search, clinics found" or "share, Facebook") and when. It does not store your IP address, a cookie, your ZIP code, your address or anything else that identifies you.
Voucher applications
NC Pet Project does not run a voucher program and does not collect voucher applications.
How you use the site
We use Hotjar to see how visitors use our pages, such as clicks, scrolling and which pages they visit. Hotjar can also make recordings of visits so we can see where pages are confusing or broken. It starts when you first scroll, click, tap or press a key, or 2 seconds after the page loads, whichever comes first. Our forms that ask for your name, email, address or ZIP code are marked so Hotjar does not record what you type or what they show back to you.
We also use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages people find useful. It records the pages you view, roughly where you are (city level), your device and browser type, and a few actions on our tools: that a petition was signed, that a clinic search found results, that legislators were found or a letter was opened, that a volunteer form was sent, and which share button was used. We send Google the county for those actions, never your name, email address, street address or ZIP code. It starts at the same time as Hotjar.
Like most websites, our web server also keeps standard access logs: your IP address, the page you asked for, the time and your browser type.
We do not use advertising cookies or advertising pixels, and Google Analytics data is not shared with Google for advertising.
How we use it
- To count petition signatures and show how many supporters there are in each county. Our public petition count and supporter map show totals only, never names or email addresses.
- To send email updates about animal welfare in North Carolina to people who signed the petition.
- To see how many people contact their legislators, and from which counties.
- To follow up with people who offer to volunteer.
- To find and fix problems on the site and make it easier to use.
We do not sell your information.
When you sign the petition, your name and email address are saved with your signature so we can send occasional updates. We keep our list in GoHighLevel, a contact management service, and the emails are delivered through Brevo, an email delivery service. Every one includes an unsubscribe link. Volunteers and veterinary partners are kept there too, so we can follow up with them. The emails our website already sends, such as notices to us when someone signs the petition or offers to volunteer, also go through Brevo.
Every email from our list has an unsubscribe link. You can also email info@ncpetproject.org and ask us to take you off the list.
New pet alerts are separate from the petition list: signing up for an alert does not add you to our updates, and stopping an alert does not unsubscribe you from them. Alerts are not running yet, so no alert email has been sent (see When you sign up for new pet alerts above).
Cookies and browser storage
- ncpet_ref (ours): set only when you arrive through one of our share links, a link that ends in
?ref=. It stores the kind of link (email, Facebook, X, Nextdoor, phone share menu or copied link), never who shared it, and lasts 30 days. If you sign the petition while it is set, we save that kind of link with your signature. - _hjSessionUser_6710365 and _hjSession_6710365 (Hotjar): the first lets Hotjar recognize a returning browser and lasts one year. The second covers your current visit and expires soon after. Hotjar also keeps a few small entries in your browser's local storage and session storage, with names that start with
hj. - ncpet-adopt-seed and ncpet-adopt-view (ours, session storage): on the adoptable pets pages, keep the order of the list and the filters you picked, including any ZIP code you typed, so Back and reload return you to the same place. They stay in that browser tab, are never sent to us and are cleared when you close the tab.
- _ga and _ga_KWRL4TSNKJ (Google Analytics): tell Google Analytics that two visits came from the same browser, so we count people rather than page loads. Both last up to two years.
You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The petition, the legislator tool and the clinic search still work without them.
Outside services
These services receive some information when you use the site. Each has its own privacy policy.
- Hotjar: measures how visitors use our pages (see above). Hotjar privacy policy
- Google Analytics: measures visits and the tool actions listed above. Google privacy policy
- Brevo: delivers the emails our website sends, so it receives the email address and the message. Brevo privacy policy
- US Census Bureau Geocoder: receives the address you type into the legislator tool and returns your districts. Census Geocoder
- Open States (run by Plural): receives your House and Senate district numbers and returns your legislators' names and contact details. Open States
- GoHighLevel: holds our contact list (names, email addresses, phone numbers when given, ZIP codes and counties of petition signers, volunteers and veterinary partners) so we can send updates and follow up. GoHighLevel privacy policy
- Hetzner: rents us the server in Ashburn, Virginia, where this website and its database run.
- Cloudflare: DNS service for our domain name. Our pages are not served through Cloudflare.
How long we keep it
We have not set an automatic deletion schedule. Petition signatures, legislator contact records, volunteer and veterinary partner submissions, new pet alert sign-ups and email list records stay until you ask us to remove them. Unsubscribing stops our emails right away.
Seeing or deleting your information
To ask what we hold about you, to fix it, or to have us delete it, email info@ncpetproject.org with "Privacy Request" in the subject line. Tell us the email address or ZIP code you used so we can find your records. This includes new pet alert sign-ups, whether or not alerts have started.
Children
This site is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.
Changes to this page
If we change what we collect or which services we use, we will update this page and the date at the top.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Email us at info@ncpetproject.org.