Privacy

Written for the Amazon App Dev Challenge 2026 build. Plain English, no surprises.

What we collect

Your Nearby account (your email address, or your Apple sign-in). The Ring devices you choose to connect, and the events, pictures and short clips from those devices that Nearby needs to work. Courier emails you forward to your Nearby email address. Anything you tell Nearby about your home: roughly where it is (to find your street), your bin days and which bins you have, people who come to the house and when, and a time someone is usually home. Pictures you choose to keep as delivery proof. If you have a Ring sensor, things like door openings and room temperature.

How pictures from your camera are checked

Nearby sends stills from your own Ring camera to Amazon Bedrock (Amazon’s AI service, run in the EU) to tell you what happened, such as a parcel or food delivery, the post, or your dog going out. It also uses them to check things like whether your bins are out, a parcel is on the step, the garage is open, or there is storm damage. It looks at objects and actions only. Nearby never identifies people, never recognises faces and never describes what anyone looks like. Amazon does not use these pictures to train its AI.

Before a picture is checked, any privacy zones you set in the Ring app are blacked out. Every check is written down in Settings → Privacy → “What Nearby looked at”: what started it, when, how many pictures, what Nearby decided, and which feature asked. You can turn off “Let Nearby look at my footage” there; Nearby then sends no pictures to Bedrock at all, and the features that need them say so.

Checking footage you share

When Nearby saves footage for someone else (a claim link, a PDF or a trade log), it takes a fingerprint (SHA-256) of every file and signs a short record of it with a key kept in AWS. The record lists the Ring event IDs, the camera name, when it was recorded and when Nearby saved it. Anyone with the link can check it at nearby.cam/v/…, and can drop in a copy of a file to see if it matches. That check runs in their browser; the file isn’t uploaded. Privacy zones are blacked out on shared pictures, and a clip from a camera with privacy zones isn’t shared.

Courier cards and complaints

If you photograph a courier’s “sorry we missed you” card, Nearby sends the photo to Amazon Bedrock in the EU to read the courier’s name and the time. The photo isn’t kept.

When your doorbell shows nobody came, you can send a complaint to the shop or courier in one tap. Nearby emails it from its own address, signed with the name and email you gave and checked for complaints (never your sign-in email), with a copy to you. Replies go to a private Nearby address made for you. Nearby reads only replies from that shop or courier, or the help desk they use, shows you what they said, and forwards each reply to your email. Nearby keeps a note of who you complained to and when for one year.

Recall (asking questions)

When you ask Recall something like “Did the post come today?”, your phone sends your question and a short list of facts Nearby already has about your home (for example “parcel left at 12:10”) to Amazon Bedrock in the EU to write the answer. Recall never sees pictures and never says who anyone is. Questions and answers are not stored.

Your calendar

Only if you tap “Find in my calendars”: Nearby reads the next two weeks on your phone to find visits like a cleaner or dog walker. Event details never leave your phone except the names and times you choose to keep.

Sharing with neighbours

Nothing from your camera is shared automatically. If a neighbour using Nearby asks for footage after an incident, you see the request and choose what to share each time, or say no. Cameras are shown as “Camera 1”, “Camera 2” and so on, never by name or house number. A shared clip can only be seen for that one incident. Street reports (like “road blocked” or “bin lorry’s here”) don’t show who sent them. You can hide yourself from the street in Settings.

Bin lorry and gritter alerts

Nearby can tell you when the bin lorry or gritter is on your street. This only uses the cameras of people who turn on “Help your street” in Settings (it’s off until you choose it). At the times these vehicles go round, Nearby looks at a picture from that camera for a bin lorry or gritter only. Neighbours are told the vehicle and the time, never whose camera it was, and never any pictures. In demo mode these sightings are simulated.

Looking out for a relative

Family sharing only works if your relative agrees first. They choose who can see their front door times and room temperature. Nobody in the family sees their video or who came to the door. Your relative can see who has looked and can stop sharing at any time. In this demo version the relative (“Mum”) and her home are simulated.

Sometimes a relative can’t decide for themselves, for example because of dementia. Then a family member can agree for them, in their interest. In that case we rely on legitimate interests (keeping a vulnerable person safe at their own door), not on their consent. We keep it to the least we need: door times and room temperature, never video. We ask again every 3 months, and anyone in the family can stop it at any time.

Doorstep sales alerts are off until someone agrees to them on a separate screen. When they’re on and an unexpected caller comes to the door, Nearby listens to the first minute of the visit for money words, like “bank details” or “sign here”. Amazon Transcribe turns the speech into words in the EU, with no voice recognition and no names. Nearby deletes the recording once the words are read, tells the family if one of them was said, and keeps the words for 7 days (you can choose 1 to 30).

Your camera, your data

Your doorbell can see people who aren’t you: visitors, couriers and neighbours. For what your camera records, you decide what happens (you are the “controller”), and Nearby only acts on your instructions (we are your “processor”). Nothing is shared unless you choose to share it, one time at a time. If your camera covers a path or road, it’s good practice to let people know, for example with a door notice.

If you were filmed by someone using Nearby and want a clip about you deleted, email [email protected]. We’ll pass it to the person whose camera it is and remove anything Nearby holds within a month.

A copy of your data

In the app, Settings, Account, Your data gives you a copy of everything Nearby keeps about you. It leaves out other people’s details, like neighbours who asked for footage.

Demo and simulated data

You can turn on a demo week to try Nearby out. Anything simulated is marked as such in the app and is deleted after 7 days.

Notifications

If you allow them, Apple delivers Nearby’s notifications to your phone. You can choose which ones you get in Settings.

Who processes your data

Amazon Web Services in the EU (storage, encryption, Bedrock and email), Vercel (our servers), Apple (sign-in and notifications) and Ring (your devices). We never sell your data, never use it for advertising, and never share it with the police or anyone else unless you choose to.

How long we keep it

• Street reports: 3 hours.
• Demo and simulated data: 7 days.
• Camera events, picture checks, sensor readings, courier emails, saved delivery pictures, claim evidence and neighbour footage requests: 30 days.
• Footage links for a claim (only when you make one): the pictures and clip for that claim are copied to a private, encrypted store in the EU and shown only to people with the link. Links end and their files are deleted after 30 days, or straight away when you turn the link off or delete your account.
• “What Nearby looked at”: 30 days.
• Fingerprints and signatures of footage you shared (no pictures): one year, or until you delete your account.
• Your relative’s door history: 31 days.
• Words heard at a relative’s door: 7 days, or what you choose up to 30.
• Storm damage log: 90 days.
• Being signed in: 90 days. Your phone’s notification details: 180 days.
• Who you share a relative’s activity with: one year, unless you change it.
• Who you sent a delivery complaint to, and when: one year.
• Your account and home settings: until you change them or delete your account.

Deleting your data

Delete your account in Settings at any time. This removes everything Nearby holds about you, including copies held by our providers. You can also disconnect Nearby from the Ring app, and a relative can stop family sharing at any time. Questions? Get in touch.

Not an emergency service

Nearby is not a safety or emergency service. In an emergency, call 999.