Your data during the beta.

Account and activity information

The service stores your account email, a password hash, account and session records, profile details you choose to enter, your privacy settings, messages, invitations, posts, room and Gather activity, and reports you submit. Optional photos, avatar settings and avatar portraits are saved when you use those features.

Timestamps and security records help keep accounts working and limit abuse. Hosting systems may record technical information such as IP addresses, request routes and browser information. NexConnect uses hosting and storage services provided through OpenAI Sites and Cloudflare.

Adults 18 and older only

New and existing members must enter their own complete date of birth and confirm they are at least 18 before using the community. The server checks the reported birth date against the service’s America/Chicago calendar date. A missing, invalid, future or under-18 birth date cannot pass screening.

The full birth date is used for this check and is not saved in the app database, profiles, audit records or app backups. The app saves only the successful adult attestation’s timestamp and policy version. Other members do not see a birth date or a verified-age badge. Birth-date screening relies on self-reported information; it does not independently verify age or identity.

Existing accounts remain out of discovery and cannot use member features until they complete screening. Accounts and conversation records are retained. Report suspected underage accounts from a member’s profile for manual review; reports do not automatically prove someone is underage.

What other members can see

Your saved nickname, city, bio, selected photo or avatar, and optional profile details can be visible to signed-in members, subject to privacy and blocking controls. Do not put information in your profile that you want to keep private.

Direct messages are stored and delivered to their participants. They are not end-to-end encrypted. Authorized owners and administrators can review stored profiles, sent direct messages, room conversations and activity records to investigate reports and maintain the service. Staff review access is logged. Unsent drafts and keystrokes are not collected. The app does not promise that stored messages are inaccessible to the service operator.

Wall posts and published Gather listings are shared with eligible members. Private room content is available to accepted room members. Meet Now contact details and Gather meeting places have separate acceptance or approval controls. People can retain information they have already seen or copied.

Optional communities and sexual health

You choose your community tags; the app does not infer them from photos or messages. Tags and display names can be searched within normal discovery privacy and city rules. Discreet is a self-description, not a privacy setting.

HIV status, PrEP and doxy-PEP use are optional and self-reported. They are saved for profile display only when you explicitly choose to share. Eligible signed-in members viewing your profile and authorized staff conducting investigations can see shared details. They are not health verification or discovery filters. Leave a field blank, or uncheck sharing and save, to clear the current stored profile fields. Earlier encrypted backups and copies retained by other people may remain. No medical records are requested.

Your private Favorites list

When you save a member to Favorites, the app stores that account reference and a timestamp with your own account. Your Favorites list is available across devices when you sign in. Other members are not notified and cannot see who you have saved.

Favorites do not bypass age screening, suspension, blocking, hidden-profile settings or city access. An unavailable saved profile may not appear in your list. Remove from favorites clears that saved link; ordinary backups can retain an earlier copy. The other person’s profile picture above chat follows Safe View and their saved photo or avatar choice.

Lantern, waves and check-in reminders

Lantern is the name for the discovery map and its display controls. Its hexagonal glow marks approved place listings; it does not show member activity, popularity or attendance. Map/list and place-glow preferences are stored on this device.

If you choose to share an intent, its label and expiry are saved with your account and shown to eligible members while your profile is discoverable. Intents expire after your chosen period and can be cleared sooner. Hidden presence, Ghost Mode, blocking and adult eligibility still apply. An intent is self-declared and is not a location report or consent to meet.

Waves store the two account references, status and timestamps. Only the participants can view or respond. Pending waves expire after 24 hours. An accepted wave creates a revocable mutual connection for contact, with no location permission. Ignore, cancel, end a connection or block from Inbox. Blocking cancels existing waves and connections and revokes Gather approval between a host and attendee; unblocking does not restore them.

Lantern check-ins store one private reminder, deadline and completion/cancellation status per account. Reminders appear while the app is open or when you return. They do not send push, email, SMS, trusted-contact or emergency alerts. Closing the app or device power saving can delay a reminder. Message and wave alerts inside the app use generic text without names or message previews; disable them in Settings or use Do not disturb. Push notifications are not enabled.

