September 24, 2026 | 12 Rabi ath-Thani 1448

HMS Privacy Policy

Last updated on 30 Nov 2024

Introduction

This section establishes the purpose of the Privacy Policy, emphasizing HMS's commitment to protecting users' personal information. It serves as an introduction to the practices in place to safeguard privacy.

  • Commitment to Privacy:

HMS affirms its dedication to respecting user privacy and protecting personal information. This statement sets a tone of accountability and emphasizes the importance of privacy in HMS's operations.

  • Overview of Practices:

The policy outlines how HMS collects, uses, and discloses personal information. This overview prepares users for the detailed sections that follow and clarifies what to expect regarding their data.

Information Collection

This section describes the types of information collected by HMS during the certification process and how that information is gathered.

Personal Information:
  • Definition of Personal Information:

This includes identifiable details such as names, contact details (like phone numbers and emails), and physical business addresses.

  • Purpose of Collection:

Personal information is essential for verifying the identity of businesses seeking certification. This helps ensure adherence to Halal standards and maintains the integrity of the certification process.

  • Operational Details:

Information regarding operational capabilities, such as processing capacities and business practices, enables HMS to evaluate compliance with Halal requirements thoroughly.

Usage Data:
  • Definition of Usage Data:

This refers to information about how users interact with HMS services. It includes data such as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, browser types, operating systems, and access times.

  • Purpose of Collection:

Collecting usage data helps HMS understand how i5ts services are being accessed and used, allowing for improvements to functionality and user experience. It can also assist in identifying potential issues with service delivery.

Use of Information

This section lays out the primary purposes for which HMS will utilize the information collected from users.

Service Provision:
  • Evaluation and Auditing:

The information collected plays a critical role in evaluating certification applications and conducting necessary inspections to ensure that businesses comply with Halal standards.

  • Maintaining Certification Integrity:

Data is essential for reviewing ongoing compliance and ensuring that certified businesses operate within established guidelines.

Communication:
  • Certification Updates:

HMS may use contact information to inform businesses of their certification application status or any relevant updates regarding their certification.

  • Policy Changes:

This also includes notifying users about changes to services, policies, or any important operational updates, ensuring businesses stay informed about their rights and obligations.

Data Security

This section emphasizes HMS's commitment to implementing security measures to safeguard personal information.

  • Protective Measures:

HMS takes reasonable steps, including administrative, technical, and physical safeguards, to protect personal information from loss, theft, misuse, or unauthorized access.

  • Security Limitations:

While HMS strives to ensure the security of personal information, it acknowledges that no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is entirely secure. Users are informed about the inherent risks associated with internet communication to manage their expectations regarding data security.

Sharing of Information

This section clarifies HMS's policy regarding the sharing of personal information with third parties.

  • No Selling or Renting:

HMS explicitly states it does not sell or rent personal information to any third parties. This establishes trust and reassures users that their confidentiality is prioritized.

  • Sharing for Promotion:

Basic non-identifiable information may be shared with partners only to promote Halal awareness. This sharing ensures that personal identifiers are not disclosed, maintaining user privacy while contributing to community awareness.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

This section explains HMS's approach to updating the Privacy Policy over time.

  • Right to Modify:

HMS reserves the right to update its Privacy Policy as necessary to reflect changes in practices, technology, or regulatory requirements. This indicates flexibility in adapting to evolving circumstances.

  • Notification of Changes:

Users will be informed of any updates by posting the new Privacy Policy on the HMS website. This ensures that users have access to the most current terms regarding their privacy.

  • Acceptance of Changes:

Continued use of HMS services constitutes acceptance of any changes made to the Privacy Policy, reinforcing the importance of users reviewing the policy regularly.

Contact Us

This section provides users with a channel for communication regarding any questions or concerns related to the Privacy Policy.

  • Encouragement to Reach Out:

Users are encouraged to contact HMS if they have inquiries about the Privacy Policy or concerns regarding their personal information. This openness fosters a transparent relationship with users.

  • Contact Information:

This section will specify how users can reach HMS, such as through email or a dedicated phone number, enabling clear communication and support avenues for any issues related to privacy or certification.

By elaborating on these sections, the Privacy Policy is equipped to inform users thoroughly about how their personal data is handled, bolstering transparency and trust between HMS and its users.

November 30, 2024

HMS Tools & Widgets

Last updated:

Halal Monitoring Services (“HMS”) is responsible for the tool and widget usage reporting described in this section. It covers HMS tool pages, shared tool links, widget builders, and HMS widgets embedded on other websites. This section supplements the general HMS Privacy Policy and describes the specific practices for these features.

