Visibility of your contact information in the microchip of your pet will change from the 1st of May

Starting from the 1st of May, the visibility of your contact information that is linked to the microchip of your pet will change in the central database called CatID. The microchip contains a combination of 15 numbers. When you type these in on the website of CatID, you will see all the data from the owner, including the sometimes life-saving phone number.

All the data of pet owners will automatically become confidential on the 1st of May

CatID is a great tool to reunite a pet that ended up at a veterinary after a tragic accident with its owner, for example. Or when the animal is lost and found, and ends up at Zwerfkat in Le(u)ven. However, privacy law obliges the administrators of CatID to change this on the 1st of May. From that moment on, all the data from all the pet owners in the system will be confidential, unless you explicitly give permission to make these publicly available. The benefit of this new regulation is that not just everyone with a microchip reader will be able to consult your private information via the database anymore. An extra security to prevent leakage of private data. Professional users (such as veterinarians and shelters) will still be able to login on the CatID site to find information on the owners of the pet.

Easily keep the information in the microchip of your pet up to date

As an owner of a pet with a microchip (identification obligated by law) you can easily keep the information in the microchip of your pet up to date by linking your national register number to the chip of your cat. This will ensure that the data on the chip is up to date, even if you move. The phone number is something you should always update yourself, if necessary. You can add your national register number by going to the CatID site. For this you will need to use your card reader, your eID and your pincode. And of course the chip number of your cat that you can read from his or her passport.

From the 1st of May, you will be able to choose for yourself if you would like to make your data publicly available, or if you would rather make it confidential. If you do not undertake any action, the information will become automatically confidential. Shielded thus. However, veterinarians and shelters will still be able to search for it. If you prefer to be found more easily as an owner, you can choose to make your data public. Then everyone with a chip reader is able to find your personal information. As was the case until now.

A microchip that is up to date can be life-saving

A microchip that is up to date can be life-saving. And it will certainly be better for your peace of mind when you have a bold sweetheart at home who likes to go on adventures far far away, like Puss in Boots searching for fair damsels but unfortunately not having left a trail of breadcrumbs behind, causing him or her to lose the way back home. So be sure to do the necessary!