Privacy First
Your contacts. Your notes. Your iCloud. Never our servers.
Last Updated: August 6, 2026
Our Privacy Philosophy
Nexus Contacts is built on a simple principle: your data belongs to you. We don't want your data. We don't need your data. We built Common Nexus to prove that powerful apps don't require privacy compromises.
What We Don't Collect
- Contacts - Your iOS contacts stay in Apple's Contacts framework — Nexus Contacts never copies them to our servers
- Photos - Selfies stay on your device (and in your own iCloud, if you turn sync on)
- Notes - Your private notes stay on your device or in your own iCloud — never on our servers
- Location - GPS data stays on-device (and in your own iCloud, if syncing), never transmitted to us
- Usage data - We don't track how you use the app
How Your Data Is Stored
All Nexus Contacts data is stored on your device. iCloud sync is optional and off by default on new installs: if you turn it on, your data syncs to your personal iCloud account via Apple's CloudKit, encrypted by Apple — we have no servers and never see it. (If you were already syncing in an earlier version, sync stays on; you can switch to this-device-only in Settings.) You can also export a complete backup at any time — a single file that documents its own format, readable with or without our app.
The one record Common Nexus can ever see: if you redeem a promotional comp code we issued you, a redemption entry (the code and an anonymous account identifier) is stored so the code can't be reused. No contacts, notes, or photos are ever included.
No Account Required
Nexus Contacts works without creating an account. There's no login, no profile, no user ID — just download and start using. The app never asks for your email address.
The one place we can hold an email address is if you type one into a form on this website — the updates newsletter or a business inquiry. That's optional, it's separate from the app, and it's described in full below.
Support Emails
When you email us at any @commonnexus.com address (support inquiries, privacy requests), we receive your email address, name, and message. This data is processed by Microsoft (Microsoft 365) and used only to respond to your inquiry. We do not add you to any mailing list or share your information.
Newsletter and Website Forms
If you enter your email address in a form on this website — "Get updates", or the business-inquiry form — here is exactly what happens.
What we store
- Your email address, lowercased.
- Which form(s) you used — a short source tag such as
app,nexuscontactsorb2b-custom-dev. If you use more than one form with the same address, the tags accumulate on a single record; we do not keep separate lists. - When you first signed up, and whether you have confirmed.
- Your message, if the form you used has a message field.
- A flag noting whether the address is at a consumer mail provider — used only to tell business inquiries apart from personal ones.
We also increment an anonymous counter (Cloudflare Analytics Engine) recording that a signup happened from a given form. It contains no email address and cannot be linked back to you.
Where it's stored — Cloudflare Workers KV, a key-value store on the same Cloudflare account that hosts this website. It is not in the app, not in your iCloud, and not connected to any of your Nexus Contacts data.
Confirmation — a new signup is stored as unconfirmed and we send one email asking you to confirm. We do not send the newsletter to an address that has not confirmed. Ignore that email and you never hear from us again.
How long we keep it — until you unsubscribe. There is no other expiry, and no archive: unsubscribing deletes the whole record, not just a mailing flag.
Unsubscribing — every email we send carries a one-click unsubscribe link, or you can remove yourself at nexuscontacts.com/unsubscribe at any time, without contacting us. To ask what we hold about an address, or to have it removed by hand, email [email protected].
We never sell, rent, or share this list. Email we send — the confirmation message and any reply to a business inquiry — goes out through Microsoft 365, the same mail system that runs our company email. We deliberately do not use a separate email-marketing vendor: fewer companies holding your address is the point.
Backup & Export
You can export all your Nexus Contacts data at any time. The backup file stays on your device or wherever you choose to save it. We never have access to your backups.
