Scan Alerts & Location History
What happens when someone taps your pet's tag, and how location tracking works.
Every time someone taps your pet's NFC tag or scans the QR code, FoundYa records the event and notifies you.
Scan notifications
When your pet's tag is tapped, you receive:
- Push notification - sent instantly to your phone via the FoundYa app
- Approximate GPS location - based on the scanner's device location (if they grant browser location permission)
- Timestamp - when the scan happened
If your pet is in lost mode, scan alerts are given higher priority and include a direct link to message the finder.
Location history
You can view a timeline of all scan events on your pet's detail page under the Scans section. Each entry shows:
- Date and time of the scan
- Approximate location (shown on a map when available)
- Whether the scanner sent a message
This history is useful for tracking patterns - for example, if your outdoor cat's tag gets scanned at a neighbour's house regularly, you know where they've been visiting.
Location accuracy depends on the scanner's device and whether they allow location access in their browser. Indoor scans or scans without location permission will show as "location unavailable."
Privacy
- Scan locations are visible only to your household - never publicly
- Finders are not tracked beyond the single scan event
- You can view and manage scan history from your pet's profile
Next steps
- How Lost Mode Works for activating lost mode
- Sentinels & Community Alerts for coordinated search tools
More in Lost Mode
How Lost Mode Works
Mark your pet as lost to activate scan alerts, community notifications, and recovery tools.
Sentinels & Community Alerts
How Sentinels work and what happens when you activate lost mode for your pet.
Lost Pet Adverts
Boost your pet's visibility with local, regional, or national lost pet adverts.
Report a Found Pet
Found a pet with a FoundYa tag? Here's how to help get them home.