Privacy Policy

Last updated: 18 October 2026

Nearby Contacts ("we", "us") is an app of local service and emergency numbers in India. This page explains what the app sends to us, why, who helps us run it, and the choices you have. You can use the app without an account.

In short

• Your own numbers (My Numbers) stay on your phone unless you choose to recommend one.
• We look at your phone's contacts only if you ask, and only on the phone.
• We use your location to find numbers near you. We don't keep a history of where you have been.
• We don't sell your data and we don't show ads.

What we collect and why

Location

• If you allow it, the app uses your phone's location while you use it (or the place you pick on the map) to show numbers near you. It is sent with each search and is not saved with your name or account.
• Google Maps turns the position into an area name.
• A position rounded to about 1 km is kept with anonymous usage events and with "tell me when someone is added" requests.
• A number you add or recommend is saved with the area you give for it, so people nearby can find it.
• You can say no to location and pick your area on the map instead.

Your account (optional)

• You can sign in with your phone number (code by phone call or SMS), your email (code by email), Google or Apple.
• We keep your name, phone number and email, and, only if you add them, your gender, date of birth, address and profile photo.
• We use them to sign you in, keep your saved numbers on all your phones, show your name on your reviews, and contact you about listings you added.

Numbers you add, recommend or review

• When you add a listing or recommend a number, we receive the name, number, category, area, description and photos you give. After we check it, it is shown to everyone in the app. That is what the app is for.
• Reviews, reports and messages you send us are kept with your account if you are signed in.

Our helpdesk

• Some listings, mostly women who work in homes, don't show their number. Calls go to our helpdesk, which passes the request on. The app notes which listing the call is about, so the helpdesk knows whom you mean.
• If you leave a request out of hours, we keep your name, phone number and what you need, to call you back.

Your own numbers (My Numbers)

• They are stored only on your phone. One reaches us only when you choose "Recommend" for it.

Your phone's contacts

• "From my contacts" opens your phone's own contact picker. The app gets only the one contact you pick.
• "Find service numbers in my contacts" is optional and asks for permission first. It reads the names and numbers on your phone and picks out service providers (plumber, maid, milk and so on). This happens on the phone; nothing is uploaded.
• The numbers you tick are saved in My Numbers on your phone. Only the ones you also choose to recommend are sent to us, as recommendations.

AI suggestions

• To suggest a category or an area name, the app may send our server a name you type in "Add a number", search words that found nothing, or a map position with the area names Google gave for it.
• Our server asks Google's Gemini API and sends back the suggestion. Your name, phone number, account and contacts are not sent with it.
• We save the answers under a one-way code made from the question (not the words themselves), so the same question isn't asked twice. We count questions per install per day to keep within limits.

Voice search

• The microphone is used only after you tap it. Your phone's speech service (from Apple or Google) turns your words into text, and the app uses only that text, as a search.

Usage, call feedback and errors

• How the app is used, to see what helps people and what to improve: which screens are opened, what is searched (digits removed), which categories or helplines are called, and what is saved, shared or added. These go with a random usage ID made on your phone (a different one from the install ID below), your language, and the launch city or known area name, never your position. Turn it off in Me → Help improve the app, which also deletes the usage ID on your phone.
• Anonymous events with no ID: that someone finished the first screens (with their language and rounded area), and searches that found nothing (with the words).
• Your answer to "Did the call work?", saved with the random ID below.
• Error reports (what went wrong, where in the app, the phone's system, and your user ID if signed in) so we can fix bugs.

A random ID for this install

• The app makes a random ID the first time it opens. It is not your phone's hardware ID or advertising ID, and reinstalling the app makes a new one.
• It is used to stop misuse (limits on codes, AI questions and guest submissions) and to group call feedback.

Who helps us run the app

These companies handle data only to provide their service to us:

• Supabase: our database, sign-in and photo storage.
• Google: Maps and address lookup, the Gemini API (AI suggestions) and Google sign-in.
• Apple: Sign in with Apple.
• 2Factor: phone verification codes.
• Resend: email verification codes.
• Sentry: crash reports.

We don't sell or rent personal data and don't use it for advertising. We share it only as described here, or when the law requires it.

What everyone can see

Listings (name, number, category, area, description, photos) and reviews, with the reviewer's display name, are visible to everyone who uses the app.

How long we keep data

• Your account and profile: until you delete your account.
• Listings: while they are useful. The person or business listed can ask us to correct or remove them.
• Usage events: up to 13 months.
• Anonymous events, error reports and saved AI answers: only as long as we need them to run and improve the app.

Your choices and rights

Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you can ask to see, correct or delete your personal data, and you can withdraw your consent.

• Permissions: turn location, contacts, camera or microphone off at any time in your phone's Settings.
• Usage logging: switch off Me → Help improve the app.
• Delete your account: in the app, open Me → Delete my account. Or email support@nearbycontacts.com and tell us the email or phone number you signed in with. We delete your account, profile, reviews and listings within 7 working days.
• Remove your number from a listing someone else added: in the app, Me → Remove my phone number, or email us.
• Questions or complaints about your data: write to support@nearbycontacts.com.

Children

Accounts and listings are not meant for children under 18.

Security

All data travels encrypted (HTTPS). Our database lets each person read and change only what they are allowed to. No system is perfectly secure, so please tell us if you find a problem.

Changes

When this policy changes, we update this page and the date at the top.

Contact

Email support@nearbycontacts.com.