How we collect, use, and protect your data on the Muslim Maps website and apps.
Last updated: 29 October 2026 · Version 18
Our Commitment
Sacred Sayings Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14898313), registered office 124-128 City Road, London, England, EC1V 2NX, operates Muslim Maps and is the data controller for personal data processed through the Muslim Maps website (muslimmaps.app) and the Muslim Maps apps for iOS and Android (together, the “service”). This policy covers both, and explains our account, location, contribution and usage data practices. Contact us at info@muslimmaps.app or through our contact page.
Information We Collect
Personal information
- Account ID, email address and any name supplied when you register or sign in with email, Google or Apple. If you use Sign in with Apple and choose Hide My Email, we receive an Apple relay address instead of your own.
- Profile details and public/private visibility choices you provide
- Reviews, ratings, comments and place suggestions you submit
- Places you log as visited, with any notes and photos you add to them
- Photos and other content you upload. Before storing a photo we remove its location, date and time, serial numbers and owner details, and keep only basic camera settings.
- Contact enquiries, including your name, email, optional phone number and message. A signed-in enquiry may also be associated with your account ID.
- Sign-in and security records: the email address used, the result, IP address, approximate location derived from it, and browser or device type, plus records of signed-in sessions
- Reports you make about content or members, and suggestions you send
- Your email-news preference
Usage information
- Pages and places you view, account-based Recently Viewed history, saved places and guides, collections and their memberships
- Place-page view records: the time, your IP address and browser type, used to count views and prevent abuse
- Search queries and preferences. When app usage statistics are on, the app also sends search terms to our own search log with language, platform, selected tab and result count, but no account ID or device ID. We use this log to improve search and identify missing results, and remove entries older than 12 months through daily cleanup.
- Technical information such as device or browser details, IP address and security or request logs processed by our service providers
- Photos uploaded without an account, stored with a one-way coded form of your network address and a random identifier for your browser or app installation, used only to apply daily upload limits and prevent abuse
- Your device location, only when you use Near Me, Detect location or other location features and allow it. It is used to show nearby places and is not stored on your profile.
Member blocking
If you block another member, we keep a private block list linked to your account so that their reviews, review photos and public profile can be hidden from you. Other members cannot see your block list, and the blocked member is not notified. You can view the list and unblock members in Privacy Settings. Your block list is removed when your account deletion is processed.
Religious beliefs
We do not ask about your religion. Your saves, visits and reviews of religious sites could suggest your beliefs. We use them only to provide the features you choose, never to profile you or for advertising, and your saves and visits stay private unless you choose to share them.
Mobile App
- Location: used only while the app is open, and only when you use Near Me or other location features. It is not stored on your profile.
- Photos and camera: the photo library (and camera, where offered) is used only when you add photos to a review, a visit, a place submission, a place page or a suggested edit.
- Sign-in: by email, Google or Apple. Your sign-in session is kept in secure storage on your device. Some preferences and device-saved items are kept on the device.
- Maps and search: maps come from Google Maps and search uses Algolia.
- Usage statistics: When the app’s usage statistics setting is on, the iOS and Android apps send screen and interaction events, search terms, app version and device details, and a pseudonymous app-instance ID to Google Analytics for Firebase to help us understand and improve the service. They never send an account ID or advertising ID. Ad storage and ad personalisation are off. On iPhone, the app asks everyone, in every country, before turning usage statistics on. On Android, it asks in the EU/EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and when your country is unknown; elsewhere statistics start on, with a notice and a switch in Settings. You can switch them off at any time in the app’s Settings using the usage statistics switch.
- Advertising: the app has no advertising or advertising ID tracking.
- Optional notifications: the iOS and Android apps offer mobile push notifications. We send them only to opted-in devices after you grant notification permission. You can turn them off in the app or your phone settings and continue using the service without them.
- Deletion: you can request account deletion in the app’s account settings as well as on the website.
Google Maps and place lookups are also covered by the Google Privacy Policy.
How We Use Data
Service provision
- Provide and maintain the website and apps
- Process place submissions, edits, reviews, uploaded photos and support requests
- Store and retrieve your saves, collections, visits and account settings across devices
- Support sign-in, account verification and account recovery
Improvement and safety
- Measure website and app usage and improve the service
- Screen uploads and help prepare or translate place information using automated tools
- Respond to support enquiries
- Keep the service secure and prevent abuse
Automated screening
We use automated screening for reviews and photos through the Lovable AI Gateway, which passes review text or photos to an AI model from OpenAI. Clearly safe reviews can be published automatically; other reviews wait for staff. Every photo, from members and guests, waits for our team before it appears. Photos are never published or rejected automatically: screening only adds an advisory note for staff, and our team declines photos that break the rules. If you think a decision is wrong, contact us and a member of staff will review it.
Contact emails
When you contact us, we use Lovable’s built-in email service to send your name, email, optional phone number and message to our support mailbox, and to send you a receipt containing a copy of your enquiry. The support notification uses your email as the reply address. We record whether each email was accepted for sending; acceptance does not guarantee delivery. Contact email processing is used to handle your enquiry, not for marketing.