Usage statistics

We record page views and counts of interactions such as searches, filters, votes, verification links, directions, sharing, and successful meetup creations and joins. We use these records to understand which features are used, where they are accessed, and how to improve their usefulness and reliability. Usage records include the tool or widget, whether it was used on an HMS page, shared page, builder or embedded website, time of activity, browser time zone when available, and referring website domain when available. We do not include typed search terms, referring page paths, query strings, or private invitation links in these records.

Widget installation identifiers help us estimate how many widgets are active and which websites use them. These identifiers describe widget configurations, not individual visitors. This usage reporting does not create tracking cookies or cross-site visitor identifiers, and its records do not store raw IP addresses. HMS receives ordinary connection information when your browser contacts our services.

Views and interactions are activity counts, not a count of identified people. Reloads, repeated actions, privacy settings and blocked requests can affect these statistics.

Widgets on other websites

When you visit a page containing an HMS widget, your browser contacts HMS to load it. Unless usage reporting is suppressed by a supported privacy signal, a view and approximate location can be recorded when the widget loads, even if you do not click it or have an HMS account. These records describe visitors accessing the widget on that website, not the website owner's location. They do not give HMS access to unrelated pages you visit or arbitrary information entered on the host website.

The hosting website is responsible for its own privacy practices, notices and any consent choices it offers. Its policy applies alongside this HMS notice. Installing a widget does not itself establish a visitor's consent, and the widget does not automatically inherit a hosting website's consent-banner choice.

Names and contact information

Meet for a Meal asks for a first name to identify participants in a meetup. That name is used within the meetup and is not added to usage reports. Current tools and widgets do not ask visitors for email addresses or phone numbers for these reports. We do not copy arbitrary form entries or individual meetup voting choices into usage reports.

For successful meetup creations and joins, usage reports record a meetup reference, an anonymous participant label specific to that meetup, joining time, organizer or participant role, participant counts, and approximate network location at joining time. These anonymous labels hide names in reports and are generated from meetup and membership identifiers. The underlying records may still be linked to a participant using separate meetup information; the labels do not make the entire record anonymous. Reports do not contain invitation links, membership secrets or participant names. The labels are not used to identify the same person across different meetups.

Participant counts include the organizer. Reports show recorded memberships and the largest group observed at a recorded join, rather than a live headcount or a count of unique people across meetups. Joining locations describe approximate access locations, not the chosen restaurant, home address or live trip position. Shared-link views can be associated with the meetup reference without storing the invitation link.

Location information

When a tool or widget loads or is used, we use the connection’s IP address briefly to estimate a country, region and city using a location database held on our server. We store this approximate location alongside the widget installation identifier, referring website domain, time and activity counts. The IP address is not saved in usage records or sent to an external location service. This does not request your device’s GPS location, and your browser time zone is not treated as your physical location.

IP-based locations are estimates and may describe a network gateway, mobile carrier or VPN rather than your actual location. Coordinates are rounded to one decimal place and are not a precise position or a guarantee of accuracy. Historical locations previously shared for statistics retain the same coarse precision. Location database: IP Geolocation by DB-IP.

Location sharing within Meet for a Meal is separate from usage statistics. It starts only when you choose to share your trip, shares your latest position with members of that meetup, and stops when you arrive, leave, or select Stop. That precise trip location is not copied into usage reports.

Access and use of information

Usage reports are available to authorized HMS administrators through permission-restricted pages. Embedding a widget does not give a website owner access to those reports. Hosting and infrastructure providers may process information as part of operating HMS services. The approximate-location lookup runs on HMS's server; visitor IP addresses are not sent to DB-IP for that lookup.

HMS does not sell or rent these usage records or use them for targeted advertising, cross-site profiling, or inferring a person's religion. The reporting does not make automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects on individuals. Names used in a meetup are visible within that meetup as part of the service; they are separate from administrative usage reports.

Your choices and rights

You can suppress this usage reporting by enabling Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track in a browser or extension that supports sending those signals. HMS checks supported signals when recording usage, including successful meetup participation. This choice does not prevent you from using the tool or joining a meetup, and it does not delete information already recorded. Information needed to operate your requested feature, such as your name within a meetup, is handled separately.

Depending on the law that applies, you may have rights to access, correct or delete personal information, restrict or object to its processing, receive a portable copy, withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, or complain to your local data protection authority. Contact HMS to make a request or raise a concern. This notice describes collection; it is not a request for consent, and continued use of a tool or widget is not treated by this notice as consent to optional analytics.

Retention

Usage records, including approximate locations and meetup participation records, are retained for 90 days. Any names or contact details previously included with permission are cleared from usage records after 30 days. Reports exclude records outside those periods; background deletion may take additional time. Widget registration records and administrator control-change logs are retained to manage the service and its history, with no automatic deletion period currently configured. Backup copies follow HMS's separate backup retention practices.

