Privacy, Safety and Responsible Use Statement

This statement explains how KinNearby collects, uses, stores and discloses personal information, and the rules that apply when you use the service. It applies to the KinNearby website, installed web application, native iOS and Android applications, circle features, temporary location links and related communications.

KinNearby is operated from Australia. We intend to handle personal information consistently with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles where they apply, together with applicable Australian online safety, consumer and data-security obligations. If the law where you live gives you additional mandatory rights, those rights continue to apply. Nothing in this statement excludes a right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Depending on how you use KinNearby, we may handle:

• Account information: email address, authentication records, display name and profile image, including the image or initials shown on map markers.
• Circle information: circle name and type, membership, roles, invitations, event, fixture or travel-stop details, attendance responses, check-ins and administrative activity. In supported circles, this can include tracker names, external HTTPS tracking links and the member who added each link.
• Venue and destination information: partial address searches, the selected venue or destination, coordinates resolved for its map pin, and any Home, Work or Family destination you choose to save for Drive shortcuts.
• Precise location information: latitude, longitude, accuracy, direction, speed and capture time, but only when a member deliberately enables location sharing, Drive or urgent help.
• Drive and temporary sharing information: route options, turn instructions, the selected planned route, destination, members actively sharing near that route, link token, expiry and safe-arrival time. Live movement still uses each member’s latest location rather than a stored trail.
• External tracker links: KinNearby stores the name and link supplied by a member so other members of an eligible circle can open the tracking provider. KinNearby does not retrieve or store an AirTag or other provider’s location from that link. The provider controls access, location updates, expiry and its own data handling.
• Community road reports: the selected category, current coordinates, submission and expiry times, and the reporting account identifier retained internally for rate limiting, safety and abuse investigation.
• Food place ratings: the selected venue, its mapped coordinates and category, your 1-to-5 rating, and your account identifier so one member has one current review per place. A review may also include dietary or cuisine codes you report. Other members see aggregate scores, counts and reported codes, not who submitted them.
• Marketplace information: seller identity and support details, ABN where supplied, product listings and images, prices, availability, customer identity, quantities, pickup or delivery choice, delivery address, order status, support notes, ratings, refunds and dispute records. For Trade Services, this also includes trader profile and verification details, job posts, quotes, accepted scope and price, messages, completion records, reviews and disputes.
• Shop payment information: payment method, amount, currency, Stripe account, checkout, payment, refund and event identifiers, payment status and timestamps. For manual PayID orders, we also store the seller-provided PayID, account name, order reference and seller confirmation time as they appeared for that order. Stripe processes card and connected bank-account details; KinNearby does not store full card numbers, online banking credentials or bank balances. Trade Services payments are arranged directly between customers and traders. We record that the contract uses direct payment, but not bank account details or whether payment occurred.
• Technical information: strictly necessary session data and security, diagnostic and service logs such as browser, device, network, request and error information generated by KinNearby or its hosting and infrastructure providers.
• Country-level security presence: for signed-in accounts, KinNearby may retain the two-letter country code supplied by its hosting provider at most once per day. This is used for aggregate security operations and account-activity review. The record does not contain an IP address, city, coordinates or movement history, and country or inactivity alone is not treated as a threat.
• Optional traffic attribution: when you allow it, a random browser-session identifier, landing path, referral host and UTM source, medium, campaign, content or term. We do not store your IP address, precise location, fingerprint or sensitive product activity in this attribution record.
• Privacy requests: your name, reply email, request category, subject, message, case status, priority, assignment, escalation and support follow-up history.

Please do not enter unnecessary sensitive information in circle names, venue or destination fields, profile names or other free-text fields.

We use personal information to authenticate users; run private circles; display opted-in locations; search for addresses; plan and guide a requested Drive; identify opted-in circle members and temporary community road reports near a selected route; compare routes with available traffic and disruption information; show a selected route and current progress through a temporary link; confirm arrival; find nearby masjids, cafes, restaurants, supermarkets and butcher shops; aggregate place ratings and member-reported food classifications; publish Shop Circle listings; create and fulfil orders; reconcile payments and refunds; support sellers and buyers; publish Trade Services jobs and trader profiles; support quotes, accepted work, messages, completion, reviews and dispute records; prevent transaction fraud; record attendance; deliver check-ins and urgent-help alerts; prevent abuse; secure and improve the service; review country-level account presence and documented security events; comply with law; and respond to privacy or safety concerns.

