Privacy Notice

1. Introduction

Halaqna ("we", "us", "our") operates a digital platform for booking barber shop appointments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal data in accordance with the Saudi Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) promulgated by Royal Decree M/19 dated 09/02/1443H and its Implementing Regulations.

2. Data Controller

Halaqna is the Data Controller of your personal data. Our contact details are at the end of this notice.

3. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the following categories of personal data:

• Name: your full name as provided at sign-up.
• Saudi mobile number: a +966 5X XXX XXXX format number, used as your unique account identifier and for booking notifications.
• Email address (optional): if you provide it, used to send booking confirmations and status updates.
• Booking data: selected barber shop, barber, service, date, time, and any notes you add.
• Account credentials: a salted hash of your password (we never store your password in plain text).
• Consent records: timestamp of your PDPL consent acceptance.

We do NOT collect: national ID (Iqama/National ID number), biometric data, location data, payment card details, or browsing history.

4. Purposes of Processing (Lawful Basis)

We process your personal data for the following purposes, based on your consent (Article 7 of the PDPL) and for the performance of a contract (Article 12):

• Creating and managing your customer account.
• Processing booking requests and notifying you of barber decisions (pending → approved/rejected).
• Sending booking confirmations, reminders, and cancellation notices via email (if provided) or SMS.
• Allowing barber shops to view and manage their appointment calendar.
• Aggregated, anonymized analytics for platform improvement (no individual identification).
• Complying with legal obligations under Saudi law.

5. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We share your personal data only with the following parties, and only to the extent necessary:

• Barber shops you book with: your name, phone, email, and booking details are visible to the shop and the assigned barber so they can prepare for your appointment.
• SMS / email providers: to deliver transactional notifications. Providers are bound by data protection terms.

We do NOT sell your personal data to any third party. We do NOT transfer your data outside Saudi Arabia without a lawful basis under PDPL Article 36.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active, plus a period of 5 years after account closure to comply with Saudi tax and consumer-protection record-keeping obligations. Booking records may be retained for up to 7 years for audit and dispute-resolution purposes.

7. Your Rights Under PDPL

Under PDPL Articles 23–32, you have the right to:

• Be informed about the personal data we process.
• Access your personal data and obtain a copy.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Request deletion of your personal data (subject to legal retention obligations).
• Withdraw consent at any time (this will close your account).
• Lodge a complaint with the Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA).

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@halaqna.app with your registered mobile number.

8. Security Measures

We implement industry-standard security controls including: salted scrypt password hashing, httpOnly session cookies, role-based access control (each barber sees only their own appointments; each shop sees only their own data), encrypted backups, and audit logging of admin actions. Access to personal data is restricted to authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis.

9. Cookies

Halaqna uses a single strictly-necessary session cookie ("halaqna_session") to keep you signed in. This cookie is httpOnly (not accessible to JavaScript) and is essential for the service to function. We do not use tracking, advertising, or analytics cookies.

10. Children's Data

Halaqna is not intended for children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If you believe a minor has registered with us, please contact privacy@halaqna.app so we can delete the account.

11. Changes to this Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. Material changes will be communicated by email (if provided) and a prominent notice on the Halaqna platform. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated notice.