Privacy Policy

1.1 Information You Provide

• Account Information: Name, username, email address, phone number, date of birth (used to verify you are 18+ and to display your age if enabled), gender
• Profile Information: Profile photo, bio, interests, occupation, education, company
• Preferences: Age range preferences, distance preferences, language, privacy settings
• Communications: Messages, voice recordings, photos, and videos you send through the Service

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Location Data: Neer collects location only while the app is in use (foreground). We do not perform background tracking and never request "Always" permission. While iOS location permission is granted, an approximate last-known location (rounded to about 100 meters / 330 ft, 3 decimal places) is written to your profile each time you open the app, so other users can see how far away you are in their Discovery List. We never store precise GPS coordinates and only the most recent rounded location is retained. Your last-known location is kept until you delete your account. Whether you appear to nearby users is controlled by a single Show in Discovery setting, which persists across sign-ins. (See Section 5.1.)
• Purchase and Billing Data: When you subscribe to Pro, we receive and store your subscription plan, billing cycle (monthly or yearly), subscription status, subscription start and end dates, Apple transaction IDs, and product identifiers. We also maintain a billing history that includes purchase amounts, dates, and receipt status. We do not have access to your credit card number, payment method details, or Apple ID password — all payment processing is handled exclusively by Apple.
• Device Information: Device platform (iOS), app version, push notification token, and basic device context (device model and operating system version) collected through Sentry crash reporting. When a crash or error occurs, your user ID and email may be attached to that specific error report to help us identify and resolve account-specific issues. Sentry does not receive this information during normal app use.
• Device & Security Data: When you sign in, our login-security system records a device identifier, your IP address, the approximate location (city and region) derived from that IP address, and sign-in timestamps. We use this to detect new-device or unusual sign-ins, send you security-alert emails, and prevent fraud and abuse.
• Analytics Data: We use Google Analytics for Firebase (GA4) to collect first-party product analytics, such as screen views and in-app events, associated with your user ID and basic device/app information, to understand feature usage and improve the app. This is first-party analytics only and is not used for advertising or cross-app tracking.
• Usage Data: Interaction metrics such as profile views received, messages sent, friend requests sent/received, and connections made. Activity status (an online indicator shown when you have been active within the last 15 minutes) and a last-active timestamp are updated automatically. You can disable activity status display in Settings. Recently viewed profiles are automatically logged when you tap on someone's profile.
• Connection Data: Users you connect with, friend requests sent/received, messages exchanged (including text, voice recordings, images, and videos), saved profiles, and profile views.

1.3 Information from Third Parties

• Backend Services: We use Google Firebase for authentication, real-time database, cloud storage, and server-side Cloud Functions.
• SMS Verification: We use Twilio to send verification codes to your phone.
• Email Services: We use Zoho SMTP for email communications, including verification codes, password resets, support messages, reports, and billing receipts.
• Cloud Storage: We use Firebase Storage (powered by Google Cloud Storage) to store media files such as profile images, chat media (photos, videos, and voice recordings), and event images.
• Crash Reporting: We use Sentry to collect crash reports and diagnostic data, which may include device model, operating system version, and error details.
• Push Notifications: We use Expo's push notification service to deliver notifications to your device.
• Analytics: We use Google Analytics for Firebase (GA4) for first-party usage analytics (screen views and in-app events) tied to your user ID.

1.4 Summary of Data Types and Purposes

• Account & Profile Data (name, username, email, phone, date of birth, gender, photos, bio, interests) — to create and operate your account and profile.
• Approximate Location (GPS, rounded to ~100 m) — to power nearby discovery and show approximate distance; never precise coordinates. For users more than 250 miles away, other users see the user’s city and state instead of a distance. If the user has Show as Nearby enabled, only their state is shown.
• Device Identifiers & Device Information — for account security, fraud prevention, crash diagnostics, and app compatibility.
• IP Address & IP-Derived Location (city/region) — to detect suspicious sign-ins, send security-alert emails, and prevent fraud and abuse.
• Push Notification Tokens — to deliver push notifications you have enabled.
• Usage & Analytics Data (screen views, in-app events, profile views, messages sent, connections) — to operate features and improve the app (first-party analytics only).
• Messages & Media — to deliver your communications and, when reported, investigate safety violations.
• Payment & Billing Data (via Apple) — to manage your Pro subscription; payments are processed by Apple, which does not share your full payment method details with us.

