Privacy Policy

Happy Dog Academy Privacy and Cookie Policy

Introduction

In this privacy and cookie statement, we explain how Happy Dog Academy handles your personal data and how you can exercise your rights regarding this data.

About Happy Dog Academy: We are a Dutch company based in the Netherlands, expanding our services internationally to help dog owners worldwide. Our headquarters and primary operations remain in the Netherlands, and we operate under Dutch and European Union privacy laws.

This privacy and cookie statement applies to visitors to our website(s), persons who register to receive certain information, and persons who purchase products and/or services on our website(s), regardless of their location.

By ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ we mean:

Flinterman Onderneming also trading under the name Happy Dog Academy, a Dutch company located at Vinkenkade 1C in (3645 AN) Vinkeveen, The Netherlands, and registered in the Dutch Trade Register (Handelsregister) with the Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel) under number 54277000, hereinafter also referred to as “Happy Dog Academy”.

Personal Data

Happy Dog Academy is a online platform for dog lovers where we provide information about dog health and dog training based on 30+ years of experience. Visitors from around the world can purchase physical and/or digital products for their dog on Happy Dog Academy’s website(s).

As we expand internationally from our Dutch base, we work with various data, including personal data, to provide our services globally while maintaining the high standards of Dutch and EU privacy protection.

Personal data is data that directly or indirectly relates to a specific person. These are, for example, your name, telephone number, date of birth, email address, billing address, shipping address, and payment information.

We process your personal data when you use our services and/or order products and/or when you provide certain data to us, for example via this website, email communications, or customer service interactions.

What are the ‘Legal Grounds’ for Using Your Personal Data?

According to privacy legislation, we must state which ‘legal grounds’ we have for using your data. We need your data because of the contractual agreements between you and Happy Dog Academy, such as your purchase of a product or your right to warranty. This applies to:

  • Ordering & pre-order
  • Delivery
  • Returns
  • Contact with our customer service

In addition, we may use your data based on ‘legitimate interest’. This means we want to provide all our customers with the most optimal, personal service. We always consider your privacy in this regard. This applies to:

  • Reviews & customer satisfaction surveys
  • Contact with our customer service
  • Visiting Happy Dog Academy website(s)
  • Account
  • Newsletter & email
  • Personal advice
  • Promotions

We may also have a legal obligation to use your data, for example when we suspect fraud. And sometimes you have given us permission to use your data yourself, such as when you sign up for the newsletter. We keep proper records of this.

Who Has Access to Your Personal Data?

We only share your data with other parties if it is really necessary for our service provision. As a Dutch company serving international customers, this may involve parties such as:

Service Providers:

  • Delivery partners (for shipping products internationally)
  • Payment processors (to handle payments in various currencies)
  • Cloud hosting providers (for website and data hosting)
  • Email service providers (for newsletters and communications)
  • Customer support tools
  • IT security and maintenance providers

Legal Requirements:

  • Dutch tax authorities (as required by Dutch law)
  • Other government agencies when legally required
  • Law enforcement when legally obligated

International Considerations: When serving customers outside the Netherlands, we may work with local delivery partners or payment processors in your country, but always under strict data protection agreements.

The parties that receive access to your data from us may only use this data to provide you with a service on behalf of Happy Dog Academy, unless they are themselves responsible for obtaining and protecting your data. We never sell your data to third parties.

Where is Your Personal Data Stored?

As a Dutch company, we store your data in various secure databases primarily located within the European Union to ensure the highest level of data protection under EU law. We always maintain strict security measures including encryption, access controls, and regular security audits.

Data Location: Your personal data is stored within the European Union whenever possible. In rare cases where we use service providers outside the EU (such as certain cloud services), we ensure they provide adequate protection through:

  • Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)
  • Adequacy decisions by the European Commission
  • Other appropriate safeguards as required by GDPR

International Transfers: When we serve customers outside the EU, any data transfers are conducted in compliance with Dutch and EU data protection laws.

How Long Do We Keep Your Personal Data?

As a Dutch company, we comply with Dutch and EU data retention requirements. We do not keep and use your data longer than necessary. After the required retention periods, we delete all data we have from you, or we use your data in anonymized form for internal analyses and reports.