Australian privacy law does not use one universal “legal basis” framework for every type of processing. Where a legal basis is required, we rely on:

• Your consent or deliberate instruction for optional precise-location access, circle sharing, journey links, community road reports, place ratings, browser notifications and urgent-help tracking.
• Providing the service you request for account access, circle administration, plans, attendance, address search, navigation and requested communications.
• Legitimate interests where recognised and not overridden by your rights, including service security, fraud and abuse prevention, diagnostics, reliability and protecting users.
• Legal obligations and legal claims where information must be handled to comply with law, valid process, safety duties or the establishment, exercise or defence of rights.

KinNearby does not sell personal information, use it for third-party targeted advertising, or make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects solely by automated means. You may withdraw location-sharing consent at any time by ending Drive, pausing sharing, leaving a circle, revoking a temporary link or ending an urgent-help session. Withdrawal applies prospectively and does not make earlier lawful handling invalid.

Location sharing is off by default. KinNearby asks the browser or device for location access only after you choose Share location, start Drive, explicitly share a private journey or request urgent help. A circle location share sends the current location once, remains visible for up to 15 minutes and never renews automatically. You can choose Not now, stop sharing or manually share again. New locations replace the latest stored location for that member, circle or private journey link; KinNearby is not designed as a historical movement archive. This applies equally to parents, children and other family members: being away from home does not automatically make anyone visible.

In the native iOS and Android apps, you may choose to grant background location access so a selected circle or an expiring private journey you explicitly share can keep updating while the app is not visible or the screen is locked. Circle-only sharing does not show the iOS navigation indicator; a shared Drive journey may show it until Drive ends. The app does not start background tracking merely because permission exists. Device settings, battery controls, force-quitting and operating-system policies can delay or stop updates.

When a driver deliberately selects a circle, the Drive map may show profile-image markers for members of that circle who manually shared in within the previous 15 minutes and are within approximately 2 km of the selected route. Members outside that route corridor, members who stopped sharing, and stale locations are not shown as along the route. Drive navigation does not automatically publish a location to a circle map. A private Drive does not display circle-member locations.

A journey link can show the selected planned route, destination and the member’s latest position moving along it. A private Drive journey is not published to a circle, but anyone with its URL can view it without an account until the link expires, is revoked or Drive ends. After arrival, the link shows a safe-arrival confirmation only until expiry and no longer exposes the live position. Send links only to people you trust.

For Event, Sports and Travel circles with a venue or destination pin, KinNearby may show approximate distances and counts for members with a current manual location share. You can block another circle member; after a block, neither person can see the other’s circle location. Attendance and proximity information is visible only to current members of the relevant circle, subject to those blocks.

KinNearby does not sell personal information. Information may be processed by providers supporting authentication, databases, hosting, email, maps, routing, traffic, weather, security and diagnostics. OpenStreetMap services display web maps and may resolve an entered destination. Apple Maps displays native map tiles on iOS and Google Maps displays native map tiles on Android. When you deliberately choose a nearby masjid, food, supermarket or butcher-shop search, OpenStreetMap Overpass may receive your current coordinates to return mapped places within the search area. Mapbox or Photon may receive the partial venue, destination or address query you type and approximate proximity coordinates to rank nearby results. Depending on configuration, Mapbox or OSRM may also receive origin and destination coordinates to calculate routes. Open-Meteo may receive destination coordinates to return local time-zone and current weather information. Transport Victoria Open Data may supply Victorian road disruptions. Stripe may receive seller identity, business, bank and tax details, and buyer contact, order and payment information to onboard sellers, process cards, manage payouts, prevent fraud, issue refunds and handle Shop disputes. KinNearby does not send Trade Services direct-payment details to Stripe. These providers receive ordinary request information and may process information in Australia or other countries under their own terms.

