Privacy Policy

MUSLIM HEARTS LIMITED (“Muslim Hearts”, “we”, “us” or “our”) takes your privacy seriously and is committed to protecting it.

1. Our approach to privacy

This policy explains how we collect, store, use, share and transfer information that identifies you or relates to you (“personal information”) when you use the Muslim Hearts app, our website at Muslim-hearts.co.uk, any other service we provide, or when you otherwise deal with us (together, the “Services”).

2. Who we are

MUSLIM HEARTS LIMITED (company number 16687523) is the data controller responsible for the personal information we hold about you.

Our registered office is 16 Seymour Court, Bury Old Road, Salford, England, M7 4PX.

We are registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number [ICO REGISTRATION NUMBER].

You can contact us about data protection at info@muslimhearts.co.uk.

3. The personal information we collect and how we use it

Annex 1 lists the types of personal information we collect, what we use it for and the legal basis we rely on.

In general, you give us personal information when you:

(a) sign up and build your profile;

(b) use the Services;

(c) contact us, whether through the Services, by email or online (including on social media);

(d) message other members; and

(e) answer our surveys or take part in our events, campaigns or partnerships.

Signing up with a social media account

If you sign up using a social media or other third-party login (for example Google), you allow that provider to share your name, profile picture and email address with us.

Special category data

Some information you give us is treated as “special category” data, which has extra protection under data protection law. This includes your religion, race, ethnicity and biometric data (such as a face image used to identify you), and anything else you choose to share about your political or philosophical beliefs, health or sex life.

We process this data because you have chosen to provide it to us. We only share it as described in this policy.

Biometric data and identity checks

We may use a third-party identity verification service (the “Verification Provider”) to confirm who you are and to help prevent fraud and abuse. When you sign up, you may be asked to take a selfie. The Verification Provider may use facial recognition to create a unique biometric identifier from your facial features and compare your selfie with your profile photo to check whether they match. You can also choose to verify your photo to earn a verified badge on your profile.

We never receive the biometric identifier itself. The Verification Provider creates and holds it only until the check is finished, then deletes it. For verification and security purposes, we can see your selfie and the result of the check, and we may use these to confirm your identity and protect against fraud and misrepresentation. We do not use, share or keep your biometric information for any other commercial purpose. The Verification Provider handles this information on our behalf under a contract with us.

If a selfie is found to be fraudulent (for example, a photo of someone else used to get past our checks), we may share it with the Verification Provider to help train its systems to detect and prevent fraud. The Verification Provider will keep these images for up to 2 years before deleting them. For more information, see the privacy policy of our Verification Provider, [VERIFICATION PROVIDER NAME AND PRIVACY POLICY LINK].

Private messages, chaperones and safety reviews

We do not routinely read your private messages. However, to keep members safe and to run the Services, we may access and review the messages, photos, videos and voice notes you send or receive. This includes photos and videos sent to be viewed only once, for as long as we still hold them (for example, if they have not been opened yet or have been reported to us). We may do this, for example, when a member reports a conversation or another member, when content is flagged by our safety and moderation processes, when you appeal a decision we have made about your account, when we investigate suspected fraud, harassment, abuse, scams or other breaches of our Terms of Use, or to fix a technical problem. We may also do it where the law requires or allows it. We use a mix of automated tools and human review, and access is limited to people who need it for these purposes.

If you choose a chaperone, they can read the conversations you have agreed to share, either as they happen or in a weekly summary, depending on your settings. This can include the messages, photos and videos in those conversations and the names and other personal information in them. A chaperone cannot open photos or videos that were sent to be viewed only once, and cannot send messages or interact with other members. The same applies if the person you are talking to has chosen a chaperone: the app tells you when a chaperone can read a chat, but not who they are. The member who chose a chaperone can change what is shared, or switch it off, at any time in the chaperone settings.

Messages can reveal sensitive information, such as your religion. We limit access to what is needed for the purposes above. Annex 1 sets out the legal basis we rely on, and section 8 explains your rights, including how to object to this use of your information.

4. How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as we reasonably need it for the purposes we collected it for. To decide how long that is, we consider how much information there is, how sensitive it is, the risk of harm if it were misused or disclosed, why we process it and whether we could achieve that another way, and any legal, regulatory, tax or accounting requirements. It also depends on your type of account and whether it has been deactivated or deleted. For example, if you close your marriage profile account, the personal information in it will be fully deleted or anonymised after 2 years. Our data retention policy sets out more detail.

