Privacy policy

1. Overview

IslamicSchoolReview.com ("we," "our," "us") is operated by Islamic School Review LLC, a Delaware company with offices in Dallas, London, and Dubai. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information we obtain from visitors and users of our website, mobile applications, newsletters, and related services (collectively, the "Services").

By using the Services, you agree to this Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services. If you have questions, contact us at privacy@islamicschoolreview.com.

2. What we collect

2.1 Information you provide directly

• Account information: name, email address, password (stored hashed), optional profile details (city, role — parent, educator, etc.).
• Reviews and user content: the text of reviews you post, ratings, photos, comments, replies, and any moderation flags.
• Inquiries: when you contact a school or fill in a "request info" form, the content of that form and your contact details.
• Payments: for paid memberships or advertising, billing contact info and the last four digits of your payment method (full card numbers are handled by our PCI-compliant payment processor, Stripe).
• Communications: emails, support tickets, newsletter preferences.

2.2 Information collected automatically

• Device & log data: IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URL, pages viewed, time on page.
• Cookies & local storage: session identifiers, preferences (language, theme), and first-party analytics cookies.
• Location data: coarse location derived from IP (city-level) to power directory search. We do not use GPS unless you grant a precise-location permission on your device.

2.3 Information from third parties

• Single sign-on: if you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name, email, and profile picture from that provider.
• School data: basic school information (address, accreditation status, grade levels) compiled from public sources and official partners such as CISNA and state education agencies.

3. How we use your information

We use the information above to:

4. Who we share information with

We share information only in these specific cases:

• With schools you contact. When you submit a "request info" form, the school receives the details you entered.
• With service providers, under strict contractual controls — hosting (AWS), email delivery (Postmark), analytics (self-hosted Plausible), payment processing (Stripe), customer support (Zendesk).
• Publicly. Reviews, ratings, profile names, and any content you choose to publish are visible to the public.
• With your consent, for anything else.
• For legal reasons, if required by law, subpoena, or court order; to protect our rights; or to prevent harm.
• In a corporate transaction, such as a merger or acquisition, subject to the receiving party honoring this Policy.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share it with third-party advertisers for ad-targeting purposes.

5. Cookies and tracking

We use a small number of cookies and similar technologies. Most are first-party and strictly necessary; a few are first-party analytics. You can control cookies through your browser settings and through our cookie banner.

• Strictly necessary: session, authentication, CSRF protection.
• Preferences: language, saved searches, favorited schools.
• Analytics: first-party Plausible analytics — privacy-friendly, no cross-site tracking, no third-party ad networks.

We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal and "Do Not Track" requests for California and Colorado residents.

6. How long we keep data

• Account data: for as long as your account is active, plus 30 days after deletion (to allow recovery).
• Reviews and content: for as long as they're published. If you delete an account, your published reviews remain but are anonymized ("Former user").
• Inquiry forms: 24 months, then deleted.
• Logs and analytics: 90 days for full logs; aggregated forever.
• Financial records: 7 years, as required by tax and accounting law.

7. Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data: TLS 1.3 in transit, encryption at rest, hashed passwords (Argon2), regular backups, principle-of-least-privilege access, and independent third-party security audits at least annually. No system is perfectly secure; if we discover a breach affecting you, we'll notify you as required by law.

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you have some or all of the following rights:

• Access — request a copy of the data we hold about you.
• Correction — ask us to fix inaccurate data.
• Deletion — ask us to delete your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format.
• Restriction — ask us to limit how we use your data.
• Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Withdraw consent — for anything based on consent (e.g. newsletter).
• Opt out of sale/sharing — we do not sell, but if you're in California, Colorado, or Virginia you can confirm this in writing.
• Complain to a regulator — in the EU/UK, your local DPA; in California, the CPPA.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@islamicschoolreview.com or use the "Download my data" and "Delete my account" buttons in your account settings. We respond within 30 days (45 for complex requests).

9. Children's privacy

IslamicSchoolReview.com is intended for users 16 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or under 16 in the EU/UK) without verifiable parental consent. If you believe we have collected such information, contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Students aged 13–17 may post reviews with a parent or guardian's permission.

10. International data transfers

We're headquartered in the United States, with offices in the UK and UAE. If you're outside the US, your data will be transferred to and processed in the US. For EU/UK users, we rely on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, supplemented by appropriate technical and organizational safeguards.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we'll notify registered users by email at least 14 days before the change takes effect, and we'll post the revised Policy here with a new "Last updated" date. Continued use of the Services after the effective date means you accept the updated Policy.

12. Contact us

For privacy questions, requests, or complaints:

• Email: privacy@islamicschoolreview.com
• Data Protection Officer: dpo@islamicschoolreview.com
• Mail: Islamic School Review LLC, Attn: Privacy, 1200 Harwood Street, Suite 400, Dallas, TX 75201, USA

For EU/UK residents, our representative is available via the same email address.