Neighray is a map of what's happening within 2.5 km of you: pop-up chat rooms, neighbours, local shops and a Market. It is run by Neighray, based in Lahore, Pakistan ("we", "us"). This policy explains what we collect, why, who can see it, and how long we keep it.
The short version
- You use Neighray under a random handle. Your name, email and phone number are never shown on the map, in rooms or in chats.
- Other people see a blurred version of your location, never your exact spot, and only if you've used the app in the last 48 hours.
- Direct messages disappear 2 hours after they're sent. Pop-up rooms close after 6 hours unless the people in them vote to keep them open. Area-room messages are deleted after 24 hours.
- The Market is separate from your handle. If you buy or sell, people see your verified name (for example "Ali R."), and it is never linked to your handle.
- We don't sell your data and we don't show ads.
- You can delete your account at any time in Settings. It removes your data and your photos.
1. What we collect
Your account
- Email address, to sign you in and to reset your PIN.
- If you sign in with Google, Google tells us your email address and confirms it. Google also sends your name and profile photo, but we don’t keep or show them. You’re still only your random handle on Neighray.
- Your PIN. We store it scrambled (hashed), so nobody can read it, us included. If you turn on fingerprint or face unlock, that check happens on your phone and we never receive it.
- Birth year, to confirm you're 18 or over.
- Phone number, only if you add one in Account settings for recovery. It stays private.
- Device identifier, to remember your trusted devices.
Your profile and activity
- Your handle, and anything you add to your profile (such as a bio or interests).
- A reputation and trust score, based on your activity and on reports about you.
- The handles you've used before (see section 6).
Your location
- While you use the app, we receive your phone's precise location. We don't collect it in the background.
- We keep your latest location only. Each update replaces the previous one; we don't keep a history of where you've been.
- We also make a blurred copy (to roughly 500 m). Other people only ever see the blurred copy, and only for 48 hours after you last used the app.
- Rooms you drop and items you list are also placed at a blurred location. Registered businesses are shown at their real address.
What you post and send
- Rooms you create, and messages and photos you send in rooms and direct messages.
- Market listings (title, description, price, category, condition and up to 5 photos), the listings you save, and Market chats.
- Reviews and photos you post about businesses.
- Votes you cast in the Feed and in rooms, and the people you block.
- Reports you send, including a copy of what you reported (see section 6).
- Messages you send us through Contact us.
Verification (needed for the Market and for orders)
- Your real name.
- A live selfie. The "blink and turn your head" check runs on your phone; we receive the selfie and whether the check passed.
- Your CNIC photo, only if you choose to get the "ID verified" badge. We delete it as soon as we've checked it.
- Phone confirmation by SMS code, if you do it. The code is sent through Google Firebase. We don't store your number: we keep a scrambled code (so one number can verify only one account) and its last 2 digits.
Orders from local businesses
- If you place an order, we collect the details you enter: name, phone number, email, delivery address and delivery location, and what you ordered. We share them with that business so they can fulfil the order.
Technical data
- A push notification token, so we can send you notifications.
- Crash reports (device model, operating system, app version, and what the app was doing when it crashed), through Google Firebase Crashlytics, so we can fix bugs.
We don't use advertising identifiers, and we don't track you across other apps or websites.
2. How we use it
- To run Neighray: to show you what's within 2.5 km, put you in your area's chat room, deliver messages and notifications, run the Market and pass your orders to businesses.
- To keep people safe:
- to confirm you're 18 or over;
- to verify Market users;
- to review reports;
- to enforce our Community Guidelines;
- to stop people coming back after a ban.
- To fix and improve the app, using crash reports.
- To reply to you when you contact us.
We don't use your data for advertising, and we don't sell it or rent it to anyone.
3. Who can see what
- Everyone within 2.5 km (signed-in users):
- your handle and profile;
- your blurred location (if you've been active in the last 48 hours);
- rooms you create and what you post in rooms;
- your reviews (under your handle);
- your Market listings.
- People you chat with: your handle and your messages to them.
- People you trade with in the Market: your verified display name (first name and last initial), your badge, and your messages to them. They don't see your handle, and nothing links your listings to your handle.
- A business you order from: the order details you entered.
- Nobody else: your email, phone number, PIN, birth year, exact location, real full name, selfie, CNIC and verification details.
Our team (the admin) can see account and content data to review reports, verify users and businesses, and keep Neighray safe.
4. Services we use
We use a few providers to run Neighray. They handle data for us and only as we instruct:
- Supabase. Our database, file storage and servers, hosted on Amazon Web Services in Tokyo, Japan.
- Google Firebase. Push notifications, crash reports, and the SMS code for phone confirmation.
- Google Sign-In, if you choose it. Google checks who you are and gives us your email address.
- Google Maps. Shows the map. Google receives the map requests your phone makes, including your IP address.
To name each local area room, we look the area up in OpenStreetMap (Nominatim), using only the area's centre point, not anyone's location.
We may also share data if the law requires it, or to protect someone from serious harm.
5. Where your data is stored
Your data is stored on servers in Japan, run by our providers, who may also process it in other countries. We protect it with encrypted connections (HTTPS). Database rules let each person reach only their own private data. Verification photos sit in private storage that only our team can open.
6. How long we keep it
- Direct messages: deleted 2 hours after they're sent. A chat disappears once all its messages are gone.
- Pop-up rooms:
- Each room is deleted when it closes, after 6 hours, unless the people in it vote to keep it open.
- Its messages are deleted with it.
- Area-room messages: deleted 24 hours after they're sent.
- Photos in rooms: deleted once their room or message is gone (checked every hour).
- Market chats: deleted 90 days after the last message.
- Market listings: kept until you delete them. Sold items stay in My listings until you delete them.
- Your location:
- We keep only the latest one.
- Others stop seeing your blurred location 48 hours after you last used the app.
- It's deleted with your account.
- Old handles: kept for 3 months, only so they can't be reused straight away.
- Verification:
- Your name and selfie are kept while your account exists.
- Your CNIC photo is deleted as soon as it's checked.
- Your phone number is never stored (see section 1).
- Reports:
- We keep reports, and the copy of the reported content, for as long as we need them to keep Neighray safe.
- For a room or a chat, the copy is its last 30 messages.
- This also applies after the reported content disappears or the account is deleted.
- Orders:
- Kept as part of the business's records.
- If you delete your account, your name, phone, email, address and location are removed from your orders.
- Inactive accounts: if you don't use Neighray for 60 days, your account is deleted automatically, the same way as when you delete it yourself.
- Crash reports: kept by Firebase Crashlytics for up to 90 days.
7. Your choices and rights
- See and correct your data. Your profile, birth year and phone number are in Settings. To get a copy of the data we hold about you, email us.
- Change your handle. You can rotate it once every 24 hours.
- Block people, and report anything that breaks our rules.
- Turn off location or notifications in your phone's settings. Without location, you can't see what's nearby.
- Delete your account. In the app: Settings → Delete account.
- This deletes your account, profile, location, messages, listings, chats and verification details, and all the photos you uploaded.
- It happens straight away and can't be undone.
- The only things kept are copies of content in reports, and orders without your details (see section 6).
- If you can't use the app, see how to delete your account.
8. Age
Neighray is only for people aged 18 and over. We ask for your birth year and refuse anyone under 18. If we learn that someone under 18 is using Neighray, we delete their account. Our Child Safety Standards explain how we deal with any content that exploits children.
9. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If the change is important, we'll show it in the app and ask you to accept it before you continue.
10. Contact
Questions, requests or complaints: hello@neighray.app or WhatsApp +92 321 4755568
Neighray, Lahore, Pakistan