Nearwave Privacy Policy

Last updated: [insert date before publishing]

This policy explains what Nearwave does and does not do with your information. Read it alongside the "Your Responsibility" section below, which is a core part of this policy, not boilerplate — Nearwave connects you directly to other people with no company in between, and that has real implications for what the developer can and cannot be responsible for.

*This document was drafted to be thorough and accurate to how Nearwave actually works, but it is not a substitute for review by a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction before publishing an app that real people will use — particularly the liability and indemnification language toward the end, whose enforceability can vary by country and by the laws that protect consumers where your users live. Treat this as a strong starting draft, not a final legal document.*

---

1. What Nearwave Is

Nearwave is a local-network messaging and calling app. It has no server. When you send a message, share a file, or place a call, your device connects *directly* to the other person's device over your local network (the same Wi-Fi network, for example) — the same way two computers on your home network can already see each other. Nothing you send through Nearwave passes through the developer's infrastructure, because none exists. If your network has no internet connection at all, Nearwave still works, as long as the other person is on the same local network.

This has a direct consequence for the rest of this policy: most of what a typical privacy policy discloses — what a company's servers log, store, sell, or share — doesn't apply to Nearwave, because there is no company server receiving any of it in the first place.

---

2. Information Nearwave Does Not Collect

The developer of Nearwave does not receive, collect, or have access to:

The content of your messages, calls, photos, or documents
Your contacts, discovered devices, or who you talk to
Your location (Nearwave finds nearby devices using local network

discovery, not GPS or any location service)

Your name, phone number, or email address — Nearwave has no account

system and never asks for any of these

Analytics, usage statistics, crash reports, or advertising identifiers
Anything else, transmitted anywhere, at any time

There is no Nearwave server for this information to go to. This isn't a policy choice that could change with an update — it's a consequence of how the app is built. ---

3. Information Stored On Your Device

Nearwave stores the following locally, on your device only:

Your display name and the cryptographic keys that identify your device

(created the first time you open the app)

Messages, photos, and documents you send or receive, and your

conversation history

A list of people you've discovered or connected with on local networks

This data lives in the app's local storage and is under your control. You can delete it at any time from Settings → Storage & Data, or by uninstalling the app. Encryption of this on-device storage is not yet implemented as of this version — Nearwave encrypts messages and calls *in transit* between devices (see Section 5), but a message already delivered and sitting in the app's local database is stored the way most apps store local data, not in an encrypted vault. If someone has physical access to your unlocked device, they can access this data the same way they could with most other apps. Use your device's own lock screen, passcode, or biometric protection — that's the layer actually standing between a stranger and your data at rest, not this app.

---

4. Permissions Nearwave Requests, and Why

Local network / nearby devices: to discover other Nearwave users on

the same network. Without this, the app cannot find anyone.

Camera: to take and send photos, and for video calls. Also used to

scan a QR code when you choose to verify a contact's identity.

Microphone: for voice and video calls.
Photos/files: only when you actively choose to attach a photo or

document to a message — Nearwave doesn't browse your photo library or file system in the background.

Nearwave requests each of these only when the feature that needs it is used, and only for that purpose. None of them are used for tracking, advertising, or any purpose beyond the feature itself.

---

5. Security

Messages and calls are protected end-to-end using the Signal Protocol (the same underlying protocol used by Signal) while traveling between devices. Nearwave also offers safety-number verification — scanning a QR code or comparing a numeric code in person — so you can confirm you're actually talking to the person you intend to, not someone intercepting the connection.

No security system is perfect, and no app can guarantee protection against every possible circumstance — a compromised device, a malicious app installed alongside Nearwave, or someone with physical access to an unlocked phone can undermine protections no messaging app can fully defend against on its own. Nearwave is built carefully, but it is not, and does not claim to be, an absolute guarantee of security.

---

6. Third Parties

Nearwave does not share information with third parties, because it does not collect any to share. Nearwave contains no advertising, no analytics SDKs, and no third-party trackers of any kind. The only "sharing" that happens is the one you do yourself, directly, with the specific person you choose to message or call.

---

7. Children's Privacy

Nearwave is not directed at children and is not designed for use by anyone under the minimum age required by their local law to use a peer-to-peer communication app without a guardian's consent (commonly 13, but this varies by country — you're responsible for knowing the age that applies where you live). Because Nearwave has no account system, the developer has no way to verify anyone's age. Parents and guardians are responsible for supervising their children's use of any communication app, including this one.

---

8. Your Responsibility

Nearwave is a tool that connects you directly to other people. It does not sit in the middle of your conversations, moderate them, or control what anyone sends. That means responsibility for how the app is used sits with the people using it — you — not with the developer. Specifically:

You are responsible for who you connect with, what you share with

them, and what you choose to receive or act on. Nearwave has no way to verify who is on the other end of a conversation beyond the safety-number verification feature you have to actively choose to use — use it.

**You are responsible for the content of your own messages, files, and

calls.** The developer does not review, moderate, or have any visibility into what you or anyone else sends through the app — there is no server through which that would even be possible.

**You are responsible for the actions of other people you talk to

through Nearwave.** The developer has no relationship with, and no control over, other users of the app, and is not responsible for anything another person sends you, says to you, or does — including harassment, unwanted contact, or illegal content originating from another user, not from the app itself.

You are responsible for complying with the laws that apply to you,

wherever you are, when using Nearwave — including laws about recording calls, the age of consent for who you communicate with, and the legality of the content you send or receive.

You are responsible for your own device's security — its lock

screen, who has physical access to it, and what other software is installed on it. See Section 3 and Section 5 above.

You are responsible for backing up anything you want to keep.

Nearwave stores data locally on your device only; the developer has no copy of it, cannot recover it if it's lost, and is not responsible for data lost due to uninstalling the app, a factory reset, device damage, device loss, or app or operating system updates.

---

9. No Warranty, Limitation of Liability

Nearwave is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranty of any kind, express or implied — including, without limitation, any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or that the app will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of defects. You use Nearwave entirely at your own risk.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the developer of Nearwave shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, messages, files, goodwill, or other intangible losses, arising out of or related to:

your use of, or inability to use, the app;
any conduct or content of any third party using the app, including

without limitation any defamatory, offensive, harassing, or illegal conduct or content of other users;

any message, file, or call transmitted, received, lost, delayed, or

corrupted through the app;

unauthorized access to, alteration of, or loss of your data, however

caused, including through loss or theft of your device;

any bugs, viruses, or other harmful material transmitted to or through

the app by any third party; or

any other matter relating to the app,

whether based on warranty, contract, tort (including negligence), product liability, or any other legal theory, and whether or not the developer has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain warranties or liabilities, so some of the limitations above may not apply to you in full. In those cases, liability is limited to the smallest extent permitted by the law that applies to you.

Nothing in this section excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law (for example, liability for death or personal injury caused by proven negligence, or fraud), in the jurisdictions where such a restriction applies.

---

10. Changes to This Policy

This policy may be updated as the app changes — for example, if on-device data encryption or group calling (see Section 3 and the app's own release notes) are added in a future version. Material changes will be reflected in an updated "Last updated" date at the top of this document.

---

11. Contact

Questions about this policy, or about Nearwave generally, can be sent to:

[insert your contact email before publishing]

---

*Nearwave is an independently developed app. This policy describes the app as of the version it accompanies; always refer to the copy distributed with the current version of the app for the most accurate information.*