The PetAlert website (regional and national), applications, documentation and related services (together, the Platform) are operated by Uzino Sàrl, a company incorporated under Swiss law with its registered office in Leytron (IDE CHE-236.397.546) (Uzino or we, us, our).
Each person (the User or you, your) who accesses or uses the Platform in any way whatsoever does so on condition that he or she unreservedly and expressly accepts these general terms and conditions (the General Terms and Conditions).
The General Terms and Conditions define the conditions under which you have the right to access and use the Platform; they also contain our privacy policy (see article 11).
To be able to access certain features of the Platform, we ask you to register, which you can do directly on our registration form.
Registration on the Platform may or may not be accompanied by the conclusion of a service contract between the Platform and you (the Contract), depending on the user level chosen (see Article 6).
Four levels of users have access to the Platform: the Visitor, the Watcher, the Member and the Subscriber.
The Visitor refers to all Users who access the Platform. Visitors may consult the public pages of the Platform, in particular the various Alerts. If they wish to comment on Disappearance Alerts or Discovery Alerts or submit a Discovery Alert, they must identify themselves. These actions are free of charge.
The Watcher refers to the person who is admitted to participate in the Watcher research programme.
You become a Watcher by applying to join the Watcher research programme and receiving confirmation from us.
In particular, the Watcher can specify his geographical location and provide us with his mobile phone number. By doing so, he agrees to receive Disappearance Alerts. These are generally only sent between 08:00 and 22:00 on weekdays and between 10:00 and 22:00 at weekends and on public holidays. This function can be activated and deactivated at any time.
The Watcher receives credits for the following actions: sharing ads, relevant Comments, creating valid Discovery Alerts. They also receive Credits when they sponsor a new User. Credits are used to obtain advantages on the Platform (gifts, discounts, etc.). Credits cannot be converted into cash. They cannot be transferred.
Watcher status is lost by unsubscribing or deactivating your profile (see article 13). If a Watcher does not take any action for 90 consecutive days, his/her profile is automatically deactivated. In all these cases (deregistration or deactivation of the profile), unused Credits are cancelled.
Member means any person who registers for PetAlert services.
Member status is obtained either by publishing a Discovery Alert or by ordering a Disappearance Alert. In the latter case, please note that we reserve the right to refuse any order and will only send confirmation once the price of the order has been received.
By becoming a Member through the ordering of a Disappearance Alert, you benefit not only from the broadcasting of the Disappearance Alert, but also from the status of Subscriber and the associated advantages, for a period of one year (cf. article 3.4).
Members are also entitled to join the Watcher programme.
You lose your Member status by unsubscribing or deactivating your profile (see article 13).
Subscriber status is obtained, on the one hand, by your subscription request and, on the other hand, by our confirmation. It can also be obtained by ordering a Disappearance Alert (see article 3.3).
The subscription is nominal, personal and non-transferable. It is linked to 1 animal only.
The subscription is for one year; it can be renewed from year to year on request.
Subscription gives the right to access Platform services reserved for Subscribers. In particular, the subscription price includes the right to publish a Disappearance Alert. Any other Disappearance Alerts, however, are subject to a charge. For technical reasons, Disappearance Alerts can generally only be published 10 days after activation of the subscription.
The Subscriber also has the right to join the Watcher programme.
Subscriber status ceases at the end of the subscription or when your profile is deactivated (see article 13).
Missing Alerts are information about a lost animal broadcast via the Platform. Only Members and Subscribers may post Missing Alerts. Subject to the special rules applying to Subscribers (see article 3.4), the broadcasting of Missing Alerts is subject to a charge. Prices are shown on our website.
Discovery Alerts are messages published on the Platform by Visitors, Watchers, Members or Subscribers that provide information on the whereabouts of a lost pet. The distribution of Discovery Alerts is free of charge.
Disappearance Alerts are published for 30 days as soon as they are activated, after which they are automatically deactivated. They can be extended for successive periods of 10 days (there is a charge for this service).
Missing Alerts and Discovery Alerts (together, Alerts) may be deleted by their author at any time. Once published, an Alert cannot be modified. Its author may, however, provide additional information through Comments.
As soon as an Alert is deactivated, its content and associated Comments are no longer visible to Users, with the exception of its author. The content of an Alert deactivated or withdrawn by the User or the Platform is no longer visible on the Platform; it is, however, stored in our databases (see article 11) and may be consulted, on request, by its author.
Comments are additional information to an Alert, the purpose of which is to help locate a lost pet; they may not be used for any other purpose. They may be published by Visitors (who have identified themselves), Watchers, Members and Subscribers.
The Platform contains a description of the different services we offer for each User level. At the end of the order process, you will have the opportunity to send us an offer by clicking on the "confirm order" button or any button with similar content. By clicking on such a button, you will be deemed to have made an offer to enter into the Contract and to have accepted the General Terms and Conditions.
