NearArc
All policies

NearArc Government Request Guidelines

Effective date: 20 October 2026 · Last updated: 21 October 2026

NearArc is a service provided by Zach Jensz (ABN 95 243 396 633), a sole trader based in Victoria, Australia (we, us, our). These guidelines explain how we handle requests from police, courts, regulators and other government authorities for information about NearArc members, and what members should know about those requests. Part A is for members. Part B is for authorities. Our Privacy Policy explains what information we hold and how we handle it generally.

At a glance

  • We disclose member information to authorities only where Australian law requires or permits it, such as under a warrant, court order or other compulsory notice.
  • We review every request for legal validity and scope. We may refuse, narrow or challenge a request that is invalid or broader than the law allows.
  • Messages on NearArc are not end-to-end encrypted. If the law requires us to, we can be compelled to provide message content, but we only hand over message content under a warrant or court order that specifically covers it.
  • We tell affected members about a request only where the law requires us to. Some laws prohibit us from telling you at all.
  • Assume that governments may be able to obtain your information without NearArc being able to tell you.
  • In an emergency, call emergency services first: 000 in Australia, 111 in New Zealand, 911 in Canada and the United States. NearArc is run by one person and does not have a 24/7 response desk.
  • Authorities can send requests to legal@neararc.com.
  • We do not currently publish a transparency report.

Part A: For members

1. What these guidelines cover

These guidelines cover requests from government bodies for information about NearArc members or their activity. This includes police and other law enforcement agencies, intelligence and security agencies, courts, regulators such as the eSafety Commissioner, and foreign authorities.

They don't cover requests from private parties, such as a lawyer acting in a civil dispute. Those generally need a court order or subpoena, and we handle them under our Privacy Policy and the law.

2. What information we hold

Our Privacy Policy (section 2) lists the information we collect. In summary, it can include:

  • account and profile information, such as your name, username, email address, phone number and profile details;
  • sign-in and security records, such as sign-in events, devices, browsers, IP addresses and times;
  • connections, invitations, blocks and reports;
  • messages, photographs and other content;
  • events and communities, such as invitations, who you connected with at an event, and information we import or organisers record; and
  • technical and usage information, such as access logs and your city and country from your profile.

How long we keep each type of information is set out in section 6 of the Privacy Policy.

3. What this means for your messages

Messages on NearArc are encrypted in transit but are not end-to-end encrypted. We explain why in section 7 of the Privacy Policy. Because we can technically access message content, an authority with the right legal power can require us to hand it over. If you need communications that a service provider cannot read, use a tool designed for that purpose.

4. When we disclose your information

We disclose information to a government authority only where one of these applies:

  • We are legally required to. For example, a court order, warrant, subpoena or notice that compels us to produce information.
  • The law permits it and it is necessary to prevent serious harm. For example, where we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to someone's life, health or safety and it is unreasonable or impracticable to get consent.
  • The law permits it for enforcement purposes and we judge it appropriate. Australian privacy law allows disclosure where we reasonably believe it is reasonably necessary for an enforcement body's enforcement-related activities. We do not treat this as a blanket permission. We generally require formal legal process unless there is an emergency.
  • You ask us to, or consent.

Some regulators also have their own information-gathering powers. For example, under the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), the eSafety Commissioner can give us a notice requiring identity information or contact details we hold about a member. Our Safety Centre explains how we handle eSafety removal notices.

We may also report content and conduct to authorities on our own initiative where the law requires or permits it, such as child sexual exploitation material or credible threats of violence.

We disclose only what the request lawfully covers, and no more than is necessary.

5. Will we tell you?

We tell affected members about a government request only where the law requires us to.

In many cases the law prevents us from telling you. For example:

  • a court or authority may order us to keep a request confidential;
  • under Part 15 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth), introduced by the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018, it is a criminal offence to disclose information about technical assistance requests and notices from Australian security and law enforcement agencies, except as that law allows; and
  • other laws restrict what we can say about certain warrants and investigations.

You should assume that governments may be able to obtain your information without NearArc being able to tell you. This includes authorities outside Australia, where they can use legal channels recognised in Australia (see section 13).

6. Information held by others

Some of your information may be held by people and services other than us. For example, our hosting, email, SMS, content delivery and moderation providers process information for us, and some operate in other countries (see section 7 of the Privacy Policy). Event organisers see attendee information, and other members may keep copies of messages and content on their devices. Authorities may be able to obtain information from those parties directly, under the laws that apply to them, without going through us.

7. Questions

This page explains our practices. It is not legal advice. If you are involved in a legal matter or investigation, get advice from a lawyer. For questions about your own information, email support@neararc.com.

Part B: For authorities

8. How to submit a request

Send requests to legal@neararc.com. Please:

  • send it from an official government email address, or include a way for us to verify that it is genuine;
  • attach the legal instrument (for example, the warrant, order, subpoena or notice) as a PDF; and
  • put "Emergency disclosure request" or "Preservation request" in the subject line where that applies.

NearArc is operated by one person, Zach Jensz. We do not have a 24/7 law enforcement desk or phone line, and we cannot guarantee an immediate response. If anyone is in immediate danger, contact emergency services first: 000 in Australia, 111 in New Zealand, 911 in Canada and the United States.

We do not currently have a physical address for service, so we accept legal process by email at legal@neararc.com only. If your process must be served physically, contact us by email first and we will work with you on how to accept it. Sending a request by email does not waive any objection we may have, including to the validity of service, and does not mean we accept service of legal process on behalf of anyone else.

