Privacy Policy
Welcome to Borrow Nearby ("we", "our", or "us"). We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and ensuring complete transparency regarding how personal data is handled across our hyperlocal mobile application and web services.
Executive Summary
We collect only the minimum data required to facilitate safe peer-to-peer neighborhood sharing (phone authentication, listing information, handover condition photos, and hyperlocal 1–10 km radius calculations). We never sell, monetize, or broker your personal information.
1. Information We Collect
A. Information You Provide Directly
- Account Information: When you register, you provide your name, mobile phone number, and optional profile image. Phone numbers are utilized for SMS one-time password (OTP) authentication and secure login.
- Listing Information: When creating an item listing, you provide titles, descriptions, categories, rental rates, security deposit requirements, item condition notes, and item photographs.
- Rental & Handover Evidence: During item handover and return, you take and upload verification photos to document item condition and enter numeric one-time security codes.
- Communications: In-app messages exchanged between borrowers and item owners regarding booking coordination, pickup scheduling, and dispute resolution.
- Customer Support: Information and screenshots provided when submitting support requests or incident reports.
B. Information Collected Automatically
- Location Data: When granted permission, we collect geographical coordinates to calculate distance to available items and display nearby listings within your chosen search radius (e.g. 1 km, 3 km, 5 km, 10 km). We do not track your location in the background when the app is closed.
- Device & Diagnostics Information: Device model, operating system version, app version, IP address, and pseudonymous device identifiers.
- Crash & Performance Metrics: We use Firebase Crashlytics and Firebase Analytics to collect anonymized crash reports and app interaction metrics to maintain app reliability.
2. How We Use Your Information
- Facilitating peer-to-peer item listings, rental requests, approvals, and returns.
- Calculating proximity and filtering search results based on your selected neighborhood radius (1–10 km).
- Authenticating user identity via phone OTP and Google Sign-In.
- Enabling real-time in-app chat between borrowers and owners.
- Verifying pickup and return handovers with 4-digit numeric OTP codes.
- Investigating disputes, preventing fraudulent activity, and enforcing our Terms of Service.
- Diagnosing crashes and improving application performance.
3. How We Share Your Information
We never sell or monetize your personal data. Information is shared strictly in these limited situations:
- With Other Community Members: Your public profile name, avatar, rating score, reviews, and approximate neighborhood location are visible to other verified members. Exact street addresses are only revealed for confirmed bookings when explicitly shared.
- Service Providers: Trusted third-party infrastructure providers who perform services on our behalf (e.g., SMS OTP delivery, cloud database hosting, crash diagnostics).
- Legal Compliance: When required by applicable law, court order, or governmental regulation, or to protect the safety of our users.
4. Data Security & Retention
We implement industry-standard encryption protocols (HTTPS/TLS 1.3 for all data in transit), encrypted on-device keystore storage for authentication tokens, and strict role-based cloud database access controls.
5. Your Rights & Data Control
- Access & Edit: You can view and update your profile details directly within the app.
- Permissions: You can revoke device permissions (Location, Camera, Photos) at any time in device settings.
- Account Deletion: You can delete your account within the app (Profile > Danger Zone) or via our Account Deletion Page.
6. Contact Information
For any privacy-related questions or data deletion requests, please contact our Data Protection Team: