The short version
Khandaq ("Khandaq", "we", "us", "our") is responsible for the personal information described in this policy, as its "data controller". Khandaq is operated by Khandaq Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales (company number 17540030), with its registered office at Suite RA01, 195-197 Wood Street, London, E17 3NU, United Kingdom. You can contact us about anything in this policy at support@khandaq.app.
This policy applies to the Khandaq mobile application (the "App") and our website at khandaq.app (the "Website"). It applies to everyone who uses them, on free and paid plans alike.
In this policy, "staff" means people who work for Khandaq: our administrator and our Lead Raqis. A Lead Raqi is a member of Khandaq's ruqyah support team who responds to tickets and, where assigned to you, supports you on an ongoing basis.
We need the required details to create your account; without them, we can't open one. For gender, nationality and ethnicity, you can choose "Prefer not to say".
We confirm your email address when you sign up, using a one-time code we email to you. After that, you sign in with your email address, phone number (if you gave one) or username, together with your password. Each time you sign in, we also send a one-time verification code by text message (if you have a confirmed phone number) or by email.
We use your age, gender, nationality and ethnicity to understand your background, so we can tailor the support we give you. For example, gender affects some guidance and the avatars available to you. These details also help our staff when they respond to your tickets.
When you buy a Lead Raqi ticket or a Premium or Bespoke subscription through the Apple App Store or Google Play, we receive details of the purchase from Apple or Google. These include the product, a transaction reference, purchase and expiry dates, renewal status and any refund. We never receive your card details from Apple or Google. If we ever need to refund you directly (for example, where Apple can't), we ask for the bank or payment details needed to send it, use them only for that refund, and delete them once it has been sent; we keep a record of the refund itself for accounting. We also keep records of any promo codes you redeem. If you apply for a fee waiver, we keep the declaration you make. Before each purchase, we ask you to agree that it can start straight away, and we keep a record of that agreement: the product, the price shown, the wording you agreed to, the version of our Terms of Service, and when you agreed. This record stays in your account and is erased with it.
Bespoke requests: Bespoke starts with a request that you send in the App and that our administrator reviews. We keep your request, any questions we ask you about it and your answers, and our decision to accept or decline it. Only our administrator can see these. They stay in your account while it is open, and are erased with it. Deciding whether to accept a request uses a person's judgement and nothing else: it is not automated.
Your Bespoke care plan: when your Lead Raqi shares your plan with you, we keep the message they wrote to you, the time it was shared and the time you first opened it. Before you see the plan, we ask you to confirm that you will do your best to follow it, that you will speak to a doctor about any health problem, and that in an emergency you will call 999 (or your local emergency number). We keep that confirmation, with its date, time and wording version, as a record that you agreed. After your care plan is shared with you, we also keep a record of each update your Lead Raqi makes to it: when, who made it and what changed. You can see the dates and changes under "Plan updates" in the App. We record when you open your plan after being told it was updated, so the reminder on your dashboard goes away. These records stay in your account and are erased with it.
To keep Khandaq safe and to support you, staff may record:
We also keep a log of actions staff take on accounts, for accountability. None of these records are ever shown to other members.
If you join our waitlist on the Website, we collect your email address. The Website does not use cookies, analytics or tracking. As with any website, your IP address and basic browser information are processed by our hosting provider (see Section 6) so they can deliver the pages to you.
Khandaq is an Islamic spiritual care app, so using it reveals your religious beliefs. Your screener answers, moods, notes, tickets and reflections may also reveal information about your physical or mental health. Your ethnicity is sensitive information too. Under UK data protection law, these are "special category" data and receive extra protection.
We process special category data only with your explicit consent (or, for the records described in Section 10, where we need them to establish or defend a legal claim), which we ask for, separately from anything else, when you create your account. We record when you gave it and which wording you agreed to. You can withdraw your consent at any time by deleting your account, or by asking us to delete specific information (see Section 9). Withdrawing does not affect processing already carried out. This information is central to how the App works, so withdrawing consent may mean we can no longer provide some or all of its features.
Khandaq is a spiritual care companion. It is not a medical or diagnostic service, and we do not use your information to make medical assessments.
UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for each way we use your information:
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| What we use it for | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Creating and running your account, signing you in and verifying it's you | Contract; legitimate interests (keeping accounts secure) |
| Providing the App's features, such as your care plan, Timeline, Spiritual Level, Journey Recaps and reminders | Contract; explicit consent (special category data) |
| Handling Lead Raqi tickets, and ongoing support and check-ins from an assigned Lead Raqi | Contract; explicit consent (special category data) |
| Processing purchases, subscriptions, ticket allowances, refunds, promo codes and fee waivers | Contract; legal obligation (accounting and tax records) |
| Running Digital Majlis sessions | Contract; consent (sharing location, and speaking) |
| Sending push notifications | Consent (which you give through your device's notification permission) |
| AI writing assistance, when you choose to use it, and AI-assisted drafting of check-in messages by staff (see Section 6) | Consent; explicit consent (special category data) |
| Keeping Khandaq safe, including preventing misuse, enforcing our Terms of Service, keeping staff records and keeping a log of staff actions | Legitimate interests; explicit consent (where these records involve special category data) |
| Understanding overall use of the App so we can improve it | Legitimate interests; explicit consent (special category data) |
| Keeping a record of the disclaimer you accepted, the Terms of Service you agreed to, the safety confirmations you ticked and any serious breach of our Terms, including for six years after your account is erased (see Section 10) | Legitimate interests (being able to establish or defend legal claims); for special category data, the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims |
| Responding to your requests and complying with the law | Legal obligation |
| Disclosing information in an emergency to protect someone's life (see Section 5.2) | Vital interests |
| Website waitlist | Consent |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed our interests against your rights. You can object at any time (see Section 9).
Messages from us. We may send you announcements, shown in the App, to all members or to members on a particular plan, and we may send push notifications, for example for announcements and care plan reminders. We do not record which members have read an announcement. Push notifications are sent only if you allow them in your device's settings, and you can switch them off there at any time. Messages about your account, safety or how the App works are service messages. We will send promotional messages only to members who have said they want them.
We do not sell your personal information. We do not show adverts. We do not use third-party advertising or tracking tools, and we do not use your content to profile you for marketing.
The App uses a few automated features:
None of these produce legal or similarly significant effects. Any decision about your account, such as a restriction, is made by a person.
We may publish anonymised, aggregated statistics, such as the total number of adhkar completed across all members. These never identify you. If you send us a review or testimonial, we will only publish it with your permission, and never under your real name unless you agree. We will never publish your day notes, your letter to your future self, your screener answers, your ticket content, or any other private content.
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| Information | Our administrator | Lead Raqis | Other members |
|---|---|---|---|
| Username | Yes | Yes † | Only in Digital Majlis sessions you join |
| Phone number (if given) | Yes | No | No |
| Email address | Yes | Yes † | No |
| Age, gender, nationality, ethnicity | Yes | Yes † | No |
| Full name and home address (if given) | Yes | Only if you switch on sharing † | No |
| Screener answers, activity and care plan progress | Yes | Only if assigned to you | No |
| Day notes | No * | No | No |
| Letter to your future self | Yes | Only if assigned to you | No |
| Tickets you submit | Yes | Yes (see below) | No |
| Check-ins, your replies and Lead Raqi notes | Yes | Only if assigned to you | No |
| Your Bespoke request, our questions, your answers and our decision | Yes | No | No |
| Your plan (Free, Premium or Bespoke) and purchase records | Yes | Your plan only † | No |
| Staff notes and account records | Yes | Only if assigned to you (Majlis incident notes: all staff) | No |
| Your voice in Digital Majlis (only if you accept an invitation to speak) | Heard live, if in the session | Heard live, if in the session | Heard live by everyone in the session; never recorded |
| Approximate location (Global Connection view, only if you allow it) | As an anonymous dot, if in the session | As an anonymous dot, if in the session | As an anonymous dot on a map, during the session only |
† Lead Raqis: these details are visible only for members assigned to the Lead Raqi, and for members who have submitted a ticket that is assigned to that Lead Raqi or not yet assigned to anyone. In practice, a Lead Raqi is assigned to you as part of ongoing support such as a Bespoke plan. Lead Raqis can see tickets that are not yet assigned so that one of them can pick yours up. A Lead Raqi can see your full name and home address only if you have provided them and switched on the "Share my name & address" setting. Lead Raqis can never see your phone number.
* Day notes are private to you. No member of staff can view them in the App or in our staff tools. Like any online service, our database can be accessed directly by our administrator for maintenance. We do not use that access to read your day notes or other private content.
Certain trusted providers process information on our behalf so we can run Khandaq. They are listed in Section 6.
We may disclose information where the law requires it, for example in response to a court order. We may also disclose information where it is necessary to protect someone's life or safety in an emergency.
If Khandaq Ltd is sold, merged or transferred to a new operator, your information would move with it, and the new operator would remain bound by this policy. We would tell you before this happens.
These providers process only what they need to do their job. They act on our instructions, and each also has its own privacy policy.
If you join a session in the Global Connection view and allow the App to use your approximate location:
The session's listener list shows usernames, so in a very small session others may be able to guess which dot is yours. If that concerns you, decline the location permission. You can still join the session.
Separately, prayer times and the timing of the Sleep Ruqyah player are calculated on your device using your device's location. That location never leaves your device and is not sent to us or to anyone else.
No method of electronic storage or transmission is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a personal data breach occurs, we will report it to the Information Commissioner's Office where required, within 72 hours of becoming aware of it. Where a breach is likely to result in a high risk to you, we will also tell you without undue delay.
Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@khandaq.app. We may need to confirm your identity first. We will respond within one month. For complex requests, we may extend this by up to two further months, and we will tell you if we do. Exercising your rights is free of charge.
You can ask to delete your account in the App, or by emailing us at support@khandaq.app. Your account is then deactivated, and it is permanently erased 30 days after we receive your request. During those 30 days you can sign in to cancel. Erasure removes your profile, activity, notes, tickets and everything else linked to your account, except as described in Section 10.
If you have a Premium or Bespoke subscription that is set to renew, you must cancel it first through the App Store or Google Play, because only you can cancel a store-managed subscription. Deleting your account does not cancel the subscription on its own.
Khandaq is not intended for anyone under 16, and you must be 16 or over to create an account. If we learn that we have collected personal information from someone under 16, we will delete it promptly. If you believe this has happened, please contact us at support@khandaq.app.
Our database is hosted in Europe. Our service providers, including Supabase, Apple, Google, Twilio, Resend, LiveKit, Anthropic, Cloudflare and Formspree, are based in, or may process information in, the United States or other countries outside the UK.
When information is transferred outside the UK, we rely on safeguards recognised by UK law. These include UK adequacy regulations, such as the UK–US data bridge for providers certified under it, and the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. You can ask us for more information about these safeguards, or a copy of them, at support@khandaq.app.
We may update this policy from time to time. Where a change is material, we will tell you before it takes effect, for example by an in-app notice or by email. If a change requires your consent, we will ask for it. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when this policy was last revised.
Khandaq Ltd
A private limited company registered in England and Wales, company number 17540030
Registered office: Suite RA01, 195-197 Wood Street, London, E17 3NU, United Kingdom
Email: support@khandaq.app