Gather rules, capacity and end times are saved with the event. Only the host and approved attendees can open its chat before it ends. Chat messages remain stored after the end or revocation; prior viewers may keep copies. These records follow the same retention and encrypted-backup limits as other account activity.

Place layers and member activity

Spot submissions retain your account reference, listing details, venue coordinates and review status. Staff review submissions before publication; other members see approved listing details, not the submitter’s account reference. Reports can be sent to staff from each spot.

The map’s place layers use approved venue locations. Member-derived glow, member pins, check-ins and attendance counts are disabled. Member movement, presence and blocking do not affect the published place layers. Existing saved locations do not give consent to a future member-activity feature.

Location is optional

Nothing requests device location until you choose a location button. Your browser controls permission. Save profile can store a rounded device position privately with your account. Ordinary member responses do not include other members’ saved coordinates, including for conversations and Favorites.

Locate me shows a one-time blue device marker and, when supplied by the device, an accuracy circle on your screen. It does not publish your position. Clear my device marker removes that local display. Remove my saved device location in My profile, then Save profile, removes the saved coordinates. Your chosen profile city remains visible under discovery rules. The app does not follow your location in the background.

The map uses OpenStreetMap tiles. Loading tiles shares your IP address and requested map area with that provider. Opening an external map link also shares its search text, such as a meeting place and city, with the map service. Explicit Meet Now sharing and staff investigation access have separate controls; this change does not make those records inaccessible to their authorized recipients.

Controls you have now

• Edit your profile and clear optional details, then save.
• Remove your saved device location. Use Hidden presence or Ghost Mode to leave discovery; existing conversations and content you publish have separate visibility rules.
• Block unwanted contact and report a concern. Submitting a report also blocks that member for you and cancels meetup invitations between you. Reports retain your selected reason, optional details, the member reference/name and, when selected, a reference to the reported photo or avatar revision for moderator review. Unblocking does not withdraw the report. Safe View hides other members’ pictures on your device; it does not hide your own profile from them.
• Replace or remove your photo or avatar, manage account security and sign out other sessions.

Closing an account hides its profile and ends sign-in sessions. It does not permanently erase the stored account, messages or other records. A retention schedule and a complete export/erasure process have not yet been established. Removing visible content does not promise removal of every backup copy or information another member retained.

Security and recovery

Use a unique password. Authenticator-based verification and recovery keys are available in Account security. The operator’s backup tools use encrypted archives; account and service records may be included in backups. No system can promise absolute security.

The avatar studio lets you select appearance settings and save a portrait. It does not scan your face to verify your identity. Uploaded profile photos are prepared as resized JPEG images by the profile uploader. Embedded camera and location metadata is removed on the server before profile photos or avatar portraits are saved or delivered, including when an older stored image is viewed. This does not hide location information visible in the picture itself. Earlier stored originals and encrypted backups may retain information until an applicable retention or removal process handles them.

Payments, links and support

This beta does not collect payment details or charge for memberships. The current app does not include advertising trackers. External services linked from Help & Safety have their own privacy practices.

During this limited beta, use your existing contact with the test organizer to reach NexConnect’s owner about account access, correction, deletion or other privacy concerns. Do not include passwords, authenticator codes, recovery keys or bank details in a request.

A dedicated public privacy contact has not yet been published. If you do not already have a way to reach the organizer, avoid submitting sensitive information until that contact is available. This page does not establish a response deadline, waive privacy rights or replace any rights provided by applicable law.

Report a concern

Report a profile or request intimate-image removal without an account. Your contact details and report are available to authorized staff. Keep the private tracking key to check the response.

Optional social handles

You can add Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok usernames to your profile. Saved handles are shared with signed-in members who can access your profile under the existing visibility and blocking rules. Leave a handle blank and save to remove it from your current profile. Earlier copies and backups may retain it. Opening a social link takes you to that service, whose privacy rules apply. NexConnect does not connect to that account or request its password.