3.1 With Other Users

• Public Profile: May include your name, age (if enabled), gender (if enabled), photos, bio, interests, occupation (optional), education (optional), company (optional), location, social media links, Pro badge (if applicable), and AI-generated compatibility score (calculated locally for the viewer). This information may be visible to nearby users based on your privacy settings.
• Location Display: Other users see your proximity as an approximate distance range (e.g., "Under 500 ft", "Under 1.0 mi"), not exact coordinates. If you are more than 250 miles away from a viewer, they see your city and state instead of a distance. If you enable Show as Nearby in Settings, viewers within 250 miles see "Nearby" instead of a distance range, and viewers more than 250 miles away see only your state (not your city).
• Activity Status: Online/offline indicator (green dot if active within the last 15 minutes). Users can disable activity status display in settings.
• Connections: Mutual connections count (displayed in approximate ranges for privacy, e.g., "10+ mutual friends").
• Profile Views: When you view another user's profile, your name, profile photo, and basic profile information may be visible to that user if they are a Pro subscriber. This data is automatically deleted after 3 hours. Pro subscribers can enable Incognito Mode to browse profiles without being recorded.

3.2 With Service Providers

• Apple (In-App Purchase): All Pro subscription payments are processed exclusively through Apple's App Store. Apple handles payment processing, billing, and currency conversion. We receive transaction confirmations, product identifiers, and subscription status from Apple but do not have access to your payment method details. Apple's use of your data is governed by Apple's Privacy Policy.
• Google Firebase: Authentication, real-time database, cloud storage, and server-side Cloud Functions. Servers located in the United States.
• Twilio: Phone number for SMS delivery of one-time verification and password reset codes. Message logs are retained for up to 400 days (13 months).
• Zoho: Email address and content of transactional emails (verification codes, support messages, reports, and billing receipts).
• Sentry: Crash reports and diagnostic data. User identifiers (user ID, email, and display name) are attached only when errors occur, to help us identify and resolve issues affecting your account.
• Google (Google Analytics for Firebase / GA4): First-party usage analytics (screen views and in-app events) associated with your user ID and basic device/app information. Not used for advertising.
• Expo: Push notification token and notification content (including text messages, friend requests, and nearby alerts) for delivery of push notifications.

3.3 For Legal Reasons

We may disclose your information if required by law, court order, or:

• To comply with legal obligations
• To protect the rights, property, or safety of Neer Social, our users, or the public
• To prevent fraud, abuse, or illegal activity
• In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets

3.4 With Your Consent

We may share your information with third parties when you provide explicit consent, such as sharing event details or billing receipts outside of Neer.

3.5 Account Verification & SMS Messages

Neer Social sends transactional SMS messages to users of the Neer Social mobile app via Twilio. These messages are strictly transactional, are never used for marketing or promotional purposes, and are sent only in direct response to a user-initiated action within the app.

Types of SMS Messages

• Neer Social: Your verification code is {CODE}. It expires in 5 minutes. Do not share this code. Reply HELP for assistance or STOP to unsubscribe.
• Neer Social: Your password reset code is {CODE}. It expires in 5 minutes. Do not share this code. Reply HELP for assistance or STOP to unsubscribe.

Verification codes expire after 5 minutes. All messages contain time-sensitive information with clear instructions. Message frequency varies based on user-initiated actions. Message and data rates may apply.

Consent

By providing your phone number within the Neer Social mobile app and tapping the button to request a code, you consent to receive transactional SMS messages from Neer Social, including verification codes and password reset codes. A clear disclosure is displayed before submission, with links to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Opt-Out

You can opt out of SMS messages at any time by replying STOP to any message. After opting out, you will no longer receive SMS messages from Neer Social. You may also reply HELP to any message for assistance, or contact us at support@neersocial.com.

Mobile Information Sharing

Your mobile information (phone number) will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. We do not sell, rent, or share your phone number with marketers or advertisers.

3.6 International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States, where our service providers (including Google Firebase, Twilio, Zoho, Sentry, and Expo) maintain servers. The United States may have different data protection laws than your jurisdiction. By using Neer, you consent to such transfers. For EU/EEA residents, data transferred outside the EU/EEA is protected by Standard Contractual Clauses.

4.1 Discovery Visibility

A single setting controls whether other people can find you:

• Show in Discovery: Allows your profile to appear in other users' Discovery List and search results. Distance is shown using your approximate last-known coordinates. This setting persists across app closes and sign-ins until you change it.

When Show in Discovery is OFF, your profile is hidden from the Discovery List and search, and other users cannot find you by proximity. You can turn it on or off at any time in Settings.