The Contract is concluded if and when we send you a confirmation e-mail.
Where applicable, the Contract consists of the following documents: our confirmation, the information on the page describing the type of services you have subscribed to and the General Terms and Conditions. In the event of any contradiction between these documents, the provisions of the document cited first shall prevail.
In the case of Visitors, no Contract (for the provision of services) is in principle concluded. Nevertheless, Visitors are only authorised to access and use the Platform in strict compliance with the General Terms and Conditions.
In principle, the amounts invoiced are payable immediately upon receipt of your order.
No service will be provided without validation of full payment.
No discounts or rebates are granted after the order has been placed. If payments are made by credit card, the commission is included in the sale price. The different payment solutions can be consulted on the "payment methods" page. PetAlert is not responsible for any additional bank charges that may be invoiced by certain banks.
All payments are final and non-refundable, including in the event that you do not ultimately use the Platform's services or in the event that your account is suspended or deactivated in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions.
Under Swiss law, there is no withdrawal period for our services.
We also reserve the right to change the prices of our various services at any time and without prior notice, it being understood that these new prices will apply to all orders placed after publication of the new prices on the Platform.
No case of force majeure (war, terrorist attack or pandemic) can justify a request for reimbursement of the service ordered and paid for.
Unless otherwise specified by us, only Users domiciled in the following countries may issue Alerts: Andorra, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada and the United States.
We only guarantee the dissemination of Alerts in the aforementioned territories. In certain cases, the dissemination of Alerts may be extended to border areas, but we offer no contractual guarantee in this respect, unless we expressly state otherwise.
Our services are described in the contractual documents forming the Contract. In general, we undertake to disseminate, in the agreed manner, information to facilitate the search for lost animals. However, we do not guarantee that the animals that are the subject of an alert campaign will actually be found, or that they will be found in good health.
We take all measures to maintain the operation of the Platform and to guarantee the security of the data on the Platform. We reserve the right to interrupt or modify the Platform services with or without prior notice, in particular for maintenance reasons.
We draw your attention to the fact that the operation of the Platform may be hindered or affected by numerous factors or circumstances over which we may have no control, so that we cannot guarantee continued secure access to the Platform.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES THAT MAY ARISE IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE PLATFORM. IN PARTICULAR, WE DISCLAIM ALL LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM (I) THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PLATFORM, (II) THE SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF YOUR ACCESS TO THE PLATFORM (PROFILE DEACTIVATION OR OTHERWISE), (III) THE UNAUTHORISED USE OF THE TERMINAL USED TO ACCESS THE PLATFORM, (IV) UNAUTHORISED ACCESS TO YOUR DATA, (V) LOSS, MODIFICATION, DELAY, INTERCEPTION OR ERRORS DURING TRANSMISSION TO AND FROM THE PLATFORM, (VI) CONTENT PUBLISHED BY THIRD PARTIES ON THE PLATFORM, (VII) STATEMENTS AND ACTS MADE BY THIRD PARTIES ON OR VIA THE PLATFORM. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR LIABILITY EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU FOR THE USE OF THE PLATFORM.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW AND UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY US, ALL INFORMATION PUBLISHED ON OR VIA THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" AND WE GIVE NO WARRANTIES IN THIS REGARD.
The User undertakes to provide his/her Personal Data, as well as any Alert or Comment posted on the Platform, in a truthful, complete and accurate manner and in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions.
The Platform may only be used by natural persons over the age of 18. If you have not reached this age, you are not authorised to use the Platform, except with our express authorisation.
We authorise use of the Platform solely for the purposes of the services offered. You are strictly forbidden to use the data made available to you for any purpose other than those described above, in particular for commercial purposes, canvassing or any other activity competing with the Platform.
You are only authorised to publish a Missing Alert if you are the owner of the animal. In case of doubt, we reserve the right to request information and any document enabling us to verify this point. If you are unable to provide the information requested, we reserve the right to delete the Alert and to cancel or terminate your subscription, without you being entitled to claim any financial compensation as a result.
You are responsible for the content that you publish on the Platform. You guarantee that you have all the rights and authorisations required to distribute this content. The photographs or other images that you publish must only show the lost pet. Any image representing people, places or objects is prohibited and, if necessary, will be removed.
You must also ensure that your Comments and all the elements that you publish on our Platform comply with the law. Any content that promotes racism, hatred, physical violence, is harmful to minors, pornographic, obscene, defamatory or libellous is expressly prohibited.
Any abuse or behaviour that does not comply with the General Terms and Conditions or any suspicion of non-compliant behaviour may be reported using the following form: https: //www.petalert.fr/fr-fr/question. We thank the User in advance for notifying us in order to prevent any possible fraud and/or abuse.
Personal Data is defined as any data relating to an identified or identifiable person.
