Why pet privacy settings matter on a scannable tag

Quick answer: A scannable pet tag opens a public page. Your home street address is never on it by design. Five owner contact fields are toggleable — phone, email, city, state, and the emergency contacts list. Medical alerts and microchip number, if you populate them, also appear on the public page so a vet or shelter can act fast. The privacy practice is choosing each of those deliberately.

Most pet owners think about privacy in the abstract — they do not want strangers knowing too much — but they rarely think about the very specific surface where that abstract preference becomes concrete: the public page behind a QR tag. This guide is about that page. What appears on it, why each choice matters, and how to choose deliberately.

The scan is a public moment

When a stranger scans a pet tag, the resulting page is, by definition, public — no login, no account, no friction. That public quality is the entire point: a kind neighbor with no special access can read it and call. The same quality is why the choice of fields matters. A page that includes only a phone number is a useful page. A page that also includes a precise home address is a more revealing page that may or may not match what the owner actually wants.

What does the public page actually show?

On a Driyu QR pet tag, the owner controls visibility on five owner-contact fields independently. Each defaults to visible:

• Phone — the most useful single field; default visible.
• Email — an alternative contact path; default visible.
• City — helps a finder confirm context; default visible.
• State — same; default visible.
• Emergency contacts — the full list, as one toggle; default visible.

Two more categories of fields are on the public page when populated, separate from the five toggles:

• Pet-safety fields — medical alerts, allergies, microchip number, microchip phone, distinguishing marks, and finder instructions appear when you have entered them. They are on the page because a vet, shelter, or finder may need them to act quickly. The control is what you choose to enter, not a separate toggle.
• Identification fields — the pet’s photo and name appear by default. These are the basics a finder uses to confirm the right pet.

Everything else — your home street address, your full medical history, your prior vet records, your private notes — stays in the owner’s account and is never on the public page. For the field-by-field inventory, see what Driyu shares (and what it doesn’t).

Why each toggle has a meaningful reason

Each public field exists because there is a real reason a finder might need it:

• Phone. The fastest path. A finder calls. No app, no signup, just a phone number.
• Email. A backup when a phone call fails or when a finder is in a foreign country.
• City and state. Helps a finder confirm they are seeing the right pet. Especially useful when shelters or rescues check the page.
• Emergency contacts. If you are unreachable, a second person can act — pick the pet up, take it to a vet, hold it overnight.

Each one is also worth thinking about as visible-by-default. Most owners want all of them on. Some have specific reasons not to. The toggles are there because there is no single right answer for every household.

Situations where reviewing privacy matters most

A short list of moments to glance at the toggles:

• After a move. Old city, new city — the address-related fields probably need to change or to be turned off until the new city information is correct.
• After a phone number change. A wrong phone is worse than no phone — double-check.
• After adding or removing an emergency contact. If a contact has been removed but the toggle is still on, the old list is still appearing.
• After a difficult life event. A separation, a stalking concern, a public dispute — reasons to make a deliberate choice about what is publicly visible.
• When a pet has been lost and recovered. Hindsight often shifts what an owner wants visible; review after a recovery.

What about medical information?

Pet medical records are not protected by HIPAA. Anything you publish about your pet’s health is public if you put it on a public page. On Driyu’s public scan page, medical alerts and microchip number appear when you have populated them — that is the safety case (a vet or shelter helping a found pet). If you would rather those details not be public, leave those fields blank in your pet profile. Full medical histories and detailed records stay in the owner side of your account and are never on the public page. For the medical-privacy framing, see pet medical privacy: who should see what, and when.

The kindest defaults

A calm starting point for most households:

• Phone toggle on.
• Email toggle on if you check email regularly.
• City and state toggles on.
• Emergency contacts toggle on — especially if you travel for work.
• Home street address is never on the public page; nothing to toggle.
• Populate medical alerts and microchip number only when the safety case is worth the public-visibility tradeoff.

From there, adjust if the household has specific reasons. The point is the act of choosing.

Where Driyu fits, honestly

Driyu defaults to visible on phone, email, city, state, and the emergency contacts list, with each as its own toggle — so you can keep contact open while turning off anything that does not match your comfort. The defaults are owner-friendly, not maximalist. Take one minute to review them when you set up the tag, and one minute again twice a year. For the broader refresh ritual, see your pet profile refresh schedule.