Privacy Policy

Last updated June 9, 2026

Who we are

OurNextCity (“OurNextCity”, “we”, “us”, “our”) helps two people privately compare and choose a city to live in together. We are the controller of the personal data described in this policy. The legal entity that operates OurNextCity and its registered address are set out in the “Contact” section below. If anything here is unclear, write to privacy@ournextcity.com and a real person will answer.

The short version

• We collect only what we need to run the service: your email, the answers you give, and basic billing status if you upgrade.
• Your individual answers are never shown to your partner. Only the merged shortlist is shared between you, and only after you have both finished.
• We never sell or rent your data, and we never build advertising profiles.
• You can export or delete your data at any time.

What we collect

Account information. When you sign in we store your email address and, if you use a social login, the basic profile details that provider returns (typically your name and email). Sign-in is passwordless, so we never store a password.

Your intake answers. We store the answers you give to the relocation questions, including the relative weight you place on each factor, the country you live in, your passport country, the country you want to stay near, and the household financial range you select. We use these to compute your match scores and the visa and residency notes shown in your results.

Project and partner details.A “project” is one relocation decision shared between two people. If you invite a partner, we store the email address you provide so we can send the invitation, plus the names you each choose to show. Your partner's own answers belong to them and follow this same policy.

Billing information. If you subscribe to Plus, payment is handled by Stripe. We do not see or store your full card number; we keep only a Stripe customer reference, your subscription status, and the date your current period ends.

Technical and usage data. Like most sites, our servers receive standard request data such as your IP address and browser type. We use privacy-focused analytics (Piwik PRO / Matomo) to understand aggregate usage. We configure it to respect the “Do Not Track” signal and we never use it for advertising.

Cookies and similar technologies

We keep cookies to a minimum. The ones we use are:

• Sign-in. A secure session cookie that keeps you logged in, and, for partners who join without an account, a signed cookie that links you to the right project. These are strictly necessary.
• Preferences. A small value that remembers your light or dark theme.
• Analytics. If analytics is enabled, it may set a cookie to measure aggregate usage. You can decline it through your browser or by enabling “Do Not Track”.

How we use your data

• To run the service: build your shortlist and merge it with your partner's once you both finish.
• To send transactional email: magic sign-in links, partner invitations, nudges, and the “results are ready” note.
• To take payment and manage your Plus subscription.
• To keep the service secure, prevent abuse, and meet our legal obligations.
• To understand, in aggregate, which parts of the product help and which confuse, so we can improve them.

Our legal bases

Where the GDPR or similar laws apply, we rely on these bases: performance of our contract with you (to provide the service and billing); your consent (for optional analytics, which you can withdraw); our legitimate interests (to keep the service secure and to improve it, balanced against your rights); and compliance with legal obligations (such as keeping tax records).

Who we share it with

We do not sell your data. We share it only with the service providers that help us run OurNextCity, each acting on our instructions under a data processing agreement:

• Hosting and database. Our application and MongoDB database, which store your account, answers, and projects.
• Stripe for payment processing and subscription management (privacy policy).
• Resend for sending transactional email (privacy policy).
• Sign-in providers you choose to use, namely Google, Facebook, X, or Apple.
• Piwik PRO / Matomo for privacy-focused analytics, when enabled.

City photography is served through Unsplash, but those requests are made by our servers and do not include any information about you. We may also disclose data if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of OurNextCity and its users.

What your partner can and cannot see

This is the heart of how OurNextCity works. Your individual answers are private. Your partner cannot see how you answered any single question. Once you have both finished, we show each of you the same merged shortlist, along with where you agree and where you differ at the level of factors, not raw answers. The names and email addresses you each provide are visible within the shared project so you know who you are deciding with.

International transfers

Some of our providers may process data outside your country, including in the United States. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

How long we keep it

We keep your account and answers for as long as your account is active so you can return to your results. If you delete your account, we delete your personal data within 30 days, except where we must keep limited records to meet legal, tax, or security obligations. Webhook and billing records are retained as required by law.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you have some or all of these rights: to access the data we hold about you; to correct it; to delete it; to restrict or object to how we use it; to receive a portable copy; and to withdraw consent at any time. To exercise any of these, email privacy@ournextcity.com. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.

Security

We protect your data with encryption in transit, scoped access controls, signature-verified billing webhooks, and passwordless sign-in so there is no password to leak. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to keep the risk low and to respond quickly if something goes wrong.

Children

OurNextCity is intended for adults. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has given us their data, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the product evolves. When we make a material change, we will update the date above and, where appropriate, let you know by email or in the app.

Contact

For any privacy question or request, email privacy@ournextcity.com, or write to us at our general address: hello@ournextcity.com. OurNextCity is operated by Outgrow FZE, 8th Floor, The Offices 4, One Central, Dubai World Trade Center, United Arab Emirates.