We will still keep anonymised records of transactions and purchase complaints. We may also keep your personal information for longer in some cases, such as during an ongoing complaint, a criminal, financial or regulatory investigation, where we believe it is needed to protect the health, safety or wellbeing of our staff, members or others, or where we reasonably expect legal proceedings relating to our relationship with you.

5. Who we share your information with

We may share your personal information with the following, for the purposes set out in Annex 1 or as described below:

(a) Service providers: companies that provide services to us or on our behalf, such as app, website and data hosting, storage, communications, surveys and chat, customer relationship management, social media, moderation, marketing, advertising, push notifications, technical support, error reporting, analytics, identity verification and fraud prevention.

(b) Chaperones: if you, or the person you are talking to, have chosen a chaperone, we will share conversation information with them. A chaperone receives a weekly copy of every conversation their nominating member takes part in. These copies may include both people’s names and any other personal information shared in the conversation. You will be told if any of your conversations are being seen by a chaperone.

(c) Buyers and others involved in a business transaction: we may share your information as part of a merger, sale of assets or shares, restructuring, financing, change of control or acquisition of all or part of our business.

(d) Police, regulators and others for legal reasons: we may share your information where the law requires it, or where we reasonably believe it is necessary to (i) comply with the law or reasonable requests from law enforcement, (ii) detect and investigate illegal activity or breaches of agreements, (iii) enforce our terms, or (iv) protect the rights, property or safety of Muslim Hearts, our members or others. This includes sharing information with other organisations to protect against cyber attacks and fraud and to reduce credit risk.

(e) Companies in our group: where relevant, we may share your information with our affiliated companies, for example where they provide services for us, or where this is needed for the purposes in Annex 1.

6. Marketing and advertising

We may contact you from time to time about the Services, including marketing messages and requests for feedback.

We send marketing by email, text message and in-app message. For some messages, we may use the information we hold about you to work out what will be most relevant to you.

We only send marketing messages if you have agreed to receive them or, where the law does not require your agreement, if you have not opted out. You can opt out at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails, replying STOP to our texts, or changing your preferences in your account settings.

Opting out of marketing will not stop service or legal messages that we need to send you. We may also contact you by email or through our support team when needed.

7. Keeping your information safe and transferring it abroad

Security. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures, including encryption, to protect your personal information from accidental or unlawful access, loss, destruction, alteration or damage. Your information is stored on secure servers. Where a third party processes information for us, we take steps to make sure it has suitable security in place.

Even so, no transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that unauthorised people will never gain access to personal information.

International transfers. Your personal information may be transferred to and stored in other countries where our affiliates or service providers operate. If you are in the UK or the European Economic Area (“EEA”), your information may be sent to countries that the UK or the European Commission do not consider to have adequate data protection. Where this happens, we use appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses approved by the UK government or the European Commission. Contact us using the details at the end of this policy to find out more about these safeguards.

8. Your rights

Under data protection law, you have the following rights over the personal information we hold about you:

(a) Access: you can ask for a copy of your personal information.

(b) Portability: in some cases, you can ask for the information you gave us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, or ask us to send it to someone else.

(c) Correction: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information without undue delay.

(d) Erasure: in some cases, you can ask us to delete your information without undue delay where there is no good reason for us to keep using it.

(e) Restriction: in some cases, you can ask us to limit how we use your information, for example while you are challenging its accuracy.

(f) Withdrawing consent: where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it.

Objecting: in some cases, you can object to us processing your information on the basis of our legitimate interests. You can also object to direct marketing at any time by clicking unsubscribe in any marketing message or changing your account settings (see section 6).

These rights are not absolute, and we may refuse a request in whole or in part where the law allows.

To use any of these rights, contact us using the details at the end of this policy. You can also view, edit and remove some of your information yourself by logging into your account.

You also have the right to complain to your data protection regulator. In the UK this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (www.ico.org.uk). In the EU, you can find your local regulator at ec.europa.eu.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to tell you apart from other users. Our Cookies Policy explains how we use them.

10. Interest-based advertising

We may take part in interest-based advertising, using third-party advertising companies to show you ads based on your browsing and interests. To do this, we or our advertising partners may collect information about how you use the Services and about other websites, apps, content and ads that you (or others using your device) view or use, so that ads can be shown on our Services and on your other devices.

