Effective date: October 15, 2026

Who we are

This app is provided by the Muslim Education Center ("MEC", "we"), 4301 Shamrock Dr, Charlotte, NC 28215. The app runs on the Manara platform, which is built and operated for MEC by Hope Tech Inc. Hope Tech handles information only on MEC's behalf, to run the app.

Questions about this policy: office@meccharlotte.org.

The short version

You can use the app without an account.
When you create an account we ask a few optional questions about what you do and how you could help. Only MEC's office sees your answers.
We do not show ads, we do not track you across other apps or websites, and we do not sell your information.
Your location never leaves your phone.
Card details for donations are entered on Stripe's secure page, never in the app.
You can delete your account from inside the app at any time.

What the app collects, and why

Without an account

An app identifier. When the app is first opened it creates a random identifier for that installation. It is not your phone's advertising identifier and it does not identify you by name. We use it to deliver notifications to the right phone and to keep the app working.
A notification identifier. If you allow notifications, our notification provider (OneSignal) assigns your installation an identifier so that prayer reminders and announcements can reach you. You can turn notifications off at any time in your phone's settings.
Technical details. Each request carries the app's version and your language setting.

Your location

The app asks for your location to work out prayer times for where you are and to point the Qibla compass. This is done on your phone. Your coordinates are not sent to MEC or to Hope Tech. On iPhone, the Qibla screen asks Apple's own service for the name of your city. On Android, your last location is saved in the app's settings on your phone, which Android may include in your own Google backup if you use it. You can use the app without sharing your location.

If you create an account (optional)

Your first name, last name and email address, and a password (stored in a protected form, never as plain text).
The services you ask to hear about, so we send you the notifications you chose.
Optional questions: what you do (your profession or field), how you could help (areas you could volunteer in), and which MEC programs interest you. You can skip any of them, and the app works the same if you do.
Your answers are kept with your account. Only MEC's office staff can see them, together with the programs you asked to hear about. Other members and other people who use the app never see them.
The office uses them to know who in the community could help with what, and may contact you about volunteering or about programs that match what you told us. We do not use your answers for advertising and we do not give them to anyone else.
You can change or remove your answers at any time in the app's menu, under About you.

An account lets you read the details of MEC's services, choose which notifications you receive and, if you wish, tell the office how you could help.

If you send us a message

The Contact form sends your name, email address, phone number, the reason you chose and your message to MEC's office, together with the app identifier described above, so the office can reply.

If you volunteer

The Get Involved entry in the app opens MEC's Get Involved page, which leads to its volunteer sign-up form. What you enter on that form (your name, email address and phone number, your age group, the areas you would like to help with, the days and times you are usually free, how often you would like to volunteer and whether in person or online, and any skills or comments you add) goes to MEC's office so it can contact you about volunteering. If you are under 16, the form asks you to fill it in with a parent or guardian.

If you donate

The app sends the fund you chose, the amount, and whether the gift is monthly. Payment is then taken on a secure page run by Stripe, which opens in your browser. Your card details go to Stripe, not to the app, MEC's servers or Hope Tech. Stripe gives MEC a record of the donation, including the name and email you enter there. Stripe's privacy policy applies to that page: https://stripe.com/privacy

Your calendar

If you choose to add an event to your calendar, the app adds that one event. It does not read your calendar.

What the app does not do

No advertising and no advertising identifiers.
No tracking across apps or websites.
No third-party tools for advertising or tracking. Two services below record limited usage information to do their job.
No access to your contacts, photos, camera or microphone.

Who else handles your information

Only the services needed to run the app, and only for that purpose:

Hope Tech Inc hosts the app's servers and stores account, message and notification information, including your answers to the account questions, for MEC.
OneSignal delivers notifications. It receives the app identifier and notification identifier, and records basic notification activity, such as whether a notification arrived and was opened, so we can tell that notifications are working.
Stripe processes donations.
Apple and Google deliver notifications to your phone. Maps on the Contact screen come from OpenStreetMap (iPhone) or Google Maps (Android); like any website, they see your internet address when the map loads. On Android, Google Maps may also collect crash and diagnostic information about the map.

We do not sell or rent your information, and we do not share it for anyone else's marketing.

Keeping and deleting your information

You can delete your account in the app: Menu, then Account, then Delete account. You can also ask on the web at https://masjid.hopetechapps.com/account-deletion. Deleting your account removes your sign-in, your notification choices and your answers to the account questions. Volunteer sign-up forms you sent are kept as the office's records, like messages; ask the office if you want one removed. Records the office keeps for its own work, such as messages you sent or donations you made, are kept as MEC's records require.

Uninstalling the app stops the app identifier from being used.

Children

The app is for the general MEC community. It is not directed at children under 13, and accounts are not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect answers to the account questions from children under 13. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

Security

Information travels between the app and our servers over encrypted connections. Your sign-in is stored in your phone's secure storage.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with a new effective date.

Contact

Muslim Education Center, 4301 Shamrock Dr, Charlotte, NC 28215
office@meccharlotte.org

Legal Clinic

MAS Immigration and Advocacy Clinic