Nära
Privacy policy
Last updated: 29 September 2026
This is a translation for convenience. The Swedish version is the legally binding one.
Who is responsible for your data?
The Nära app is operated by Spitakolus AB (reg. no. 559554-6101), Sweden. We are the data controller for the processing described here. Contact: support@spitakolus.com
What data do we collect?
| Account details | Email address, display name and password (always stored encrypted – we can never see your password). |
|---|---|
| Profile details | Whatever you choose to fill in: your description, town, gender identity (self-identified), age range and interests, plus a profile picture. We never ask for your exact date of birth. |
| Area (postcode) | You enter your own postcode. Based on it you are placed at a random point near that postcode area, so that others see roughly where you live – never where you are. The app does not read your phone's location and never asks for location permission. That random point is shown to other signed-in users on the map, and that is the only place your area is visible to anyone else. You can remove your postcode and disappear from the map at any time. |
| Content in the app | Messages you send, activities you create or join, and the blocks and reports you make. |
| Technical data | A push notification token for your device (so the app can send you notifications) and which platform you use (iOS or Android). |
| Error reports and performance | If the app crashes or something goes wrong, an error report is sent: what happened, the app version, phone model, operating system and which screens in the app you just visited. For part of the usage we also measure how quickly the app responds. The reports do not include your name, your email or your messages, and IP addresses are not stored. They are only used to find and fix bugs. Each time the app starts, a short status signal is also sent to Sentry (the app version and a random installation ID), so that we can see what share of usage runs without crashes. If the app crashes, a short error line is also stored in Nära's own database, with your account ID and a random installation ID. Once a day a sign-of-life line with the same details and the app version is stored too, so that we can see the error logging works. These lines are kept for at most 90 days and are deleted when you delete your account. |
Your position is never shown exactly
We never collect where you are. The app does not ask for location permission and does not read your phone's GPS – the only piece of data we have is the postcode you typed in yourself. From that postcode we calculate a point for the whole area, and your pin is then placed at a random spot within one kilometre of it. The randomness is drawn once and stored: the pin stays put, follows no formula and therefore cannot be calculated back – not even by someone measuring over a long period. The radius is deliberately larger than the postcode area, so your pin may well land outside your own postcode. The map tells others roughly where you live, never where you are.
Why do we process the data?
- To make the app work – your profile, discovering people nearby, activities, chat and notifications. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you.
- The map and your local area – legal basis: your consent, which you give by entering your postcode and can withdraw at any time by removing it in the app.
- Safety and moderation – handling blocks and reports and preventing abuse. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in a safe community.
We never sell your data, do not use it for targeted advertising and do not track you across other apps or websites.
Who can see your data?
Nära is a community for women – all women, including trans women. Your profile is only shown to other signed-in users in the community – never if you have chosen to be hidden, and never to anyone you have blocked (or who has blocked you). Your messages can only be read by you and the recipient.
Businesses that partner with Nära
Local businesses (for example cafés, restaurants and gyms) can become a Nära partner and pay to be suggested as a meeting place in the app. That involves two separate types of processing beyond what applies to you as a member.
| Business contact people | When a business creates an account in our business portal, we store the contact person's name, email address and phone number, as well as the business's details (name, registration number, billing address). This is used to administer the partnership and send invoices. This data is never shown in the app and is never shared with Nära members. Legal basis: performance of a contract, or our legitimate interest in handling the application before a contract is in place. |
|---|---|
| Anonymous interaction statistics | When you, as a member, see or tap a Nära partner card, we record that a view or a click happened for that place – never who you are. This statistic cannot be linked back to you or your profile. The business only sees combined totals (for example the number of views in the past month), never individual people, and any number below five is shown as "fewer than 5" so no one can be guessed. A technical table that prevents the same person being counted twice in one day is automatically deleted after 48 hours. Legal basis: our and the business's legitimate interest in knowing the partnership is working. |
Payments and receipts for Nära partners are handled by Stripe. If the owner of a business account deletes their account, the business's subscription is cancelled and ends at the close of the period already paid for.
Where is the data stored?
The database, sign-in and images are handled by Supabase on servers in Stockholm, Sweden (EU). To deliver push notifications we use Expo together with Apple and Google respectively, which may involve transfers to countries outside the EU/EEA – in that case protected by the European Commission's standard contractual clauses. Expo also delivers the app's updates: when the app starts, it asks Expo whether there is a new version, and your IP address, the app version and a random installation ID are sent.
Email (confirmation, sign-in, reminders and notices about reports) is sent via Resend, with servers in the EU (Ireland). Resend is an American company and the protection follows the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.
Error reports are handled by Sentry and stored in the EU. They are deleted automatically after at most 90 days. All providers above process data according to our instructions and under data processing agreements.
The map is shown with Google Maps on Android and Apple Maps on iPhone. When the map loads, Google or Apple respectively receives your IP address and technical information about the phone. That happens under their own terms and privacy policies, not according to our instructions.
How long is the data kept?
For as long as you have an account. When you delete your account, your profile data, images, messages and participations are permanently removed – see Delete account. Reports you have made may be kept in anonymised form for our ongoing safety work.
If someone has reported you and you delete your account, your display name is kept in the report for at most 12 months after the case has been decided, so that we can recognise repeated abuse in our safety work.
If you created your account with Apple (Sign in with Apple) and delete it in the app on an iPhone, the link between Nära and your Apple account is also revoked.
Your rights
You have the right to access your data, to have it corrected or erased, to object to or request restriction of the processing, and to receive your data in a machine-readable format (data portability). The easiest way to erase it is directly in the app. For anything else, email support@spitakolus.com.
If you believe we are handling your data incorrectly, you have the right to complain to the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection, IMY.
Age limit
Nära is for you if you are 18 or older.
Changes to this policy
If we make significant changes we will say so in the app. The latest version is always on this page.