This information is usually, though not always, collected through cookies and similar tracking technologies. We and our partners use it to make ads more relevant to you, and for reporting, attribution, analytics and market research.

To learn more about interest-based advertising and how to opt out of some of it, you can visit:

• Your Online Choices: www.youronlinechoices.com
• Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”): www.networkadvertising.org
• Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”): www.aboutads.info/consumers

Opting out through these sites only applies to the browser or device you use at the time, so you may still see interest-based ads on other devices. You need to opt out on each browser and device.

Some opt-outs only work if your browser accepts cookies. If you delete cookies, change browser settings, or switch browser, device or operating system, you will need to opt out again.

11. Links to other websites

The Services may sometimes link to other websites, including those of our partners, advertisers, news publishers and affiliates. These websites have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for them. Please read their policies before giving them any information.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, so please check this page regularly. If we make significant changes, we will update the “last updated” date. Changes take effect once they are posted here.

13. Children (under 18)

You must not use the Services if you are under 18, and no one under 18 may give us any information through the Services. If you are under 18, you must not use any of our services or features, create an account, make purchases, or give us any information, including your name, address, phone number, email address or username. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we find out that we have, we will delete it promptly. If you know of any information we hold from or about someone under 18, please email info@muslimhearts.co.uk.

14. Contact us

If you have any questions, comments or requests about this policy, please contact us:

By post: FAO Data Protection, MUSLIM HEARTS LIMITED, 16 Seymour Court, Bury Old Road, Salford, England, M7 4PX

By email: info@muslimhearts.co.uk

Annex 1 – The personal information we collect

Annex 2 – Notice for United States residents

This Annex forms part of our Privacy Policy and gives extra information for US residents about how we collect and use their personal data. In this Annex, “Personal Data” includes “personal information” and “sensitive personal information” as defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CCPA”), and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (“VCDPA”).

Personal Data we collect

The table below shows the categories of Personal Data (including sensitive personal information) we collect and have collected in the last 12 months, where it comes from, and who we share it with.

Why we collect and share Personal Data

Providing, personalising and improving the Services:

• creating and managing your account or profile;
• processing orders and other transactions;
• providing the products, services or information you ask for, and fulfilling the reason you gave us the information;
• supporting you in using the Services;
• telling you about changes to our policies and terms, and sending reminders, technical notices, updates and security alerts;
• improving the Services through testing, research, internal analytics and product development;
• personalising the Services, website content and messages to your preferences;
• fraud prevention, security and fixing errors; and
• other business purposes we tell you about when collecting your data, or as permitted by privacy laws such as the CCPA.

Marketing the Services:

• marketing and selling the Services; and
• showing you ads, including interest-based or behavioural ads.

Contacting you:

• replying to your messages, contacting you when needed or requested, and sending you information about us or the Services; and
• sending emails and other messages based on your preferences or that we think will interest you.

Meeting legal requirements and enforcing our terms:

• meeting our obligations under law, regulation, court orders or other legal processes, including preventing, detecting and investigating security incidents and possibly illegal or prohibited activity;
• protecting the rights, property or safety of you, us or others;
• enforcing our agreements with you;
• responding to claims that content infringes someone else’s rights; and
• resolving disputes.

We will not collect new categories of Personal Data, or use it for materially different, unrelated or incompatible purposes, without telling you first. If you live in California, we only use or disclose your sensitive personal information for the purposes allowed under section 7027(m) of the CCPA regulations, and we do not collect or process it to infer characteristics about California residents.

How we disclose your Personal Data

We share your Personal Data with the service providers and other parties listed in this Annex and in section 5 of the Privacy Policy (“Who we share your information with”). Under some state laws, some of these disclosures may count as a “sale” of your Personal Data. See the state-specific sections below.

How long we keep it

We keep your data according to the criteria in section 4 of the Privacy Policy (“How long we keep your information”).

Your rights if you live in California

If you live in California, you have the rights below. See “Using your rights under the CCPA” for how to use them. We may sometimes process Personal Data on behalf of our business customers about their end users or staff. If we are processing your data as a service provider, please contact the organisation that collected it first.

If this section conflicts with any other part of this Privacy Policy and you live in California, whichever part better protects your Personal Data applies. If you have questions about this section or whether these rights apply to you, email info@muslimhearts.co.uk.

Access. You can ask us for information about how we collect and use your Personal Data, including:

• the categories of Personal Data we have collected about you;
• where we got it from;
• why we collected or sold it;
• the categories of third parties we have shared it with; and
• the specific pieces of Personal Data we hold about you.