Contact HMS

For questions or privacy requests, email info@hmsusa.org. Tell us which tool or widget was involved and the approximate date of use. Because usage records do not contain names, emails or raw IP addresses, we may be unable to associate a record with you without additional information. We may request information necessary to locate records and verify a request. Please do not send passwords, membership secrets or private meetup invitation links.

HMS Halal Lens Browser Extension

Last updated:

This section explains how Halal Monitoring Services (“HMS,” “we,” or “us”) handles information through the HMS Halal Lens browser extension.

Certification matching and website access

The extension downloads a public certification catalog from HMS and matches restaurant and retailer listings inside your browser. During routine matching, business names, addresses, telephone numbers, and listing identifiers are processed locally rather than sent to HMS for individual lookups.

Catalog and configuration requests include information such as the catalog version, refresh interval, and extension version. HMS also receives ordinary connection information, including the requesting IP address.

To identify a particular branch, the extension may request a public business-detail page from the website you are browsing, using your existing session with that website. Provider cookies and the retrieved page contents are not forwarded to HMS as part of this matching process.

Access to restaurants’ and retailers’ own websites is optional. Enabling this feature requires additional site-access permission. You can manage these features in the extension’s settings and revoke permissions through your browser.

Usage analytics

We use usage statistics to understand how the extension’s features are used and to improve their functionality, reliability, and performance.

Usage sharing is enabled by default in Chrome and Edge unless you previously disabled it. Firefox requires opt-in. You can turn sharing off in the extension popup or under Settings → Privacy → Share usage analytics.

When enabled, analytics may include:

  • Opening the extension popup, settings, or sidebar.
  • Use of a supported website integration.
  • Opening certification details or changing a filter.
  • Browser family and extension version.
  • A randomly generated installation identifier and session information.

Supported-website labels indicate which integration was used. Analytics does not include search queries, full page URLs, business names, addresses, coordinates, certification identifiers, favorites, account details, provider cookies, screenshots, or page contents.

Analytics events are sent to HMS and forwarded to Google Analytics 4. The installation identifier is pseudonymous and is not linked by this integration to your HMS account. HMS does not forward your browser’s IP address or user-agent string to Google through this analytics integration.

Turning sharing off removes the local analytics identifier and unsent events. It does not delete events already delivered. Re-enabling sharing creates a new identifier.

Accounts, favorites, and notifications

You can use certification lookup without signing in. Signing in enables account-based favorites and related features.

Your password is transmitted to HMS over HTTPS for authentication and is not saved by the extension. The extension stores account information and session tokens locally to keep you signed in. Saved business identifiers and notification preferences are synchronized with your HMS account.

Signing out removes local session credentials and requests revocation of the extension session. If you are offline, server-side revocation may not complete. A local cache of favorites may remain, but is hidden while signed out.

Nearby recommendations

When you request nearby alternatives, the extension sends the selected business’s coordinates and relevant search parameters to HMS. These coordinates describe the business location; this feature does not request your device’s GPS location.

Reports and optional attachments

If you submit a certification concern, HMS receives the business identity, business-page URL, selected reason, and any comment you provide.

A matched certification-claim snippet may be preselected for inclusion; you can deselect it before submitting. Screenshots are not selected by default and are captured only when you submit a report with the screenshot option checked.

Screenshots may contain other information visible on the page. Review your selections and avoid submitting information you do not want HMS to receive.

Storage, retention, and deletion

Settings, certification data, account information, favorites caches, and certain diagnostic information are stored locally in your browser.

Temporary business-identity information may remain in extension session storage for up to 30 minutes. Analytics queues hold up to 100 unsent events. Disabling analytics removes the local analytics identifier and queue. Removing the extension removes its extension-local data, but does not delete information already stored by HMS or its service providers.

We retain account records and favorites while needed to provide your account and saved-business features. Reports and attachments are retained while needed to investigate certification concerns and document their resolution. Server logs are retained while needed for security, troubleshooting, and abuse prevention. We delete or anonymize information when it is no longer needed, except where continued retention is required by law.

Google Analytics user-level and event-level data is retained according to the retention settings configured for our Google Analytics property. Aggregated reports may remain longer. To request deletion of previously submitted analytics, contact info@hmsusa.org. Because analytics identifiers are not linked to your HMS account, we may need the installation identifier to locate the relevant data. If that identifier is no longer available, we may be unable to associate previously submitted analytics with your request.

To request access to or deletion of information held by HMS, contact info@hmsusa.org. Please do not send passwords or session tokens.

Data use and sharing

We use extension information to provide and improve certification lookup, favorites, notifications, reporting, and related functionality described above.

We do not sell extension user data or use it for personalized advertising. Our use and transfer of information received through the extension comply with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

Contact

For questions about the extension’s privacy practices or to make a privacy request, contact:

Halal Monitoring Services
Email: info@hmsusa.org
Contact page: https://hmsusa.org/contact