4.2 Foreground-Only Collection

• Neer collects location only while the app is in use (foreground). We do not perform background tracking, and we never request the "Always" iOS location permission.
• Your location is only read while the app is open. We do not collect or update your location while the app is closed or running in the background.
• If you change your iOS Location setting for Neer to "Never," the app stops collecting your location; you can also turn off Show in Discovery to remove yourself from the Discovery List and search.

4.3 Last-Known Location & Precision

• While iOS location permission is granted, your approximate last-known coordinates are written to your profile each time you open the app. These coordinates are rounded to approximately 100 meters of precision (3 decimal places). We never store your precise GPS coordinates and we do not retain location history.
• Precise vs. Coarse Location: iOS provides apps with precise GPS coordinates when the "While Using the App" permission is granted, but Neer Social rounds those coordinates to approximately 100 meters (3 decimal places) before they are stored or transmitted. The precise reading is held only briefly in device memory and is never written to our database or shared with other users. For App Privacy purposes Neer Social collects and stores Coarse Location only.
• Last-known coordinates are used to compute the distance shown to other users in their Discovery List whenever Show in Discovery is ON.
• Your last-known location is retained until you delete your account.
• Other users see your approximate distance as a range (e.g., "Under 500 ft", "Under 1 mi") or "Nearby" — never exact coordinates.
• Distances Over 250 Miles: When you are more than 250 miles from a viewer, the app shows your city and state instead of a distance. If you have Show as Nearby enabled, viewers more than 250 miles away see only your state (not your city), and viewers within 250 miles see "Nearby" instead of a distance.

4.4 Privacy Controls

• You can turn Show in Discovery on or off at any time in Settings, or revoke location permission entirely from your device settings.
• Banned, suspended, and pending-deletion accounts are removed from the Discovery List and search in real time until their status is lifted.
• Users you block (and users who block you) are excluded from each other's Discovery List, search results, and profile views immediately and bidirectionally.
• All location data, including last-known coordinates, is permanently deleted when you delete your account.

5.1 Account Deletion

• Grace period: When you request account deletion, your account is deactivated for 30 days. During this period you may reactivate by logging back in. After 30 days your account and associated data are permanently deleted, including all userLocations entries and last-known coordinates.
• What is permanently deleted: Profile information, photos and media (including profile photos, additional photos, and chat media), messages and conversations, per‑user analytics, events you created, friend connections, location data, and your authentication record.
• Safety & Compliance Records (retained indefinitely): To prevent banned or removed users from evading enforcement by deleting and re-creating an account, we retain a limited deletion record after your account is deleted. This record contains your email address, phone number, full name, account creation date, deletion date, deletion reason (e.g., user-requested or inactivity), and last activity timestamp. It is used solely to enforce existing bans, prevent fraud, and protect community safety — not for marketing, profiling, advertising, recommendations, or any other purpose. For Pro subscribers, billing and transaction history is also retained as required by law for tax compliance. Support inquiries you submitted may be retained for legal and operational purposes. Where local law (e.g., GDPR Article 17 or CCPA/CPRA) grants you a right to deletion of this record, we will honor the request unless we are legally required or permitted to retain it for safety, fraud-prevention, or legal-compliance reasons.
• How to delete: You can request account deletion through Settings → Personal Details → Delete Account.

5.2 Data Retention Periods

• Account information: Retained while your account is active (and during the 30‑day deletion grace period).
• Messages: Retained until deleted by you or when your account is permanently deleted.
• Location data: Only your most recent location is stored (overwritten on each update). Removed on permanent account deletion.
• Photos & media: Retained until you delete them or your account is permanently deleted — stored media files are permanently removed upon account deletion.
• Analytics (per‑user): Profile views and connection statistics are retained while your account is active and are permanently deleted when your account is deleted.
• Billing and Transaction History: Subscription records, transaction IDs, purchase amounts, dates, and billing receipts are retained while your account is active. Upon account deletion, billing and transaction history is retained as required by law for tax and legal compliance purposes, even after all other personal data has been permanently deleted.
• Verification codes: Expire and become invalid after 5 minutes.
• Reported content: Retained for up to 1 year for safety and legal compliance, then automatically deleted.
• Security & device data: Device identifier, IP address, IP-derived location, and sign-in history are retained for a limited period for account security and fraud prevention, and are deleted on account deletion except where longer retention is required for legal or security purposes.
• Analytics data: First-party analytics events (Google Analytics for Firebase) are retained according to our analytics provider's configured retention period and are not used for advertising.
• Safety records (post-deletion): A limited post-deletion archive — email, phone number, full name, account creation date, deletion date, deletion reason, and last activity timestamp — is retained indefinitely for the sole purpose of preventing banned or removed users from evading enforcement by signing up again. This archive is not used for marketing, profiling, advertising, recommendations, or any other purpose. See §5.1 for your deletion rights.