Information may also be disclosed when reasonably necessary to comply with law or valid legal process; protect a person from a credible threat; investigate fraud, abuse or a security incident; enforce platform rules; or protect users, KinNearby and the public. We seek to limit disclosures to what is reasonably necessary.

KinNearby keeps information only for as long as reasonably needed for the purposes described here, legal obligations, security, dispute resolution and service continuity. Latest location records are replaced by newer updates. Circle locations stop being displayed 15 minutes after each manual location share or when sharing stops. Temporary links expire or can be revoked. Community road reports expire automatically after approximately one to four hours depending on category, although related security or abuse records may be retained longer where reasonably necessary. A newer food place review, including its reported codes, replaces your earlier review for that place and is removed if your account is deleted. Saved Drive destinations remain until you replace or remove them, or delete your account. Attendance responses are tied to the current scheduled occurrence and are cleared when its date and time changes. Circle information remains while the circle exists, subject to member access and administrative deletion. Shop order, payment, refund, seller and delivery records may be kept after an account or shop closes where reasonably required for tax, accounting, fraud prevention, chargebacks, consumer claims and legal obligations. Delivery tracking coordinates expire after the active delivery window, while the delivery address and order record may be retained with the transaction history. Trade Services job, quote, contract, message, completion, review and dispute records may be retained where reasonably required for marketplace safety, user claims and legal obligations.

Deletion from active systems may not immediately remove information from encrypted backups, security logs or records that must be retained by law. Those copies remain protected and are removed or rendered inaccessible under ordinary retention processes.

KinNearby uses access controls, authenticated sessions, row-level database security, restricted administrative functions and encrypted network connections. No internet service, device or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure. Protect your password, device, invitations and temporary links, and report suspected unauthorised access promptly.

If an eligible data breach occurs, KinNearby will assess and respond to it under applicable law, including Australia’s Notifiable Data Breaches scheme where required.

KinNearby exists to help trusted people coordinate care, safety, everyday plans, community activities, events, sport and travel. You must use it lawfully, honestly, respectfully and only for legitimate purposes. You are responsible for your account, the people you invite, the information you enter, and the consequences of sharing or acting on location information.

You must not use KinNearby to stalk, intimidate, harass, discriminate against, exploit, deceive or unlawfully monitor another person; track someone without their knowledge and valid consent; facilitate domestic or family violence; publish another person’s location; impersonate another person; submit false, misleading or malicious road or emergency reports; evade legal restrictions; scrape data; probe security; introduce malicious code; or use the service for criminal, commercial surveillance or other harmful activity.

Do not interact with Drive or submit a report while moving; use a safely stopped device or ask a passenger. Community reports are unverified and must not be used to obstruct authorities, evade lawful enforcement or replace official road signs and alerts. Do not pressure anyone to share a location. Obtain any consent required before creating an account for, inviting, or sharing information about another person. A parent or lawful guardian is responsible for deciding whether and how a child may use the service and for complying with child-protection and consent laws. We may restrict, suspend or terminate access, preserve relevant records, or refer matters to appropriate authorities where reasonably necessary to address suspected abuse or legal obligations.

KinNearby is a coordination tool, not an emergency service, security service, medical service or substitute for professional advice. Alerts, browser notifications, attendance, venue or destination pins, proximity counts, community road reports, distances, maps and location updates may be delayed, inaccurate, incomplete, outdated or unavailable because of device settings, signal, battery, network, browser suspension, provider outages, geocoding or user action. Community reports are submitted by users and are not verified by KinNearby. A map position, attendance response, road report or proximity result does not prove a person’s identity, arrival, condition, safety or the current state of a road.

