Privacy Policy

Barley is operated by QITONG MAI, an individual based in China. Contact us about privacy or your information at support@meetbarley.com, with “Barley Privacy” in the subject line.

This address is for Barley support and privacy requests. We do not combine accounts across products, create cross-product advertising profiles, or use your Barley information to market other products.

Barley provides pet education, content discovery, training assistance, care and growth records, and AI assistance. Some features require an internet connection, device permission, or subscription.

Apple, Google, and other platforms also process information for their own services under their policies. This policy explains what Barley receives, uses, and discloses. Their separate policies do not remove our responsibility to select appropriate providers and arrangements.

We receive information from you, your chosen sign-in and payment services, interactions with our services, and the processing you request. Collection depends on the features you use.

Information that can still be linked to your account, device, or installation is not anonymous merely because it uses a random identifier or omits your name.

We use necessary information to provide and secure accounts; save and synchronize records; deliver requested AI functions; show learning and care progress; manage subscriptions; respond to support; investigate errors and abuse; and comply with applicable law.

Optional product analytics helps us improve product design without using the bodies of your conversations, photos, or recordings. A general service-improvement purpose does not authorize unrestricted access to private content or a change of purpose.

We do not sell your personal information, share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, or use Barley information to build advertising profiles. We do not use your photos, recordings, conversations, memories, or content derived from them to train or fine-tune general-purpose AI models, and we do not permit AI providers to use that content for that purpose. We select and configure AI services to meet this commitment. If a service cannot do so, we do not send the relevant user content to it.

Generating an answer, maintaining memory while it is enabled, necessary security detection, and content-free performance measurement are separate activities. Memory does not change a general-purpose model's parameters, but it does store information and involve a third party. Its default and available controls are explained below. Security providers may use necessary technical signals to improve bot detection, as described below; that does not authorize general-purpose training on your photos, voice, or conversations.

Our current pet services do not require your address book, precise GPS location, human health records, or biometric identity information. Infrastructure still processes IP addresses and network signals. Please avoid submitting unnecessary identity documents, payment details, passwords, children's personal information, other people's private information, or human medical information.

An explicit choice. Before first sending personal information to a third-party AI service, we identify the provider, information, and purpose and request your explicit permission. Device camera or microphone permission, reading this policy, or signing in does not replace that choice. You may decline AI processing and use features that do not depend on it. A feature requiring AI will not send the relevant content without permission.

Text, images, and files. Assistance and analysis may send your submitted content and the pet information or relevant conversation context needed for the request to OpenAI. We limit the information sent and remove embedded metadata in supported image-processing paths. This does not automatically remove faces, addresses, visible document text, or personal information from every type of file. Review and crop or redact unnecessary information before submitting content.

Voice input. iOS speech transcription may use Apple's speech recognition service rather than processing entirely on your device. Transcribed text is handled according to the relevant feature after you submit it or explicitly start that AI function.

Short care recordings. A recording you submit is temporarily uploaded to private cloud storage and sent to OpenAI for transcription and processing. Temporary recordings are removed as soon as practicable after processing. Unconfirmed drafts and transcripts follow Section 7. Only information you confirm should become a saved care record.

Live voice training. After you separately agree and start live training, microphone audio, course material and relevant pet context are sent to OpenAI for conversation and captions. Barley saves training reports, step changes and technical timing records. The microphone remains active while the coach speaks, until you pause, end or leave the session. It is not used for unrelated background monitoring. We do not promise that all audio processing has zero retention; provider security and legal retention is addressed below.

Long-term memory. Memory is enabled by default. After you permit AI processing, OpenAI may extract information from permitted conversations and Supermemory stores and retrieves it for later assistance. You can view, delete, or clear memories and turn memory off. Turning it off stops new memory creation and retrieval but does not automatically delete conversation history or previously saved memories. Use the relevant deletion control to remove saved information. We explain the separate scope of conversation deletion and memory deletion. Incorrect inferences can be deleted and should not continue to be treated as facts.

AI can be incorrect, incomplete, or unsuitable for an individual animal. Barley provides education, recordkeeping, and training assistance, not veterinary diagnosis, prescriptions, treatment, or emergency care. It does not establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship. Contact a qualified veterinarian about animal health or urgent concerns.

Providers acting on our behalf must protect information consistently with this policy, limit its use and disclosure, and support applicable deletion requirements. Some providers independently process information for their own payment, authentication, security, or legal obligations. Relevant information includes OpenAI API data controls, Google API terms, Supermemory's policy, and Cloudflare's Turnstile notice.

Outside service delivery, we disclose necessary information only as required by law or valid legal process, to address specific security incidents, protect lawful rights, or fulfill your explicit request. If a business transfer involves personal information, the recipient must continue to protect it, and we provide notice or obtain permission where required. A transfer does not automatically permit previously prohibited model training.

