Effective date: June 10, 2026
Controller: Nearabouts LLC ("Nearabouts", "we", "us")
Contact: hello@nearabouts.app
This Privacy Policy describes how Nearabouts collects, uses, and shares information when you use the Nearabouts mobile application (the "App") and related services.
Nearabouts LLC is the data controller for the personal information processed through the App. If a state suffix or alternate legal form is added to our entity name in the future, this policy will be updated and the prior text preserved in our repository history.
We collect only what we need to run the product. The categories below reflect what the current implementation actually stores or transmits.
On first launch we generate an opaque random identifier and store it in your device's secure storage. This identifier lets you collect stamps and write notes without creating an account. It is not derived from your hardware, advertising ID, or any other persistent device identifier. We do not link it to your real-world identity unless you later choose to create or sign into an account, in which case your anonymous passport data may be linked to that account so we can preserve and restore your collection.
If you create an account, our authentication provider (Clerk) stores your email address and an authentication token on our behalf. We use your email solely to confirm sign-up, to send account-deletion confirmation links you request, and to deliver service notices. We do not send marketing emails unless you separately opt in. If we offer marketing emails in the future, you will be able to unsubscribe at any time. Service notices, security messages, account-deletion confirmations, and other transactional messages are not marketing.
When you collect a stamp at an analog venue, we store the venue identifier, the timestamp, the approximate distance to the venue at the moment of collection, and the device GPS accuracy reading. We do not store your raw latitude/longitude coordinates for stamps — only the bounded distance value.
Optional free-text notes you attach to a stamp are stored with that stamp record, keyed by venue. Optional ratings (1–3) you assign are stored as a per-venue personal rating. Neither notes nor ratings are shared publicly or with venues.
If you submit a new venue (a "scout"), we store the venue name, address fields you provide, the GPS coordinates of the proposed location, and the timestamp. Curators review scout submissions before they become eligible for stamping. If a scout submission is approved, venue information from the submission — such as venue name, category, general location, and public-facing tags — may become visible to other users as part of the curated venue catalog. Your account identity is not displayed publicly in connection with an approved submission.
Photos you attach to a visit are private memories. Full-resolution originals remain on your device. We upload a small thumbnail (approximately 200px on the longest edge) and related metadata to private storage so your passport can show which visits have photos after you sign in or restore your account on a new device. We do not make memory photos public or share them with venues. We do not upload or store the full-resolution original photo.
Anonymous (signed-out) users' photos are stored on-device only and are never uploaded.
We request foreground location permission only when you tap "Verify Vibe". We do not collect background location. When you verify, your device's current coordinates are sent to our server so we can calculate your distance to the venue and confirm you are within range. The server uses those coordinates only to perform that calculation and does not store them — only the resulting distance and the GPS accuracy reading are retained (see Section 2.3). The only time raw coordinates are stored is as part of a scout submission you explicitly file.
Camera and photo-library permissions are requested only when you choose to attach a memory photo. The "save to camera roll" preference is local to your device.
Our servers log request method, path, timestamp, and response status. These logs do not include request bodies, photo content, or precise location.
We do not sell personal information. We do not use your information for behavioral advertising. We do not provide venues or other businesses with identified user-level visit data, email addresses, account information, notes, ratings, memory photos, or individual visit histories for marketing purposes unless you expressly opt in.
We rely on the following processors to deliver the service. Each is bound by a data-processing agreement and acts under our instructions. Our service providers may process and store information in the United States and other locations where they or their subprocessors operate.
Nearabouts is intended for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, contact us at hello@nearabouts.app and we will delete it.
We may create and share aggregated or deidentified insights about venue activity — such as the number of stamps collected at a venue during a period, repeat-visit trends, or broad category-level engagement. We use this information to improve Nearabouts, help venues understand general activity, and support potential venue programs. We apply reasonable aggregation thresholds and deidentification safeguards before sharing any venue-level insights, and we do not share insights that could be linked back to individual users. We do not share individual users' identities, email addresses, precise visit histories, notes, ratings, memory photos, or account information as part of venue insights.
If we introduce venue rewards or loyalty features in the future, eligibility will be tracked privately within the App. Only at your direction — for example, when you choose to redeem a reward — will we share with the venue the information necessary to honor that reward. Venues will not receive lists of users, visit histories, or targeting signals unless you have expressly opted into a specific venue loyalty program.
Stamps, ratings, notes, and memory photos are private to you. Scout submissions may contribute venue facts to our curated catalog if approved (see Section 2.4); submitter identity is not disclosed publicly. We may remove user content that violates our Terms of Service.
We retain your data until you delete your account. Server logs are retained for up to 30 days. Backups containing your data are rotated out within 90 days of deletion. We may retain limited information for longer where required by law, necessary for security or abuse prevention, or needed to resolve disputes or enforce our Terms. We will not retain private memory photos or notes for those purposes unless strictly necessary.
We use TLS for data in transit. Memory-photo thumbnails are stored in a private bucket and reached only through short-lived signed URLs scoped to your user identifier. Account deletion is fail-closed: if any step of the deletion (including thumbnail purge) fails, we surface the error and do not claim the account is deleted.
We are based in the United States. If you use the App from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States and other locations where our processors operate. We use appropriate safeguards for those transfers consistent with applicable law.
If applicable law requires a stated legal basis, we process information: to provide the service you requested (contract); based on your consent for permissions such as location, camera, and photo library; to comply with legal obligations; and for legitimate interests such as security, abuse prevention, and service improvement, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of certain personal information, or to appeal a privacy request decision. Contact us at hello@nearabouts.app to exercise applicable rights. We will respond within the timeframe required by your state's law.
We will update the effective date at the top of this document when the policy changes. Material changes will also be surfaced in-app on the next launch.
Nearabouts LLC
Email: hello@nearabouts.app
Account deletion: https://nearabouts.app/delete-account