Privacy Policy for Nearby Talk

Last updated: August 31, 2026

Nearby Talk lets iPhones talk in an encrypted voice room. Calls between phones that are physically close use no server. Calls to friends over the internet use our server to connect the phones. This policy covers both.

Calls between nearby phones

Phones that are close find each other over the local network, Wi‑Fi Aware or Bluetooth. Voice and names travel directly between the phones, end‑to‑end encrypted. No server is involved. We receive nothing.

Calls over the internet

You can call a friend who is not nearby. These calls use our server (a Cloudflare Worker) so the two phones can find each other. When no direct path exists between the phones, the call goes through a relay on Cloudflare. The relay needs the Nearby subscription.

Voice on internet calls stays end‑to‑end encrypted. The server and the relay forward encrypted packets. They cannot read or hear them. Like any internet service, they see your IP address while you are connected. We do not store IP addresses.

What we store

Your app creates a random node ID. The node ID is not tied to your name, email or Apple ID. For internet calls, our server stores two things:

• Relay minutes used this calendar month, counted against your subscription so the monthly allowance cannot be multiplied across devices. This record is deleted after about 40 days.
• A device attestation key (Apple App Attest), stored under your node ID to keep fraudulent clients off the relay.

We store nothing else: no names, no contacts, no audio, no call history and no IP addresses. There are no analytics, no advertising identifiers and no ads.

Subscription

Apple bills the relay subscription. Our server examines the subscription receipt to grant relay access, but does not store it.

What stays on your phone

• Your name, if you set one, so others in a room can see who is talking.
• A device key pair used to encrypt conversations and derive your node ID.
• Your friends and blocked lists.

All three live only on your phone. They are removed when you delete the app.

Permissions

• Microphone — to send your voice to the room.
• Local Network — to find phones on the same Wi‑Fi.
• Bluetooth — to reach phones that don’t share a Wi‑Fi network.

Contact

Questions about this policy: arsen@shkrumelyak.com