Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how NearBlend (“NearBlend”, “we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, shares and protects your personal information when you use the NearBlend mobile application (the “App”), and the choices you have. NearBlend is a sole proprietorship based in New Delhi, India; the proprietor and full operator details are set out in our About us Legal information.
By creating an account or using the App, you agree to this Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the App.
The short version: other users only ever see your approximate area — never your exact location. We never track you in the background. You can hide yourself or delete everything at any time.
1. Who we are
- Controller / operator: NearBlend, a sole proprietorship based in New Delhi, India — the proprietor is named in our Legal information.
- Grievance Officer: named in our Legal information, reachable at support@nearblend.com.
- NearBlend is a location-based social-discovery and one-to-one chat service that helps you find and connect with people and activities near you.
2. Information we collect
a) Information you provide
- Account: name, email address, password (stored hashed by our authentication provider), and your date of birth (used to verify your age — see §9).
- Profile: display name, avatar photo, a short “thought” or status, and interests.
- Messages: the content of direct messages you send to other users, including photos, and anything you write in a broadcast’s group chat.
- Broadcasts and public activity: the plans you publish (heading, description, category, cover photo, chosen venue and timing), the comments you write on other people’s plans, and the plans you like.
- Reports: if you report another user, the reason and any details you add.
b) Information collected automatically
- Location: when you grant permission, your device's geographic location, only while the App is open, to power nearby discovery. See §4.
- Device & push: a push-notification token, device identifier, app foreground/background state and basic platform information, to deliver notifications.
- Usage & diagnostics: limited technical logs needed to operate and secure the service.
c) From third parties
- If you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from Google, according to your Google account settings.
We do not sell your personal information.
3. How we use your information
- Provide core features: show nearby people and activities, enable chat, deliver push notifications.
- Verify your age and keep the service appropriate for your age group.
- Maintain safety and integrity: handle blocks and reports, detect abuse, enforce our Terms.
- Communicate with you about your account and important changes.
- Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests.
4. Location data — how we protect it
Location is the most sensitive data we handle, so we treat it specially.
| Protection | What it means |
|---|---|
| We ask first | We request your explicit consent and your device's permission before ever collecting location. |
| Approximate only | Other users never receive your exact coordinates. People inside your selected radius see a point accurate to roughly 500 metres. People further away see a much coarser point, accurate to roughly 5 kilometres. |
| Who can see you | When someone zooms the map out, other NearBlend users appear on it regardless of how far away they are — including you, at the coarser 5 kilometre precision, shown with your name and profile photo. Ghost Mode removes you from the map completely. |
| Foreground only | We do not collect location when the App is closed or in the background. Your last known position stays on the map for up to five minutes after you stop using the App and then clears on its own — nothing new is read in that time. |
| When you appear | On iPhone you appear on the map only after you tap Check in, for one hour of app use at a time, and never automatically. On Android you appear while you are using the App. On both, closing the App takes you off the map within five minutes. Ghost Mode and signing out remove you at once on both. |
| Ghost Mode | Hide yourself from the map at any time. You stay signed in and can keep chatting, but you do not appear to others. |
| Minors start hidden | Users under 18 default to Ghost Mode. |
| Server-side enforcement | Precise coordinates are stored so the App's public interface cannot read them back; only protected server functions use them, for example to compute distance. |
| You control it | Stop sharing, enable Ghost Mode, revoke the permission in device settings, or delete your account — any time. |
5. Legal bases for processing
Where required — for example under the EU/UK GDPR and India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 — we rely on:
- Consent — for location collection and sharing, and for push notifications. You may withdraw consent at any time.
- Performance of a contract — to provide the features you request.
- Legitimate interests / legal obligation — for safety, security, abuse prevention and compliance.
6. How we share information
- With other users:
- Your profile — name, avatar, thought, interests, and anything you add to your About section — is visible to other users.
- Your approximate location appears on the map: at roughly 500 metre precision to people inside your selected radius, and at roughly 5 kilometre precision, together with your name and profile photo, to any other user who zooms the map out, however far away they are. Ghost Mode removes you from the map entirely, at any time. On iPhone you appear only after you tap Check in, for one hour of app use at a time; on Android, while you are using the App. On both, you drop off the map within five minutes of closing it.
- Broadcasts you publish, comments you write on plans, and the plans you like are visible to everyone who can see that plan — including the fact that it was you who liked it.
- Direct messages are shared with the person you are messaging. A broadcast’s group chat is shared with everyone who joins that plan, and remains readable by them after the plan has ended.
- Service providers:
- Supabase — database, authentication, storage and backend functions. Data hosted in Mumbai, India (AWS ap-south-1).
- Google Firebase Cloud Messaging — push-notification delivery.
- Google Places API — place information shown in Discover.
- Mapbox — map rendering. Unlike the others, the Mapbox SDK also sends anonymised location and usage telemetry to Mapbox for its own map improvement, not only on our behalf. You can turn this off inside the app: tap the ⓘ on the map, open Telemetry Settings and choose Don't participate.
- Titan Email — delivery of account emails such as confirmation and password reset.
- Legal and safety: we may disclose information to comply with the law, enforce our Terms, or protect the rights, safety and security of users and the public.
- Business transfers: in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, information may be transferred subject to this Policy.
7. International data transfers
Your account and content data is stored in India. Some service providers — for example push-notification and map providers — may process limited data outside India. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for such transfers.
8. Data retention
We keep personal information only as long as needed to provide the service and for the purposes above, then delete or anonymise it. When you delete your account we delete or de-identify your personal data within a reasonable period, except where we must retain records to comply with law or resolve disputes. Reports may be retained for safety and audit purposes.
9. Children and minors
- NearBlend is not for children under 13, and we do not knowingly allow them to register. We verify age at signup using date of birth.
- Users aged 13–17 may use the App only with the involvement and consent of a parent or guardian, and start with location sharing off (Ghost Mode).
- If we learn we have collected data from a child under 13, or below the minimum age in your jurisdiction, we will delete it. Parents and guardians can contact us at support@nearblend.com.
See also our Child Safety Standards.
10. Your rights and choices
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, export, restrict or object to processing, and to withdraw consent. You can:
- Edit your profile, toggle Ghost Mode, manage blocks and delete your account from within the App.
- Revoke location or notification permissions in your device settings.
- Contact us at support@nearblend.com to exercise any right or raise a grievance. We respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.
11. Security
We use industry-standard measures including encryption in transit, row-level access controls, hashed passwords, encrypted on-device message storage and restricted server-side access to precise location. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your data and to notify you and regulators of breaches where required.
12. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version and, for material changes, provide additional notice in the App. The “Last updated” date reflects the latest revision.
13. Contact us
Questions, requests or complaints:
NearBlend — support@nearblend.com — New Delhi, India
If you are in India, you may contact our Grievance Officer at the address above. If you are in the EU or UK, you may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.