This Privacy Policy explains how htxmuslims (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects information when you use the website at htxmuslims.comand any related services (the “Service”). By using the Service, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
1. Information We Collect
1.1 Information you provide
- Contact form submissions: name, email address, subject, and the message you write.
- Business listing submissions: business name, business type, your email address, and any URL you provide (e.g., a Google Business URL).
- Real estate agent listing requests: full name, brokerage, Texas real estate license number, phone number, email address, HAR.com profile URL, headshot photograph, neighborhoods served, transaction types (residential / commercial), languages spoken, and Islamic financing experience.
- Newsletter signups (when offered): your email address.
- Event submissions (when offered): event details and submitter contact information.
- Account information (when accounts are offered): authentication identifiers, profile content, and any communications between you and us.
- Payment information (when paid features are activated): collected and processed by our payment processor (anticipated to be Stripe, Inc.). We do not store full credit card numbers on our servers; we receive only the limited data necessary to identify a customer and a subscription.
1.2 Information collected automatically
- Server logs: when you visit the Service, our hosting provider (Vercel) automatically receives standard request information such as IP address, user-agent, referring URL, and timestamp.
- Cookies and similar technologies: we use a small number of essential cookies (for example, the admin session cookie used by site administrators) and analytics cookies set by Google Analytics. See Section 5 below.
- Analytics: Google Analytics 4 collects information about your interactions with the Service—pages viewed, time on page, device type, approximate location derived from IP, and similar usage data—and sends it to Google.
1.3 Information from third parties
- Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC): when you request a real estate agent listing, we may consult TREC’s public records to verify your license and retrieve publicly available data such as license issue date and active/inactive status.
- Google Places API: for restaurant, grocery, and other Google-backed business listings, we retrieve publicly available data including business name, address, phone, rating, and place categories.
- HAR.com: we may visit a URL you provide to verify identity and confirm publicly displayed agent details.
2. How We Use Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Operate, maintain, and improve the Service;
- Display and route directory listings, guides, and search results;
- Verify the credentials of real estate agents who request listings;
- Communicate with you about your submissions, listing status, account, billing, or service announcements;
- Send newsletters and marketing communications, where you have opted in (you can opt out at any time);
- Detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, security incidents, and unlawful activity;
- Comply with applicable legal obligations, court orders, and lawful requests from government authorities;
- Aggregate and de-identify information for analytics, product development, and editorial decisions.
3. How We Share Information
3.1 Service providers
We share information with vendors who process it on our behalf to operate the Service. Each vendor is bound by contractual confidentiality obligations and is permitted to use the information only to provide their service to us.
- Vercel (hosting and content delivery)
- Supabase (database, authentication, file storage—including hosting agent headshot uploads)
- Google (Analytics; Places API for directory enrichment)
- Stripe (payment processing, when paid features are activated)
- Resend (transactional and marketing email, when activated)
- GitHub (storage of editorial content via the GitHub Contents API)
3.2 Public display
By design, certain information you submit is intended to be publicly displayed on the Service:
- Real estate agent listings publicly display the agent’s name, brokerage, headshot, neighborhoods served, transaction types, languages, Islamic financing experience, license number, and (for paid tiers) bio and contact information. Do not submit a real estate agent listing if you do not want this information made public.
- Approved business listings display the business’s name, address, phone, rating, and category.
- Editorial content we author may reference businesses or agents listed on the Service.
3.3 Legal & safety disclosures
We may disclose information when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to (i) comply with applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; (ii) enforce our Terms; (iii) detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues; or (iv) protect against harm to the rights, property, or safety of htxmuslims, our users, or others.
3.4 Business transfers
If htxmuslims is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of all or substantially all of its assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to standard confidentiality protections and continued application of this Privacy Policy or a successor with comparable protections.
3.5 No sale of personal information
We do not sell your personal information for monetary consideration. As of the effective date above, we do not engage in “sales” or “sharing” of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under California or Texas law. If this changes, we will update this Policy and provide the disclosures and opt-out rights required by law.