Legal bases
- Contract: providing your account and the features you use.
- Legitimate interests: security and abuse prevention, moderation and automated screening, counting views, crash diagnostics, website usage statistics outside the EU/EEA, and Android app usage statistics outside the EU/EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland only, and our search log used to improve search without account or device identifiers, handling enquiries and improving the service.
- Consent: website usage statistics in the EU/EEA or when your country is unknown, iPhone app usage statistics everywhere, and Android app usage statistics in the EU/EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland or when your country is unknown, push notifications and email news, which you can withdraw at any time.
- Legal obligation: records required by law and lawful requests.
Retention & Deletion
Account records, saves, collections and visits are kept while your account is active. You can request account deletion in Privacy Settings on the website or Account settings in the Muslim Maps app.
- 30-day reactivation period. We show the date your request becomes ready for processing. You can still sign in and reactivate until your request is processed. Your public profile and public visits are hidden immediately; private data stays unchanged until processing.
- Manual completion. After the 30-day period, an authorised administrator manually processes your request, removes your personal account records and sign-in account, and removes non-retained uploaded files from our storage providers. Staff process your account when the 30-day reactivation period ends, at the latest by the next working day. Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding England and Wales bank holidays. File removal is tracked separately until completed.
- What stays. Published reviews, approved photos and approved place listings stay without your name, shown as from a former member. A non-public anonymised identity record is retained only to preserve those contributions.
- Archive copy. Before processing, we keep a private copy of Download My Data content plus the deletion request. Only super administrators can access it. The archive is permanently purged 1 year after processing. During that year it is kept to handle disputes and legal claims, prevent abuse and meet legal obligations. Staff receive reminders for purge deadlines.
Staff may process early at your request or pause processing for a dispute or legal obligation. You may contact us for the progress of your request.
If you signed in with Apple, we ask Apple to revoke Muslim Maps’ access to your Apple account when you delete your account.
How long we keep records
| Record | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Account data | While your account is active, then as described under Retention & Deletion |
| Sign-in attempts and signed-in session records | 12 months |
| Place-page view IP address and browser type | 30 days (the view count is kept) |
| Contact enquiries | 2 years |
| Reports about content or members | 2 years after resolution, unless held for a dispute |
| Push notification send, receipt and open records | 12 months |
| Our search log: search terms, language, platform, tab and result count; no account or device ID | 12 months; older entries removed by daily cleanup |
| Guest photo and lookup rate-limit records | 30 days |
| Crash diagnostics | Kept by Expo for a limited period under its retention settings |
Our raw diagnostic events are kept for 90 days. Expo retains installation-level EAS Observe reporting for 90 to 120 days. Grouped issue records are kept to track recurring faults until no longer needed.
Data Protection
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction, including:
- HTTPS connections to our services
- Account-scoped access rules for private records
- Upload validation and server-side request checks
- Permission checks for staff tools; deletion archives are limited to authorised staff
- Sign-in sessions in the app kept in the device’s secure storage
No system can guarantee absolute security.
Your Privacy Rights
Depending on the legal basis and circumstances, UK data protection law gives you these rights:
- Access: request a copy of your personal data
- Correction: update or correct inaccurate information
- Deletion: request deletion of your account in Privacy Settings or in the app, as described under Retention & Deletion
- Portability: use Download My Data in Privacy Settings to download your account records as JSON, including saved guides and collection memberships. Photos are referenced by their links; image files are not included.
- Objection and restriction: object to or ask us to limit how we use your data
- Visibility: change Public profile in Privacy Settings and choose whether to share notes and photos on individual visits
- Consent: where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it at any time
To exercise these rights, email info@muslimmaps.app or use our contact page. We normally respond within one month. You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office or your local data protection authority.
Children
The service is not intended for children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
Email updates
Update newsletters are sent only if you opt in. Choose Weekly, Monthly or Off in Notification settings. Resend sends these updates from updates@muslimmaps.app, with replies to info@muslimmaps.app. Account, sign-up, verification, password and deletion emails continue through Lovable’s built-in email service, unchanged.
Updates are sent at most weekly, on Saturday at 09:00 in your time zone, and are skipped when there is nothing new. They include new guides and notable new places; with personalisation enabled, places follow your interests in countries and kinds of place. We use your account language; Arabic emails receive automatically translated Arabic content, without waiting for manual Arabic approval.
We count clicks using our own tagged campaign links associated privately with your subscription. We do not use open-tracking pixels or Resend link rewriting. After 12 weeks without clicks we move updates to Monthly. After six months without clicks we send one confirmation request and stop updates unless you explicitly choose Yes. Each update has an unsubscribe link, one-click unsubscribe and a preferences link. Resend bounces and complaints turn updates Off. Turning updates Off does not stop account and security emails.
