Privacy Policy

When you use Halal Companion, we may collect the following types of information:

Browsing data: pages visited, time spent, and general usage patterns collected through analytics tools to help us understand how people use the site.

Search and filter activity: the filters and searches you apply when browsing restaurants, used solely to improve the relevance of our listings.

Contact information: if you reach out to us via our contact form or email, we collect your name and email address to respond to your enquiry.

Newsletter email address: if you subscribe to our newsletter through the form on our site, we collect your email address. It is stored with our email provider, Beehiiv, and used only to send you updates from Halal Companion. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email.

We do not require you to create an account to use Halal Companion, and we do not collect payment information.

We use the information we collect to:

• Operate and improve the Halal Companion platform
• Understand which content and features are most useful to pilgrims and Muslim travellers
• Respond to enquiries and support requests
• Fix bugs and improve site performance
• Send updates if you have opted in to communications from us

We do not sell your personal data to any third party.

Halal Companion integrates with third-party services to provide core functionality. These services may process data on our behalf:

Google Maps: used to display restaurant locations and walking distances. Google's own privacy policy applies to map interactions.

Google Analytics and Vercel Analytics: we use these tools to collect anonymised information about how visitors use the site, such as pages viewed, device type and approximate location. This helps us improve the site. Their own privacy policies apply to how they handle this data.

Beehiiv: our newsletter provider. If you subscribe, your email address is processed and stored by Beehiiv on our behalf.

Affiliate partners: some pages on Halal Companion, including our hotel, flight and eSIM pages as they are published, may contain affiliate links. If you click one and make a booking or purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Our affiliate partners include Trip.com, Booking.com and Expedia (hotels), and Kiwi.com and Airalo (flights and eSIMs). Some of these links are managed through affiliate networks such as Commission Junction (CJ), Partnerize and Travelpayouts. When you click an affiliate link, or use a partner's search widget on our site, the partner or network may set cookies or use similar technologies to recognise that your visit came from Halal Companion, so we can be credited. We do not receive your booking details or payment information. Each partner's own privacy policy applies once you leave our site or use their widget.

We use industry-standard cloud infrastructure and database providers to securely store and serve content. We only work with services that maintain appropriate data security standards.

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Remember your preferences and settings
• Collect anonymised analytics data to understand site usage

You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect some functionality of the site, but you will still be able to browse restaurant listings.

Analytics tools, affiliate partners and embedded partner widgets may set cookies to measure site usage and attribute referrals. We do not use cookies to build advertising profiles or show you targeted ads on our own site. Cookies set by affiliate partners are controlled by those partners.

We take the security of your data seriously. Halal Companion uses:

• HTTPS encryption for all data in transit
• Row-level security and access controls on our database
• Secure, environment-variable-based credential management, with no API keys or secrets exposed publicly

While we take all reasonable precautions, no system is completely immune to risk. We encourage you to report any security concerns to us directly.

We retain data only for as long as it is necessary to provide our service or comply with legal obligations. Contact enquiries are kept for up to 12 months. Anonymised analytics data may be retained for longer to help us understand long-term trends. Newsletter subscriptions are kept until you unsubscribe.

You can request deletion of any personal information we hold about you at any time by contacting us.

You have the right to:

• Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Correction: ask us to update inaccurate or incomplete information
• Deletion: request that we delete your personal data
• Objection: object to how we process your data in certain circumstances
• Portability: receive your data in a commonly used, machine-readable format

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at the details below. We will respond within 30 days.

Halal Companion is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Continued use of Halal Companion after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please get in touch:

Email: salam@halalcompanion.com

Website: halalcompanion.com/contact

We are happy to answer any questions and will respond as quickly as possible.