Your profiles, conversations, and photos are not public by default. If you export or share information, recipients you choose control their copies, which we cannot retrieve from their devices or accounts.

QITONG MAI operates Barley from China. Providers may process information in the United States and other countries, and the operator in China may access information as necessary for support, security investigations, and operations. Locations depend on the services and configurations used. We do not represent that all information stays in the United States or on your device.

We limit the information, people, and purposes involved in cross-border processing and use notices, permissions, contracts, and other protections required by applicable law. Laws differ between jurisdictions; these arrangements do not reduce the rights expressly provided by this policy.

We retain information for the purposes below and delete it when it is no longer needed, subject to applicable legal obligations. Contact us for the status or scope of a specific deletion request.

To delete your account, use Profile → Account → Delete account and follow the confirmation steps. We delete your account and associated deletable information, direct relevant providers acting on our behalf to remove their copies. Some provider, backup, payment, security or legally required records can remain outside the immediate operation. Contact our privacy address for deletion status or a request the app cannot complete. Applicable statutory deadlines continue to apply.

Limited exceptions. We may retain the minimum records needed to meet legal obligations, resolve a specific refund or dispute, investigate fraud or security incidents, document the handling of rights requests, or comply with a legal hold. Access is restricted, the records are not used for personalization or optional product analytics, and they are deleted when the reason ends. Independent payment, authentication, and security providers may retain records required by their own legal obligations; we do not promise to erase all such history.

AI providers may have separate security or abuse-monitoring retention. Disabling response storage does not disable all logs or establish zero retention. We verify these arrangements when selecting services, restrict content retention, and explain relevant specific exceptions where needed. A generic security purpose does not justify keeping all content indefinitely.

Uninstalling the app does not delete your cloud account. Revoking a device permission, signing out, archiving a conversation, or switching memory off is also not account deletion. Deleting your account does not automatically cancel an Apple subscription. We provide subscription-management information and allow you to proceed with deletion.

You can edit information you provide, decline or withdraw optional AI permission, manage memory, manage device permissions for camera, photos, microphone, speech recognition, and notifications, and request access, a copy, correction, or deletion of personal information.

Optional product analytics is off by default. Enable or disable it at Profile → Account → Privacy → Share usage events. The choice applies to your account on this device; turning it off clears unsent events and does not affect purchased core entitlements. Withdrawing a choice stops the relevant future optional processing; it does not undo earlier lawful processing. To remove previously stored information, use its deletion control or contact us.

If an export or correction is not available in the app, email support@meetbarley.com. We may verify your request through your existing account or email, using only information needed to prevent unauthorized disclosure. Do not proactively send identity documents or complete payment details. Authorized agents may provide appropriate authorization, and we may verify the request with the account holder.

We respond within applicable legal deadlines. If we deny or limit a request, we explain why and provide applicable review, appeal, or complaint options. You can request a review through the same email address. We do not discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights. Removing information needed for a feature, or declining its necessary processing, may prevent that feature from working.

Rights and eligibility vary by U.S. state and may include knowledge, access, portability, correction, deletion, and opting out of sales, targeted advertising, or certain significant automated decisions. We do not conduct the described sales or targeted advertising, or use pet assistance to make legal or similarly significant employment, credit, insurance, or other decisions about people.

We use appropriate technical and organizational protections, including encrypted transmission, account access controls, private file storage, least-privilege access, and necessary logging controls. Authorized people may access relevant information only as needed for requested support, specific security matters, and service operations.

We cannot guarantee absolute security and do not claim end-to-end encryption: cloud and AI services need to process content to provide the functions you request. If a personal information incident occurs, we investigate, contain it, and notify affected individuals and authorities as required by applicable law.

Barley is for pet owners aged 18 and over. It is not directed to children or marketed to them. The age requirement is presented during registration and relevant interactions. We do not request your full birth date to verify a pet's age.

If we learn that we have collected a minor's personal information contrary to applicable law or our age requirements, we restrict the relevant processing and take appropriate action, including deletion. Please contact our privacy address if you believe a child or other minor has provided information.

The app uses local storage for sign-in state, preferences, records awaiting synchronization, and necessary processing state. Sign-in, payment, and security web components may use necessary cookies or similar technologies. We do not use them for advertising profiles.

Because Barley does not sell or share information for cross-context behavioral advertising, Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signals do not activate any such processing. They do not disable necessary authentication, security, or payment functions. We honor valid opt-out preferences where applicable law requires. A separately operated product website must account for its own actual analytics or advertising tools; they are not automatically covered by these app-specific statements.

Verification and necessary service email may come from a CareRing sending domain used for Barley. Registering for Barley does not automatically subscribe you to marketing email.

We show a new effective date when this policy changes. Material changes to information, purposes, recipients, or rights receive prominent in-app or other appropriate notice, and we obtain permission before new processing where required. Continued use is not implied permission for new optional AI disclosures, advertising profiles, or model training.