Social networks have become an integral part of our everyday lives. However, to operate them, we usually have to share personal data that reveal private pieces of information, a fact that may jeopardize a user’s security. The location of a user is an example of data that can expose a user to safety risks. In this paper, we present Near, a mobile social network that bridges the gap between privacy and location utility, allowing users to find their nearest spatial contacts without revealing anyone’s actual location allowing, for instance, spontaneous meetups for those who value privacy. We discuss alternative architectural choices regarding its implementation and empirically indicate its performance.