In one paragraph
When you scan a barcode, the barcode is sent to product databases to fetch the ingredient list. When you photograph a label, the photo is read by an AI service and not kept. Your phone keeps your history, cached products and settings. Our server keeps anonymous records, identified only by a random device id the app generates, so that answers to your questions reach you and so we can see what is being scanned. We do not sell data, we do not show ads, and we do not use any third-party tracking or advertising SDKs.
Who we are
Know Halal is operated by InfraSpatial Solutions LLC (United States). Contact: support@knowhalal.com.
What the app processes, and why
| Data | What happens | Kept where, and how long |
|---|---|---|
| Barcodes you scan or search | Sent to Open Food Facts, USDA FoodData Central and Know Halal's server to fetch the product. Our server logs each lookup (barcode, your device id, your strictness profile, whether it was found, the verdict the app showed you, and the app and rule-set version) to understand what people scan, to check verdicts, and to tell you about changes. | Server log, up to 12 months. Product data itself is kept as our database. |
| Anonymous device id | A random identifier the app creates on first launch. It lets answers reach the phones that asked, enforces fair-use limits, and is never combined with your name, email, contacts or location. | Server, deleted after 18 months without use. Shown in Settings, under Privacy, so you can ask us to delete its records. |
| Label photos | Only when you choose to photograph a label. The image is sent to our server and on to OpenAI's API to read the ingredient text and spot halal marks, then discarded. You see the text and can correct it before it is used. | Not stored. The text you approve is stored as product data. |
| Ingredient text you submit | Checked by Know Halal, then stored as product data so the next person who scans the barcode gets an answer. It may be contributed to Open Food Facts under its open licence (ODbL). It carries nothing about you beyond your device id on the submission record. | Kept as product data. |
| Questions to manufacturers | When you choose Contact manufacturer and ask Know Halal to contact the company, our server emails the company the product and the ingredient question from a Know Halal address. Nothing about you is sent to the company. Your device id is subscribed to the answer. A company's reply is read by OpenAI's API to find the answer to the question. | Questions and replies are kept as product knowledge; your subscription until the question is closed. |
| Questions to Ask AI | Your question, the product details and the answer are sent to our server and to OpenAI's API to write the answer, and logged with your device id so we can improve the rules and enforce fair-use limits. | Server log, up to 12 months. |
| Web research | When an ingredient is doubtful, or a barcode is not in any product database, our server uses OpenAI's API to search the web for what the manufacturer has already said, or for the product's ingredient list, and to read the pages it finds. This concerns the product, not you. | Findings kept as product knowledge. |
| Push notification token | Only if you allow notifications: an Expo push token linked to your device id, used to tell you when a question you asked is answered. | Server, with the device record. |
| Contributions | Only if you choose to contribute (Support Know Halal, in Settings). The payment is made through Apple's in-app purchase: Apple handles the payment, your card and your Apple Account. We receive no name, email or payment details, the app sends nothing about a contribution to our server, and nothing in the app unlocks. | Not stored by us. Apple keeps its own purchase record and sends us only sales totals. A monthly contribution is managed or cancelled in your iPhone settings. |
| Preferences, history, cache, your rulings | Stay on your phone. Clear history and cache, in Settings under Privacy, removes history and caches; deleting the app removes everything. | Your phone only. |
The app does not collect your name, email address, contacts, precise or coarse location, or advertising identifiers, and does not access your photo library (only the camera, when you choose to scan or photograph).
Service providers
- Open Food Facts (France) and USDA FoodData Central (USA): product databases. They receive the barcode or search text and your device's IP address, like any website you visit.
- Supabase (hosted in the US East region): our database and server functions.
- OpenAI (USA): the OpenAI API, for reading label photos, explanations, answers to your questions (which may include a web search), reading manufacturer replies, and searching the web for pages about products. We send product data, the photo you take and, for questions, your question; never your name or contact details. Under OpenAI's API terms this data is not used to train their models; OpenAI keeps it for up to 30 days to detect abuse.
- Resend: sends and receives the emails between Know Halal and manufacturers.
- Expo: delivers push notifications.
- Apple: processes contributions made through in-app purchase, under Apple's own privacy policy.
- Cloudflare: hosts this website.
Your choices and rights
- Switch off Optional AI tools in Settings, under Online help (or only Automatic AI explanations and Find unknown barcodes online). No AI processing of your scans happens then beyond the product lookup.
- Deny camera or notification permission at any time in your phone's settings; the app keeps working with typed ingredients.
- Ask us to delete the server records tied to your device id (shown in Settings, under Privacy): email support@knowhalal.com. We answer within 30 days.
- Residents of California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and other states with privacy laws, and of Canada (PIPEDA), have rights of access, correction and deletion. Because our records are anonymous, we may need the device id to find them. We do not sell or share personal information for advertising.
Children
Know Halal is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you are under 18, use the AI features (label photos, explanations and questions) only with a parent's or guardian's permission.
Security
Traffic is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). Server-side keys are held only on the server. Because there are no accounts, there are no passwords to lose.
Changes
We will post changes here with a new effective date. Material changes will also be shown in the app.