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, 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.
• Circle information: circle name and type, membership, roles, invitations, event or fixture details, attendance responses, check-ins and administrative activity.
• Venue information: the venue or address entered by an administrator and coordinates resolved for the venue pin.
• Precise location information: latitude, longitude, accuracy, direction, speed and capture time, but only when a member deliberately enables location sharing, journey tracking or urgent help.
• Temporary sharing information: expiring link tokens, expiry times and the location made available through that link.
• Technical information: security, diagnostic and service logs such as browser, device, network, request and error information generated by KinNearby or its hosting and infrastructure providers.

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

We use personal information to authenticate users; create and administer private circles; display opted-in locations to authorised members; record attendance; calculate approximate distance bands from a venue; deliver check-ins, urgent-help alerts and temporary links; show event or fixture details; prevent abuse; secure, diagnose and improve the service; comply with law; and respond to privacy or safety concerns.

Where required by law, processing is based on your consent, performance of the service you request, compliance with legal obligations, or legitimate interests such as protecting users and maintaining service security. You may withdraw location-sharing consent at any time by stopping tracking, pausing sharing, leaving a circle, revoking a temporary link or ending an urgent-help session.

Location sharing is off by default. KinNearby asks the browser or device for location access only after you choose to share, select Track me, or request urgent help. A sharing indicator and Stop tracking or pause control are displayed while sharing is enabled. New location updates replace the latest stored location for that member and circle; KinNearby is not designed as a historical movement archive.

For Event and Sports circles with a venue pin, KinNearby compares each sharing member’s latest coordinates with the venue coordinates to show an approximate distance and cumulative counts within 500 metres, 5 kilometres and 20 kilometres. Members who are not sharing are not included in those counts. Attendance responses and these proximity results are visible to current members of that circle. Anyone who receives a valid temporary link may view the information made available by that link until it expires or is revoked. You are responsible for sending invitations and links only to people you trust.

KinNearby does not sell personal information. Information may be processed by service providers that support authentication, databases, hosting, deployment, email delivery, maps, security and diagnostics. OpenStreetMap services are used to display maps and resolve an entered venue into a map pin; those services may receive the venue query and ordinary request information such as an IP address. These providers may process or store information in Australia or other countries and may be subject to the laws of those places.

Information may also be disclosed when reasonably necessary to comply with law or a valid legal process; protect a person from a credible threat; investigate fraud, abuse or a security incident; enforce platform rules; or protect the rights and safety of 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. Temporary links expire or can be revoked. 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.

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, community activities, events and sport. 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; make false 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 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 pins, proximity counts, distances, maps and location updates may be delayed, inaccurate or unavailable because of device settings, signal, battery, network, browser suspension, provider outages, geocoding or user action. A map position, attendance response or proximity result does not prove a person’s identity, arrival, condition or safety.

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. 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 to privacy@kinnearby.com. Include enough detail for the matter to be understood, but do not email 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.