NearEcho Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 17, 2026

This policy explains how Aybilge OÜ (“we”) handles data in the NearEcho application for Android and iOS (the “App”).

In short

• The App needs no account, phone number or email address.
• The App has no servers. Messages travel directly between nearby phones over Bluetooth and local Wi-Fi. Aybilge OÜ does not receive your messages, contacts, location or how you use the App.
• The App contains no ads, analytics, tracking or third-party crash reporting.
• Private and group messages are end-to-end encrypted. Public channels (including the General channel) and SOS calls are readable by everyone nearby, by design.

1. Information the App creates and keeps on your device

• Identity: When you first open the App, it creates a cryptographic key pair on your phone. Your device ID is derived from the public key. The private key is kept in your phone’s secure storage (Android Keystore / iOS Keychain) and never leaves the device.
• Profile name: The name you enter during setup.
• Messages and contacts: Your conversations, groups, photos and voice messages, the people your phone has seen nearby, their verification status, your block list, SOS calls you received, and your settings. They are stored in the App’s private storage on your phone.
• Relay storage: So that messages can reach people who are out of range, your phone temporarily keeps the messages that pass through it and hands them on to others. Private and group messages stay encrypted while they are relayed. They are deleted automatically after at most 12 hours (public channels), 48 hours (private and group messages, photos and voice messages) or 72 hours (SOS calls).

2. What nearby phones can see

NearEcho works by connecting phones that are close to each other, so some information is visible to people nearby:

• Presence: While the network is on, your phone advertises a short identifier derived from your device ID over Bluetooth and announces itself on the Wi-Fi network or hotspot it is connected to, so other phones can find it. Anyone nearby with a Bluetooth scanner can detect that a NearEcho phone is present.
• Name and device ID: Your profile name and device ID are announced to nearby phones that run the App, and they can see when your phone was last in range.
• Private and group messages: The content, including photos and voice messages, is end-to-end encrypted. Phones that relay them see only routing information: the sender’s and recipient’s device IDs, the message type and the time. Delivery and read receipts are sent to the sender; you can turn read receipts off in Settings.
• Public channels: Messages in the General channel and other public channels can be read by everyone nearby. They are signed so that they cannot be forged, but they are not encrypted. Do not post private information there.
• SOS calls and “I’m safe”: When you start an SOS call or send “I’m safe”, your name, your location (if available) and its accuracy, the needs you selected, the number of people, your note and your battery level are sent unencrypted to everyone nearby, so that anyone can help. An active SOS call is repeated every 2 minutes until you stop it.
• Shared location: Your location is sent in a chat only when you choose to share it.

3. Permissions

The App asks only for the permissions it needs; you can refuse or revoke them in your phone’s settings.

• Bluetooth / Nearby devices: to find and connect to nearby phones. On Android 11 and earlier, Android requires location permission for Bluetooth scanning; the App does not use it to track you.
• Location (while using the App): to attach your location to SOS calls and shared locations, and to show the distance and direction to people asking for help. Location is used only for these features and is not sent anywhere else. The App does not request background location access.
• Local network / Wi-Fi: to connect phones on the same Wi-Fi network or hotspot. This works without internet access.
• Camera: to scan QR codes when you verify a contact, and to take photos to send.
• Microphone: to record voice messages.
• Photos: to choose photos to send. Before sending, the App shrinks and re-encodes each photo and removes its metadata, such as the place where it was taken.
• Notifications: to alert you to new messages and SOS calls. Notifications are created on your phone; the App uses no push notification server.
• Background operation (Android): an optional foreground service keeps relaying messages while the App is closed and shows a notification while it runs. You can turn it off with “Run in background” in Settings.
• Internet (Android): Android requires this permission for connections over the local network. The App does not connect to the internet.

When you choose “Open in maps”, the coordinates are passed to the maps app on your phone, whose own privacy terms apply.

4. Information we receive

• From the App: none. We do not operate servers for the App and cannot read, recover or delete your messages.
• From app stores: When you download the App, Apple or Google process data under their own privacy policies. They may give us aggregated statistics, and crash reports from users who have agreed to share them with developers.
• Optional support purchases: If the App offers optional in-app purchases to support its development, Apple’s App Store or Google Play handles the purchase and payment under their own terms. The App does not access your payment details. It only learns from the store whether a purchase succeeded, completes it as the store requires, and may keep that result on your phone. No purchase information is sent to Aybilge OÜ.
• When you contact us: If you email us, we process your email address, your message and any information you choose to send, in order to answer and follow up on your request. Depending on the request, we rely on performance of a contract or our legitimate interest in providing support; a legal obligation applies to records we must keep by law. We keep support correspondence until the request is resolved and afterwards only as long as the law requires or a dispute makes necessary. Please do not send message content or other sensitive information unless it is needed.

5. Sharing the App without internet

With “Share the app” (Android), you can send the installed App to a nearby phone through Android’s sharing options, such as Quick Share or Bluetooth. Only the App’s installation file is sent; it contains none of your data.

6. Keeping and deleting data

• Your data stays on your phone until you delete conversations, use Erase all data in Settings (which removes your messages, contacts, photos, voice messages and your identity key), clear the App’s data or uninstall the App.
• Messages you sent remain on the recipients’ phones, and copies may remain on relaying phones for the periods described above. Because there is no server, we cannot delete them for you.
• The App opts out of Android’s cloud backup. On iOS, backups that your phone makes to iCloud or to a computer may include the App’s data; Apple’s terms govern those backups.

7. Security

Private and group messages are encrypted on your phone before they are sent (X25519 key agreement, XChaCha20-Poly1305 encryption) and every message is signed (Ed25519). You can compare security fingerprints or use “Verify with QR” to make sure you are talking to the right person. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but the App is designed so that only the intended recipients can read private content.

8. Children

The App is not directed at children under 13. Public channels let anyone nearby send messages, so parents should decide whether younger children use it. The App does not create accounts and sends no data to Aybilge OÜ.

9. Your rights

Your messages and contacts are under your control on your own phone: you can view and delete them in the App at any time. To exercise your data protection rights concerning information we hold, such as support correspondence (access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection and data portability), contact [email protected]. You may also complain to the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (Andmekaitse Inspektsioon) or to the data protection authority in your country.

10. Changes and contact

If the App’s data practices change, we will update this policy, show a new date, and announce significant changes through appropriate channels.

• Data controller: Aybilge OÜ
• Registered address: Sepapaja tn 6, Lasnamäe linnaosa, Tallinn, 15551, Harju maakond, Estonia
• Privacy and data rights: [email protected]
• App support: [email protected]