If we have disclosed your Personal Data to third parties for a business purpose, or sold or shared it, we will tell you which categories went to each type of recipient.

Deletion. You can ask us to delete the Personal Data we have collected from you. The CCPA allows some exceptions, for example where we need the data to provide the services or complete a transaction you asked for, or where deletion would take disproportionate effort. If an exception applies, we may refuse your request.

Correction. You can ask us to correct inaccurate Personal Data we hold about you. The CCPA allows some exceptions, for example where we decide, looking at all the circumstances, that the data is correct. If an exception applies, we may refuse your request.

Sale and sharing of Personal Data

In this section, “sell” has the meaning given in the CCPA. We sell your Personal Data, but you have the right to opt out of this. The CCPA also gives California residents rights where a business “shares” Personal Data with third parties for cross-context behavioural advertising.

As our Cookies Policy explains, we use cookies from some third parties on the Services. These cookies let those third parties receive information about your activity on the Services linked to your browser or device, which they may use to show you relevant ads on our Services or other websites. Under the CCPA, sharing data through third-party cookies for online advertising may count as a “sale” and/or “sharing” of your Personal Data. You can opt out as described below.

We sell Personal Data to, and/or share it with, these types of third parties:

• ad networks;
• data brokers; and
• marketing providers, including for cross-context behavioural advertising.

We have sold, and shared for cross-context behavioural advertising, the following categories of Personal Data with the third parties above: profile or contact data; identifiers; device and IP data; web analytics; social network data; location data; demographic data; photos, videos and recordings; other information you choose to give us; and sensitive personal information.

We have sold or shared these categories of Personal Data for the following purposes:

• improving the Services, including testing, research, internal analytics and product development;
• personalising the Services, website content and messages to your preferences;
• fraud prevention, security and fixing errors;
• marketing and selling the Services; and
• showing you ads, including interest-based or behavioural ads.

Turning off personalised ads. You can opt out of personalised advertising in your device settings:

• iOS: go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and turn off “Allow Apps to Request to Track”.
• Android: go to Settings > Google > Ads and opt out of ads personalisation (or delete your advertising ID).

Opting out of sales and sharing. You have the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your Personal Data. You can do this by:

• emailing us at info@muslimhearts.co.uk; or
• using the Global Privacy Control or a similar control recognised by a government agency or industry standard (this does not include Do Not Track signals).

Once you opt out, we will not ask you to allow the sale or sharing of your Personal Data again for at least 12 months.

The Services are only for people aged 18 and over, and children under 18 may not use them. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If we find we have accidentally collected information from someone under 18, we will delete it. Please contact us with any concerns.

We will not treat you differently for using your CCPA rights

We will not discriminate against you for using your rights under the CCPA. We will not refuse you our services, charge you different prices, or give you a lower quality of service because you used these rights. However, as data privacy laws (including the CCPA) allow, we may offer different service levels with different prices, rates or quality linked to the value of the Personal Data we receive from you.

Using your rights under the CCPA

To use the rights in this Privacy Policy, you (or, if you live in California, your Authorised Agent, as defined below) must send us a request that (1) gives enough information for us to confirm you are the person whose Personal Data we hold (if you have an account, this means your login details), and (2) describes your request clearly enough for us to understand, assess and respond to it. A request meeting both conditions is a “Valid Request”. We may not respond to requests that do not meet them. We only use Personal Data in a Valid Request to confirm your identity and complete the request. You do not need an account to make a Valid Request.

We will aim to respond within the time required by law. We will not charge a fee unless your requests are excessive, repetitive or clearly unfounded. If we decide a fee is justified, we will tell you and explain why before completing your request.

You can make a Valid Request by emailing info@muslimhearts.co.uk.

If you live in California, you can also authorise someone else (an “Authorised Agent”) to use your rights for you. You must give your Authorised Agent written permission, and we may ask them for a copy when they contact us.

Rights under other state laws

California. Under California Civil Code sections 1798.83–1798.84, California residents can ask us not to share Personal Data with third parties for their own direct marketing. To do this, email info@muslimhearts.co.uk.

Nevada. If you live in Nevada, you can opt out of the sale of certain Personal Data to third parties who intend to license or sell it. Email info@muslimhearts.co.uk with the subject line “Nevada Do Not Sell Request”, including your name and the email address linked to your account. We do not currently sell Personal Data as “sale” is defined in Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 603A.