Small World

Privacy

What we can't see.

We didn't write a policy promising to behave. We built it so we can't misbehave. Here's the plain-words version — the full legal policy is further down the page.

Jump to the full policy

  • Your location is encrypted before it's stored

    The key that would unlock it lives in a separate key-management service and is only ever unwrapped inside a hardened function. Nobody at Small World can browse where you've been.

  • There is no history to leak

    We don't keep a trail of where you've been. Nothing to subpoena, nothing to sell, nothing to lose in a breach.

  • No “last seen”, no “online now”

    Small World never tells anyone where you were. Only that, right now, the two of you happen to be close.

  • Stealth mode means invisible

    Not “hidden from most people”. Invisible. Turn it on and you simply aren't there.

  • Home stays yours

    Safe zones blur the places you live and work into a wide, fuzzy area, so nobody can work out your address.

Three ways to be seen

One tap switches between them, and the app always shows which one you're in.

  • Normal

    Sharing approximate location

    Your approximate area updates now and then — enough for friends to notice you're in town, not enough to follow your every move.

  • Active

    Sharing precise location

    Your precise location updates frequently — for when you want to be findable right now. It switches itself back off after a while.

  • Stealth

    Off the map

    You're completely off the map — no one sees your location or proximity. Enjoy the quiet.

Privacy policy

Last updated: May 2, 2026

Introduction

Small World (“we,” “us,” or “our”) provides a mobile experience that helps you stay meaningfully connected to people you trust—while keeping privacy and control at the center. This policy describes the personal information we process when you use our apps, websites, and related services (together, the “Services”).

By using the Services, you agree to this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services. This policy is provided for transparency and to meet platform requirements (including app store disclosures). It is not legal advice; consider consulting counsel for your jurisdiction.

Contact

For privacy questions, data requests, or account help, email support@small-world.app.

Information we collect

Account and profile

When you create an account, we collect identifiers and profile details you provide (for example, email address and display information), authentication data managed by our identity provider, and settings you configure in the app.

Location

Small World is built around proximity awareness. With your permission, the app may collect or derive device location to power features such as tethering, proximity alerts, and related safety or visibility controls you choose. We design the product to avoid storing precise historical trails unnecessarily; what is sent to our servers is limited to what the feature requires (for example, coarse or aggregated signals rather than continuous high-precision tracking), consistent with in-app disclosures and your mode settings.

Camera (QR scanning)

If you use tether QR scanning, the app requests access to your device camera. Camera input is used on your device to read a QR code and complete the tethering flow you initiate. We do not use the camera for unrelated purposes, and we do not record or upload video or photos from the camera for advertising.

Tethers, contacts, and social graph

We process information about your tether relationships (for example, who you connect with and the preferences you set for each relationship) to operate core product features.

Notifications and device data

We may process push notification tokens, device identifiers needed for reliability and security, diagnostics, and technical logs to keep the Services stable and secure.

Optional product analytics (“Help improve Small World”)

You may opt in to help us improve alert timing and accuracy. When both you and a friend have opted in, we may save anonymized encounter signals derived from your usage—without names, without precise locations—focused on distances and timing patterns as described in the app. You can change this preference in the app at any time.

How we use information

  • Provide, maintain, and improve the Services
  • Authenticate users and secure accounts
  • Operate proximity features, alerts, and tethering you configure
  • Send transactional or service-related communications
  • Detect, prevent, and respond to abuse, fraud, or technical issues
  • Comply with law and enforce our terms

Legal bases (where applicable)

Depending on your region, we may rely on one or more of: performance of a contract with you, legitimate interests that are not overridden by your rights, your consent (for example, optional analytics or certain permissions), and legal obligations.

Sharing and processors

We use service providers to host infrastructure, authenticate users, store data, send notifications, and operate the product. These providers process information on our instructions and are bound by contractual obligations. We do not sell your personal information.

We may disclose information if required by law, if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect rights, safety, or security, or as part of a business transfer subject to appropriate safeguards.

Retention

We retain information only as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy, unless a longer period is required by law. Location-related data is handled with short retention windows where possible, consistent with the product’s privacy posture.

Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; we work to reduce risk in line with industry practice.

Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export certain information, or to object to or restrict certain processing. You can control many preferences directly in the app (including visibility modes and optional analytics). You may also contact us at support@small-world.app for assistance.

Children

The Services are not directed to children under the age where consent is required without parental authorization. If you believe we have collected information from a child inappropriately, contact us and we will take appropriate steps.

International transfers

We may process information in countries other than your own. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page and update the “Last updated” date. If changes are material, we will provide additional notice as appropriate.

This website

This page and the rest of small-world.app are static marketing pages served by our hosting provider (Vercel). When you visit, standard web server logs may record your IP address, browser type, and the page requested. We use these logs only for security and reliability; they are retained briefly and are not used to track you across visits.

This site sets no cookies and does not use third-party advertising or social embeds. If we enable privacy-preserving, cookieless analytics (Cloudflare Web Analytics), that service receives only aggregated, non-identifying page-view data — never invite codes or other capability tokens from URLs.

Fonts are self-hosted from this site's origin; your browser does not contact Google when you load pages here.