4. Photos & File Uploads
When you upload a headshot as part of a real estate agent listing request, the file is uploaded to our Supabase Storage account and assigned a publicly accessible URL. The URL is included on your public profile if your listing is approved. Only image files (JPEG, PNG, WEBP) up to 5MB are accepted; other file types are rejected at the server. Do not submit photos of persons other than yourself unless you have their explicit consent.
5. Cookies, Tracking & Analytics
We use the following categories of cookies and similar technologies:
- Strictly necessary: session cookies used for site administration (admin login). These are not used for tracking and cannot be disabled if you wish to use the admin panel.
- Analytics: Google Analytics 4 sets cookies (or uses similar identifiers) to measure how visitors use the Service. You can opt out by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on or by configuring your browser to block third-party cookies or trackers.
We honor Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals where applicable. We do not currently respond to legacy “Do Not Track” (DNT) browser signals because there is no consensus standard for them; we may revisit this in the future.
6. Data Retention
We keep personal information for as long as it is needed to provide the Service and for the legal, accounting, and operational purposes for which it was collected. Specifically:
- Submissions queue records (contact messages, listing requests, agent listing requests): retained indefinitely for moderation history and dispute resolution, unless you request deletion.
- Approved real estate agent profiles: retained while the listing is active. Upon cancellation of a paid tier, the public profile reverts to a basic directory entry; certain content (bio, testimonials, photos) is moved to an archived state and is purged after 12 months unless reactivated.
- Analytics data: retained according to Google Analytics’ default retention policies.
- Payment records: retained as required by tax, accounting, and audit laws.
We may retain de-identified or aggregated data indefinitely.
7. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- Access: request a copy of personal information we hold about you;
- Correction: request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
- Deletion: request that we delete your personal information, subject to legal exceptions;
- Portability: request a copy of your information in a portable format;
- Opt-out of marketing: unsubscribe from any marketing email at any time using the link in the message;
- Opt-out of sale/sharing: we do not sell or share for cross-context behavioral advertising; if that changes, an opt-out link will be made available;
- Non-discrimination: we will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.
How to exercise rights: send a request via the contact formwith the subject line “Privacy Request” and a description of the right you wish to exercise. We will verify your identity by matching information in your request against our records before processing.
7.1 California residents (CCPA / CPRA)
If you are a California resident, you have the rights described above and may also designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We do not process “sensitive personal information” for purposes of inferring characteristics about you. We disclose business and contact information described in this Policy to service providers under written contracts that limit their use of the information.
7.2 Texas residents (TDPSA)
The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act applies to certain businesses processing personal data of Texas consumers. To the extent the TDPSA applies to us, Texas consumers may exercise the rights described above and appeal a denied request by replying to our response to your initial request. If your appeal is unsuccessful, you may contact the Texas Attorney General.
7.3 EEA / UK residents
If you are located in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR may apply. Our legal bases for processing include performance of a contract (operating the Service), legitimate interests (improving and securing the Service, defending claims), consent (newsletter, optional cookies), and compliance with legal obligations. You may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. The Service is operated from the United States; using the Service involves transfer of your data to the United States.
8. Children’s Privacy
The Service is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has submitted personal information to us, please contact us and we will delete it.
9. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect personal information, including encryption in transit (HTTPS), Row Level Security on our database, MIME-type and file-size validation on uploads, password-protected administrator access with HMAC-signed session cookies, and limiting access to personal information to authorized personnel only. No system is perfectly secure, however, and we cannot guarantee that information will never be accessed in an unauthorized way. If we become aware of a security incident affecting your personal information, we will notify you in accordance with applicable law.
10. Third-Party Links & Services
The Service contains links to third-party websites and integrates with third-party services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before providing them with personal information.
11. International Users
We operate the Service from the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, you consent to the transfer of your information to the United States, which may have data protection laws different from those in your country.
12. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date at the top and, where appropriate, notify users by email or by a prominent notice on the Service. Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the updated Policy.
13. Contact
Questions about this Policy or about how we handle your personal information? Reach us via the contact form.