We undertake to collect and process your Personal Data in accordance with this privacy policy and the law, in particular the Federal Data Protection Act of 12 June 1992 (LPD).
We collect the Personal Data that you communicate to us, in particular when you register, pay for our services or use the Platform. The Personal Data collected includes in particular your surname, first name and contact details (address, e-mail, telephone numbers, etc.), user name, password, bank details, etc.
Like many websites, we collect certain information automatically and store it in log files. This data includes IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, browser type and language, Internet Service Provider (ISP), referring and exit pages, operating system, date/time and data relating to your visit to the site.
If you are part of the Watcher programme, we may collect, use and share precise location data, including but not limited to the real-time geographic location of your mobile phone, so that we can send you Alerts about lost pets near where you are.
We collect and process your Personal Data primarily in order to provide our services and operate the Platform, process Alerts and, if necessary, collect our debts.
Your Personal Data is also processed statistically and anonymously to reveal trends, enabling us to improve the Platform.
Your Personal Data will not be published on the Platform, passed on to other Users, third parties or partners, or marketed without your consent.
However, we draw your attention to the fact that we may be required to disclose your Personal Data (i) by virtue of a legal or regulatory requirement (and in particular at the request of auditors), or (ii) following an injunction from a judicial or administrative authority or (iii) in the context of any judicial or administrative dispute in which our company is involved, provided that such disclosure is useful for the defence of our company's interests.
We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses "cookies", which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States . Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of the Platform. By using the Platform, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
We use recognised technical means to ensure the security of your Personal Data against the risks of unauthorised access, loss, destruction or unauthorised use.
Users' Personal Data is stored on servers in Switzerland. You therefore understand and expressly accept that your Personal Data may be transferred abroad, including to a country other than those mentioned above, which may not have legislation guaranteeing the same level of protection as Swiss law. In all cases, we ensure that our foreign partners are bound by an obligation of confidentiality regarding your Personal Data.
We will retain your Personal Data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected.
In particular, your Personal Data is kept for as long as you are a registered Visitor, Watcher, Member or Subscriber.
If you do not have or no longer have one of these statuses, we generally retain your data for 12 months after it was collected.
Your Personal Data may also be retained for longer periods if required by law. For example, the retention of accounts and certain accounting documents is generally required for a period of 10 years.
We may also store your anonymised Personal Data for a longer period. Such anonymised data is used for statistical purposes.
Links to websites for which we are not directly responsible may be present on the Platform: this privacy policy does not apply to them, unless otherwise indicated.
We therefore decline all responsibility for the practices of these third parties with regard to the processing and protection of personal data, and we invite you to familiarise yourself with their protection practices.
If you wish to access, modify or delete your Personal Data, please send a written request accompanied by a copy of your identity document to the address indicated in Article 15, or via the PetAlert messaging tool.
All the elements making up the Platform and in particular the logos, brands, names, images and texts are our exclusive property, except for the content and texts published by Users, which belong to them.
All of these elements may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted or downloaded, by any means whatsoever and for any reason whatsoever, except for the dissemination of Alerts in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions or with our express authorisation.
Nevertheless, under the private copy exception, you may keep a copy of the Platform pages and the General Terms and Conditions for strictly personal use, for non-commercial purposes, provided that you do not make any changes.
We reserve the right to edit, suspend or delete any Alert, Comment or other content you post on the Platform for any reason whatsoever.
We may also deactivate your profile, temporarily or permanently, without prior notice, if (i) you have breached these Terms and Conditions, your Agreement or any directive or instruction issued by us, (ii) the material you have posted on or via the Platform is contrary to the law, these Terms and Conditions or otherwise prejudicial to our reputation or that of third parties, (iii) if ordered to do so by a competent authority or (iv) for technical reasons relating to maintenance or modifications to the Platform.
These General Terms and Conditions are written in French and translated into other languages. In the event of any discrepancy, the French version shall prevail.
If any of the provisions of the General Terms and Conditions should be declared invalid or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever, it shall, as far as possible, be adapted rather than cancelled in order to best respect the intention of the parties. In any event, all other provisions of the General Terms and Conditions will remain valid and enforceable to the extent that they are compatible.
We reserve the right to modify or adapt the General Terms and Conditions at any time and without prior notice, in particular to bring them into line with legal and regulatory provisions. Amended versions come into force as soon as they are published on our site. We therefore invite you to consult them regularly before using the Platform. The latest version is available at the following link https://www.petalert.me/pages/general_terms.
The General Terms and Conditions (and the Contracts) are governed by Swiss substantive law.
The place of jurisdiction is Leytron.
If you have any questions, requests or complaints, please contact us at the following address:
PETALERT / Uzino Sàrl
Rue de la Sauge 55
CH-1912 Leytron
Switzerland
The General Terms and Conditions come into force on 01.07.15.
Last updated on 20.11.2023