5.3 Third-party Data Retention

• Third-party service providers (for example, crash reporting, SMS, email) may retain logs or copies of certain information under their own retention policies. We cannot control deletion of logs held by third parties (e.g., Sentry, Twilio, Zoho).

6.1 Account Controls

• Profile Visibility: A single setting controls how you appear to others — Show in Discovery (Settings → Location).
• Show in Discovery: When ON, your profile appears in other users' Discovery List and search results, with distance computed from your approximate last-known location. When OFF, you are hidden from the Discovery List and search. This setting persists across sign-ins.
• Messaging Privacy: Choose who can message you — Anyone or Friends only (Settings → Messaging Privacy).
• Friends Only Reply: If Messaging Privacy is set to "Friends only," non-friends cannot initiate a conversation with you. However, if you message a non-friend first, they will be able to reply to that conversation.
• Show as Nearby: When enabled, your profile displays your proximity as "Nearby" to other users instead of a specific distance (e.g., "500 ft" or "3.0 mi"). Toggle this in Settings → Show as Nearby. This setting does not change how location data is collected internally.
• iOS Permission: You can revoke location permission for Neer at any time in your device's Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services. If iOS permission is set to "Never," Neer can no longer collect your location, so you will not appear in the Discovery List with a live distance.
• Block Users: Block specific accounts to prevent them from seeing your profile or messaging you. Blocks are enforced bidirectionally in the Discovery List and search in real time.
• Incognito Mode (Pro): Pro subscribers can enable Incognito Mode to browse profiles without their visit being recorded or visible to the profile owner.

6.2 Data Rights

• Access: Request a copy of your personal data by contacting support@neersocial.com (subject: "Data Access Request").
• Correction: Update incorrect or out‑of‑date information in Settings → Personal Details, or contact us to request a correction.
• Deletion: Delete your account from Settings or Settings → Personal Details → Delete Account. Accounts are deactivated for a 30‑day grace period and permanently removed afterward.
• Portability: To request your data in a portable (machine‑readable) format, contact support@neersocial.com.
• Restriction of Processing (GDPR Art. 18): You can ask us to restrict how we process your personal data — for example, while we investigate a correction request or where processing is unlawful but you do not want it deleted.
• Objection (GDPR Art. 21): You can object at any time to processing carried out on the basis of our legitimate interests, including for analytics or security purposes. We will stop such processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests.
• Withdrawal of Consent (GDPR Art. 7(3)): Where we rely on your consent (e.g., location sharing, push notifications), you can withdraw consent at any time by toggling the relevant feature off in Settings or revoking permission in your device settings. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.
• Lodge a Complaint (GDPR Art. 77): If you are in the EU/EEA or UK, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.
• Opt‑Out per Feature: You can disable feature‑specific processing in Settings (for example: location sharing, Show in Discovery, activity status). Opt‑outs are provided per feature.

6.3 Communication Preferences

• Push Notifications: Manage in‑app notification preferences in Settings → Notifications (per‑category controls for Messages, Connection Requests, Nearby Alerts, etc.), or disable all notifications via your device settings.
• Marketing: We do not send promotional or marketing communications.

Notice at Collection

At the time we collect your personal information, this Privacy Policy serves as our Notice at Collection. The categories we collect, the purposes for collection, and our retention periods are described in Section 1.4 and Section 5.2. Under the CPRA, approximate geolocation qualifies as Sensitive Personal Information. We collect it only while the app is in use, round it to roughly 100 meters before storage, and use it solely to power nearby discovery and account security — not to infer characteristics about you.

Your Rights

California residents have the following rights:

• Right to Know — request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we collect, the sources, the purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.
• Right to Delete — request deletion of personal information we maintain about you, subject to legal exceptions.
• Right to Correct — request correction of inaccurate personal information we maintain about you (Cal. Civ. Code §1798.106).
• Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing — Neer Social does not sell personal information and does not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of for advertising purposes. The first-party analytics we use (Google Analytics for Firebase, see Section 11) may, depending on your interpretation, be treated as “sharing” with Google; you can object to this processing at any time by contacting us using the address below.
• Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information — you may request that we limit our use of Sensitive Personal Information (approximate geolocation) to what is necessary to provide the Service (Cal. Civ. Code §1798.121). You can also disable Show in Discovery in Settings, or revoke iOS location permission entirely, to stop further collection.
• Right to Non-Discrimination — you will not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.