Retention Periods:

  • Customer accounts: We delete inactive customer accounts after 7 years. After that period, we only use anonymized data for internal reports.
  • Financial records: Dutch tax law (Wet op de omzetbelasting) requires us to keep our administration with your invoice, payment and order data for 7 years. After that, we only use anonymous data for internal reports. You should also keep the invoices of your purchases properly for warranty purposes.
  • Product support: If you have your product replaced by Happy Dog Academy, we keep your report and contact details for 7 years (Dutch warranty law requirements). After that, we only use anonymized data for internal reports.
  • Marketing consent: If you have registered for the newsletter or given permission to receive personalized messages, we keep that permission for 5 years. Even if you withdraw consent, we keep records of the withdrawal for compliance purposes.
  • Fraud prevention: Data used to prevent fraud is kept longer as required by Dutch financial regulations.
  • Website analytics: Anonymous website usage data may be kept indefinitely for business analysis purposes.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device via your browser when visiting a website.

Happy Dog Academy uses functional, analytical and tracking cookies that are intended to make our websites work better. Happy Dog Academy uses cookies with a purely technical functionality. These ensure that the website works properly and that, for example, your preference settings are remembered. These cookies are also used to make the website work well and to optimize it. In addition, we place cookies that track your browsing behavior so that we can offer customized content and advertisements.

You can opt out of cookies by setting your internet browser not to store cookies anymore. In addition, you can also delete all information that was previously stored via your browser settings. For an explanation see: https://veiliginternetten.nl/themes/situatie/cookies-wat-zijn-het-en-wat-doe-ik-ermee/

In addition, Happy Dog Academy uses Google Analytics to display statistics about visits to our websites. Analytical cookies are placed for this purpose. However, we have set this up in a privacy-friendly way. For this we have concluded a processor agreement with Google, masked part of the IP addresses, turned off ‘data sharing’ with Google and do not use other Google services in combination with Google Analytics.

Social Media

Our websites may contain buttons to our pages on Facebook and/or Instagram. When you click on these buttons and/or visit these pages, cookies from these social media platforms are placed. The use of cookies and the handling of personal data by these social media platforms are governed by the privacy and cookie statements of the relevant companies.

What Are Your Rights?

Of course, you remain in control of your data. Do you want free access to your personal data and receive a copy? Or do you want to change, delete, limit use or adjust your email preferences? No problem. Let us know by post or email. This way you can also object to the use of your data for marketing purposes.

Unsubscribing from the newsletter is easy. You do this via the link at the bottom of the newsletter itself. And don’t want any cookies at all? You can also arrange that yourself. Read under the heading cookies how to do that.

We want to be sure that you really are you. That’s why we may ask for additional information from you to establish your identity. We also do this with unclear requests.

Do You Have Questions or Complaints?

For questions or complaints about your data and the protection of your privacy, you can contact us:

Contact Information:

  • Email: [email protected]
  • Mail: Happy Dog Academy, attn. M. Flinterman, Vinkenkade 1C, 3645 AN Vinkeveen, The Netherlands
  • Phone: +31 85-0470426 (Dutch number, international rates may apply)

Business Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Central European Time)

For International Customers: We provide customer service in English and Dutch. Response times may vary depending on time zones, but we aim to respond within 24-48 hours.

Regulatory Complaints: If you are not satisfied with how Happy Dog Academy handles your privacy, you can contact the relevant privacy authority:

  • EU/Netherlands residents: Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) – www.autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl
  • International customers: You may also contact your local data protection authority if your country has adequacy status with the EU or other applicable privacy laws.

Legal Jurisdiction: As a Dutch company, Happy Dog Academy operates under Dutch law and EU regulations (GDPR). Any legal disputes will be subject to Dutch jurisdiction.

Who is Responsible for Your Personal Data?

Data Controller: Flinterman Onderneming also trading under the name Happy Dog Academy

Dutch Company Details:

  • Address: Vinkenkade 1C, 3645 AN Vinkeveen, The Netherlands
  • Chamber of Commerce (KvK) number: 54277000
  • Country of incorporation: The Netherlands
  • VAT number: [Add if applicable for international customers]

Contact Details:

  • Telephone: +31 85-0470426 (Dutch number, local rate within NL, international rates apply from abroad)
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Business hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Central European Time)

International Notice: While we serve customers internationally, Happy Dog Academy remains a Dutch company subject to Dutch corporate law and EU data protection regulations. Our primary business operations, data processing, and legal obligations are governed by Dutch and European Union law.

We may adjust this privacy and cookie statement from time to time. An amended privacy and cookie statement applies from the date as stated here.

Latest version: June 2025