Third-Party Processors
Common Nexus relies on a small number of trusted processors. No user data is sold or shared for marketing purposes.
| Processor | What They Handle |
|---|---|
| Apple (iCloud/CloudKit) | Syncs your Nexus Contacts data between your devices via your private iCloud account |
| Apple (App Store) | App distribution |
| Microsoft (Microsoft 365) | Handles our email both ways: messages you send to an @commonnexus.com address (support inquiries, privacy requests), and messages we send you — the newsletter confirmation, and business-inquiry notifications to us. No list is uploaded to it; it sends one message at a time. |
| Cloudflare | Hosts this website, and stores the newsletter / business-inquiry list (email address, source tag, timestamp) in Cloudflare Workers KV. No app data is ever stored there. Separate from Workers KV, Cloudflare also records the web addresses requested from this website, as any web host does, and keeps those records for about four weeks. A shared card link carries the card details (name, phone, email and company) in the web address itself. If the link opens in the app, nothing is requested from this website. If it opens in a browser instead, that address, card details included, is in those records. Having the app installed does not decide which happens; the recipient's device does. Nothing about the people on the wall of the person who shared it is in the link. |
App Permissions — What We Ask For and Why
Nexus Contacts requests only the permissions it needs to function. Each one is used entirely on your device — nothing is sent to our servers or any third party.
Contacts
Why: Nexus Contacts uses your contacts to save the people you meet as new contacts, link a capture to someone already in your address book, and pick companions to include when you share. When you link a person to a contact you choose, Nexus can fill in that contact's empty fields.
How it stays private: Contact data is processed on-device using Apple's Contacts framework. It is never uploaded, synced to our servers, or shared with any external service.
Camera
Why: When you meet someone new, Nexus Contacts lets you take a selfie together to help you remember the moment. The camera is only activated when you start the Share Me + Photo flow.
How it stays private: Photos are captured and stored locally on your device. No copy comes to us; with iCloud sync on they travel through your own iCloud account like the rest of that person’s card. You control whether they are saved to your photo library.
Microphone
Why: With your permission, Nexus Contacts records a few seconds of someone saying their own name, so you can hear how to say it before you meet them again. Before your first recording the app asks you, once, to ask them first.
How it stays private: The clip is saved on that person's card. It stays on your device while iCloud sync is off; with sync on it travels through your own iCloud account like the rest of that card, and it is included if you export a backup file. No copy comes to us.
Photos
Why: Nexus Contacts saves selfies to a dedicated "Nexus Contacts" album in your photo library so you can find them easily. It also reads from your library when you attach a photo to a contact exchange.
How it stays private: Photo access uses Apple's PhotoKit framework. Images remain in your on-device photo library and are never uploaded or analyzed by external services.
Calendar
Why: When you share contacts during an event, Nexus Contacts checks your calendar to auto-fill the event name and context. This saves you from typing "Tech Conference" every time. Calendar access also powers automatic interaction tracking, which logs meetings as interactions with your contacts.
How it stays private: Event names are read locally using Apple's EventKit framework. Calendar data is never stored in Nexus Contacts beyond the event name you associate with a contact exchange. No calendar details are sent anywhere.
Location
Why: When you meet someone, Nexus Contacts can tag the location to help you remember where you met. This is optional and only used during the contact exchange flow.
How it stays private: Location coordinates are stored locally in your Nexus Contacts data on-device. They are never transmitted to our servers and never used for tracking. When you begin a capture, the coordinate is sent to Apple to look up a name for the spot — this happens each time you begin a capture even if you do not finish it, again when you take a selfie, and again if you tap the location button. The coordinate and the name are then saved with that person on your device, and sync through your own iCloud account if you have sync on.
Notifications
Why: Nexus Contacts sends local notifications for follow-up reminders — helping you stay in touch with the people who matter. All notifications are scheduled locally on your device.
How it stays private: Notifications are managed entirely by iOS on your device. No push notification server is involved for reminders. We do not see when or why you are notified.
In summary: Every permission Nexus Contacts requests is used on your device, for your benefit, under your control. Your Nexus Contacts data syncs to your iCloud account — not to our servers. We run no server that collects your contacts, notes, photos, or usage, and no analytics tracks your behavior in the app. This website is a separate thing: it records anonymous, aggregate information about how its pages and links are used, and an email address if you choose to type one into a form — see Newsletter and Website Forms. Neither is tied to you, and neither reaches anything in the app. A stored email address you can delete yourself at any time.
Regulatory Compliance
Nexus Contacts is built to align with GDPR, CCPA/CPRA and India's DPDP Act by holding as little as possible. We cannot misuse data we never have. For full details including processor certifications and regulation-by-regulation coverage, see our Compliance page.
Questions?
If you have any questions about privacy, reach out at [email protected].