Cafe, restaurant, supermarket and butcher-shop names and categories, and cuisine codes, come from third-party OpenStreetMap data and may be incorrect, incomplete or outdated. Cafe and restaurant dietary codes may come from explicit map tags, a reviewed official venue policy or aggregated member reports. Hmeans halal food was disclosed or reported and V means vegan food was disclosed or reported; neither code necessarily means the entire venue is certified or free from cross-contamination. The cuisine codes are W for Western, M for Middle Eastern, A for Asian, S for South American and F for African, and may reflect explicit source tags or member reports. A missing code means the information is undisclosed, not that KinNearby has classified the venue or that a venue is or is not suitable. Butcher discovery is limited to places within 20 km that disclose halal or kosher status through an explicit source tag, reviewed official venue evidence or a standalone Halal or Kosher term in the mapped business name. H means halal and Kmeans kosher. These classifications are not independently verified by KinNearby and do not guarantee current certification or suitability. Member ratings and food-type reports are opinions and are not verification of ingredients, preparation, certification, allergens, cuisine or dietary compliance. Reports may be mistaken or disputed. Confirm important dietary and allergy requirements directly with the venue before visiting or ordering.

Always obey official signs, lawful directions and road rules. Never rely on KinNearby as the only way to request or provide urgent assistance or confirm attendance or arrival. In Australia, call 000 in an emergency. Elsewhere, contact the local emergency number. Users remain responsible for assessing information and taking appropriate action.

You choose whether KinNearby and its features are suitable for you. You use the service voluntarily, for your own benefit and at your own risk. You remain solely responsible for decisions, actions and omissions based on information obtained through KinNearby, including whether to share, follow, rely on or respond to a location, check-in, alert, event, fixture, invitation or temporary link. Independently verify important information and maintain another way to communicate or request help.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, KinNearby is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties, representations or guarantees that it will be uninterrupted, secure, accurate, complete, current, fit for a particular purpose, error-free or available on any device or network. KinNearby does not control and is not responsible for user conduct, third-party content, device or browser behaviour, telecommunications, maps, hosting, email delivery or other third-party services.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, KinNearby’s operator, personnel, affiliates and service providers exclude liability for loss, damage, cost or claim arising from or connected with access to, use of, inability to use, interruption of, or reliance on KinNearby, including inaccurate or delayed locations or alerts, unauthorised access caused by a user, loss of data, loss of opportunity, loss of profits, personal injury, property damage, and indirect, incidental, special, exemplary or consequential loss, whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence), statute or otherwise, even if the possibility was known.

Where a guarantee, condition, warranty, right or remedy cannot lawfully be excluded, liability is limited only to the extent the law permits. For services covered by the Australian Consumer Law, and where it is lawful and fair to do so, liability may be limited at KinNearby’s option to supplying the services again or paying the cost of having them supplied again. Nothing in this statement excludes, restricts or modifies the Australian Consumer Law, privacy rights, liability for fraud or wilful misconduct, or any other duty, guarantee, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you are responsible for loss caused by your unlawful use, misuse, breach of this statement, violation of another person’s rights, or information and links you share. You agree to indemnify KinNearby’s operator and personnel against third-party claims and reasonable costs resulting from that conduct, except to the extent the claim was caused by KinNearby’s own unlawful act or omission.

You can update profile details, change your attendance response, stop journey tracking, pause location sharing, revoke temporary links, leave a circle, or ask an administrator to manage circle membership. The native app also provides a permanent account-deletion control in Account settings. Deleting an account removes circles that account owns as well as its profile, memberships, current locations, active links, saved Drive destinations, ratings and reports from active systems. You may request access to or correction of personal information and may ask questions about deletion, objection, restriction, portability or withdrawal of consent where those rights apply.

We may need to verify identity before acting on a request. Some requests may be limited where another person’s privacy, legal privilege, security, fraud prevention, recordkeeping duties or another lawful exception applies.

Send privacy questions, requests or complaints through our secure privacy form. Include enough detail for the matter to be understood, but do not include passwords, live location links or unnecessary sensitive information.

We will assess privacy complaints and aim to respond within a reasonable period. If you are not satisfied with an Australian privacy response, you may be entitled to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner . People outside Australia may also contact their local data-protection authority where applicable.

We may update this statement when the service, providers or legal requirements change. The current version will be published on this page with its effective date. Material changes may also be communicated in the service where reasonably practicable. Continuing to use KinNearby after an update means the revised statement applies to future use, subject to any consent required by law.