Privacy Policy

The data controller is MQ Digital, a French simplified joint-stock company with a sole shareholder (SASU) with share capital of €100, registered with the Fort-de-France Trade and Companies Register (R.C.S.) under number 106 452 683, whose registered office is located at Morn Pitault, Étage O, Bâtiment 252pav, 97240 Le François, Martinique.

For any questions about this policy or your personal data, you can contact privacy@contactnearby.app.

Contact processes the following categories of data:

• account data: email address, authentication identifiers (email, Apple or Google) and account status;
• profile data: first name, age, gender, photos, bio, interests and current wishes;
• content and interactions: messages, activities created or joined, connections, circles, reports and blocks;
• location data, described in the next section;
• technical data: device model, operating system and version, technical identifiers, usage logs and crash reports;
• subscription data: active plan and status, provided by Apple or Google. Contact never collects full payment card details.

Contact relies on proximity features. When iOS/Android location permission is granted, the app records location points when the app is opened and periodically while it is in use. These points are used solely to detect crossings with other users (moments when two users crossed paths) and to display nearby people, contacts or activities.

Pause mode temporarily hides your crossings without stopping detection, so that your recent history is preserved. To stop all collection, revoke location permission in the iOS/Android settings; some features then become unavailable, limited or degraded.

Location data is retained for a maximum of 30 days and then deleted.

Contact is a social app: some information is visible to other users, including first name, age, photos, bio and interests, as well as crossings as part of the proximity features. The location shown is the place where the crossing occurred (a past location), never the real-time location.

Crossings are revealed only on a mutual basis: a crossing is visible only if both users have turned on the map, each with a window covering the time of the crossing. Each activation opens a window of about 6 hours and retroactively covers the previous 36 hours.

A validated crossing remains visible for a maximum of 36 hours from the time of the crossing. A crossing that is not mutually validated within 36 hours becomes permanently unusable.

Pause and Incognito modes hide you from other users at any time. The visibility of certain information can also be adjusted in the app settings.

Data may be processed for the following purposes:

• creating and managing a user account;
• providing proximity, connection and activity features;
• ensuring the security of the service and preventing abuse;
• automatically moderating posted text, messages and images in order to detect abusive, hateful, sexual, violent or shocking content — this analysis may result in content being rejected or removed;
• responding to support requests and data-related requests;
• displaying advertising in the free version;
• improving the quality and reliability of the app.

The free version of Contact is funded by advertising, served through Google AdMob. Where required by regulations, the user's consent is obtained before any personalized advertising (a consent form in the app and, on iOS, tracking permission through App Tracking Transparency). Without consent, non-personalized ads may be displayed.

Paid plans allow users to remove advertising. Advertising consent can be withdrawn at any time from the app settings.

Depending on the processing activity, the legal bases are as follows:

• performance of the contract: account creation and management, proximity features, messaging, activities;
• consent: location access, push notifications, personalized advertising where applicable;
• legitimate interest: security of the service, prevention of abuse and fraud, improvement of the app;
• legal obligation: retention of certain billing data or data related to reports.

Consent to visibility on the map can be withdrawn at any time from Settings → Map & visibility; withdrawing it closes the visibility windows and hides you immediately. You can consent again later from the map.

Data is retained only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

• raw location points: 30 days maximum (technical retention);
• crossings: a crossing can only be formed within 36 hours of the users crossing paths; once validated, it remains visible for a maximum of 36 hours after the time of the crossing;
• map activation windows: about 6 hours;
• account and profile data: until the account is deleted, then erased or anonymized within 30 days;
• messages and content: until the account is deleted, except for temporary retention needed to handle a report or a dispute;
• images pending verification: temporary storage in a non-public technical area; abandoned files are automatically deleted within a maximum of 48 hours;
• technical and security logs: 12 months maximum;
• purchase-related data: the applicable statutory accounting and tax retention periods.

Users can delete their account directly from the app: Profile → Settings → bottom of the page → “Delete my account”, with double confirmation. Deletion can also be requested by writing to privacy@contactnearby.app.

Access to the account is disabled immediately, and the data is then permanently deleted or anonymized within 30 days, unless retention is required by a legal obligation or necessary for security, fraud prevention or the handling of an ongoing dispute.

Users can request an export of their personal data by writing to privacy@contactnearby.app. The export is provided in a structured, commonly used format (JSON or CSV) within a maximum of 30 days.

Contact relies on the following technical service providers:

• Google Firebase: authentication, push notifications and stability monitoring (crash reports);
• Google Cloud (Natural Language and Vision): automated analysis of text, messages and images, solely for the purpose of detecting inappropriate content and securing the service;
• Google AdMob: serving advertising in the free version;
• Amazon Web Services: hosting of the service and data;
• Apple App Store and Google Play: app distribution, payments and subscriptions.

Images analyzed by Google Cloud Vision are not used by Google to train its models and are not retained by this service after the analysis.

Some providers (Google, Amazon Web Services) may process data outside the European Union, particularly in the United States. These transfers are subject to appropriate safeguards: the European Commission's standard contractual clauses and, where applicable, certification under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

In accordance with the GDPR, users can exercise their rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection to processing and portability with regard to their data, where these rights apply.

These requests can be sent to privacy@contactnearby.app. The Privacy Choices page details how to exercise each right.

If users believe that their rights are not being respected, they can file a complaint with the CNIL (the French data protection authority). Practical information is available on the CNIL's official website.

Contact is reserved for people who are at least 18 years old. No data is knowingly collected from minors. Any account created in violation of this rule is deleted.

Contact implements appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, alteration or disclosure.

This policy may be amended to reflect changes to the service, regulations or internal practices. The date of the latest update is shown at the top of the page.