Policy Updates
We update this policy when our data practices change and show the revised date and version at the top. The same policy applies to the website and the apps, and material changes will be highlighted. An update does not by itself give consent for a new use of your data.
Optional Mobile Notifications
Optional mobile push notifications may include Muslim Maps news and updates about places and guides. They are not website browser notifications. In the iOS and Android apps, you choose whether to opt in and grant your phone's notification permission. Arabic devices receive automatically translated Arabic notification text. We use your consent for these optional notifications; you can withdraw it in the app or disable notifications in your phone settings without losing access to the service.
We store your account-linked Expo device token, device platform and opt-in preference to address notifications. Expo Push Service and Apple Push Notification service (iOS) or Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (Android) process device tokens, notification title, message and destination data, and technical delivery information. Notification data includes identifiers used to associate receipt and opening events with a campaign. These providers may process information outside the UK; contact us for information about applicable transfer safeguards.
We record sending attempts, provider acceptance and delivery errors, and actual receipt or opening events reported by the app. We use these account-linked events to measure notification results, including unique opens; provider acceptance alone is not proof that your phone received a notification. Background receipt events are not always available.
Notification contents may be visible on your lock screen depending on your phone settings. Device registrations are removed on sign-out or account switching when the app can contact the service; opting out stops further sending to that registration. Pending account-deletion requests are excluded from sending. Account-linked notification records are removed during account-deletion processing under the Retention & Deletion section. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that already took place.
App Update Notices
The app can show an optional notice linking to an available Apple App Store or Google Play update. This in-app notice is separate from Expo push notifications and does not require push-notification permission. You can continue using the app without following the store link.
The app reports when the notice is shown and when its store button is tapped. These records contain the platform (iOS or Android), release version, event type and timestamp; no account ID or device token is stored with the update event. Our service providers may separately process normal connection and security information. We use aggregate event counts and click percentages to understand update-notice engagement. They do not prove a download or installation, or count unique people or devices. Opening the store also involves Apple's or Google's services.
App Installs & Personalisation
Install identity
Each app install (and each browser that opts in on the website) has a random install ID. It is not linked to your account unless you sign in on that device, and signing out detaches it again. The install ID keeps your notification permission, language and time zone so notifications reach you correctly.
Personalised recommendations
If you switch on personalisation, we record the places, guides and countries you look at under your install ID to tailor suggestions. It is off by default, you can turn it off at any time in Privacy Settings, and turning it off stops new recording. Interest records are never used for advertising and are removed after 13 months without activity, or when you delete your account.
Notifications
Notifications are grouped into three topics — new guides, new places and a weekly roundup — and each topic can be switched on or off per device. We respect a daily limit, your local quiet hours and a pause after several unopened notifications. Arabic devices receive Arabic text, translated automatically without waiting for manual Arabic approval.
Guide feedback
At the end of a guide you can say whether it was helpful, with an optional reason and short comment. One answer is kept per browser or install per guide; a new answer replaces the earlier one. Feedback is not linked to analytics or personalisation.
Weekly email
Email updates are optional and off unless you opt in at sign-up or in Notification settings. Choose Weekly, Monthly or Off in Notification settings on the website or in the app. The website also offers the same preference in Privacy Settings.
Campaign links
Short links we share (for example on social media) count how many visits each link brings, in aggregate only. No personal data is stored with a visit.
Guest place submissions
You can suggest a place and submit photos without an account. Your place and photos wait for staff review. After submission you may optionally give your name, email address or phone number so staff can contact you about that submission; these contact details are private and are not used to subscribe you to marketing.
We keep only a one-way hash of your secure submission receipt. The receipt allows access to that submission for 30 days while it remains pending. Keep it private; anyone holding it can access and update that submission. We do not store the receipt in ordinary browser drafts or include it in links. Losing it means access cannot be recovered. We use one-way coded network addresses and random browser or installation identifiers to limit repeated submissions and photo uploads and prevent abuse. Guest submissions and private contact details follow our contribution and security retention rules.
Diagnostics & performance
Muslim Maps diagnostics
The website and app send crash and error reports, performance measurements, device and app details (platform, version, build, update and language), affected page paths and a pseudonymous install identifier to our diagnostics-ingest service. We use these reports to find faults, monitor reliability and improve performance, not for advertising. The install identifier is hashed before storage. We remove URL query strings, email addresses and phone numbers and do not attach account identities. Our authorised staff and hosting/database processors, including Lovable Cloud, receive these reports. Raw diagnostic events are kept for 90 days. Grouped issue records, counts, affected versions and paths are retained to track recurring faults until no longer needed; they are not raw event histories.
Expo EAS Observe
The app also uses Expo EAS Observe. Expo receives app start-up timings, events, errors, device and app details and a pseudonymous identifier for each installation to help diagnose app reliability and performance. Expo keeps installation-level reporting for 90 to 120 days under its retention settings. These reports are not linked to account identities and neither Expo reporting nor our own diagnostics is used for advertising.