9. What a valid request must include

A request must be made under legal process that is valid under Australian law. It should include:

  • the name of the requesting authority, and the name, title, badge or identification number, official email address and phone number of the responsible officer;
  • the legal authority for the request (the Act and section, or the court and order) and a copy of the instrument;
  • enough information to identify the account, such as the NearArc profile URL or username, or the email address or phone number linked to it;
  • the specific information sought, and the date range it covers;
  • for compulsory process, the date by which a response is required; and
  • any non-disclosure requirement and the law that imposes it.

Please make requests as narrow as possible. Requests for "all information" about an account, or for information about everyone who attended an event or joined a community, will usually be treated as overbroad.

10. How we review requests

We review every request individually. We check that:

  • it comes from an authority with power to make it;
  • it is made under legal process that is valid under Australian law and has been properly issued and served;
  • it identifies the account and information sought with reasonable precision; and
  • it is no broader than the legal authority allows.

We may ask for clarification, narrow the scope, refuse, or challenge a request that we consider invalid, unclear or overbroad. Where we can, we will discuss concerns with the requesting officer first.

Where a request seeks message content, we require a warrant or court order that specifically authorises access to content. We do not provide message content in response to any other kind of request, including emergency disclosure and preservation requests (we will preserve it, but release it only under a warrant or order).

We keep a record of each request and of what we disclose, as Australian privacy law requires for disclosures made for enforcement purposes.

11. Emergency disclosure requests

If you believe there is an imminent threat of death or serious physical harm to any person, you can send an emergency disclosure request without formal legal process. Send it to legal@neararc.com with "Emergency disclosure request" in the subject line. Include:

  • your name, agency, role and official contact details, including a phone number we can call to verify the request;
  • a description of the emergency and why it is imminent;
  • why the information is needed to prevent the harm, and why the usual legal process cannot be used in time;
  • the account the request relates to; and
  • the specific information you need.

We will review emergency requests as soon as practicable. If we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to someone's life, health or safety, we may disclose information permitted by law, limited to what is needed to address the emergency. We may ask for follow-up legal process afterwards.

Because we do not have a 24/7 desk, an email to us is not a substitute for emergency services.

12. Preservation requests

You can ask us to preserve information for a specified account while you obtain formal legal process. Send the request to legal@neararc.com with "Preservation request" in the subject line, and include the details in section 9 that apply.

On receiving a valid preservation request, we will take reasonable steps to preserve a one-time snapshot of the existing information for 90 days. You can ask to extend this once for a further 90 days. We will release the preserved information only under valid legal process (for message content, a warrant or court order, as described in section 10). Where Australian law provides a formal preservation notice, we will comply with it according to its terms.

Preservation works only for information we still hold when we receive the request (see section 15).

13. Requests from outside Australia

NearArc is operated from Australia, and we respond to legal process that is valid under Australian law. A foreign warrant, subpoena or court order is not, on its own, binding on us.

Foreign authorities should generally use Australian legal channels, such as a mutual legal assistance request to the Australian Government, or another mechanism that Australian law recognises. Australian authorities can then obtain any Australian legal process needed and provide the information to you.

We may respond directly to a foreign emergency disclosure request (section 11) or preservation request (section 12) where Australian law permits it. We will not disclose message content to a foreign authority without a warrant or court order valid under Australian law.

14. Where information is stored

Our primary database is currently hosted in Australia, but this may change. Some of our service providers store or process information in other countries, as described in section 7 of the Privacy Policy. We can only provide information that we hold or control.

15. What we generally can't provide

  • Deleted information. When information is deleted, it may remain in backups for a limited time until those backups are overwritten on their rolling schedule. After that, we cannot recover it. See section 6 of the Privacy Policy.
  • Passwords. NearArc uses passkeys, not passwords. We store only each passkey's public key. We never hold members' private keys and cannot use a passkey to access an account.
  • Biometric data. Passkeys may use a fingerprint or face scan on the member's own device, but that never leaves the device. We don't hold biometric data.
  • One-time sign-in codes. These are not kept after use.
  • Precise location. We do not collect GPS location. We may hold the city and country you set on your profile.
  • Information on members' devices. NearArc stores some data in members' browsers. We cannot access data that is only on someone's device.
  • Information held by third parties. Including external event platforms that imported events link to, and information organisers have recorded outside NearArc.

16. Technical assistance

Technical assistance requests, technical assistance notices and technical capability notices under Part 15 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth) must be made by an agency head or minister authorised to issue them, in the form the law requires. We assess each one against the limits in that Part, including the prohibition on requiring us to build or implement a systemic weakness or vulnerability. We consider voluntary technical assistance requests case by case and are not obliged to agree to them. We comply with the confidentiality obligations that apply to all of them.

17. Costs

Where the law allows, we may seek reimbursement of reasonable costs of responding to a request. We will not charge for responding to emergency disclosure requests.

18. Changes to these guidelines

We may update these guidelines as the law and our services change. We will publish the current version on neararc.com with its effective date.

19. Contact us

Zach Jensz, Legal contact ABN 95 243 396 633 Victoria, Australia Law enforcement and government requests: legal@neararc.com Website: neararc.com

In an emergency, call 000 (Australia), 111 (New Zealand) or 911 (Canada and the United States).

Zach Jensz · ABN 95 243 396 633 · Victoria, Australia · neararc.com