Who runs Awqatly
Awqatly (awqatly.com) is an independent project created and run by Dr. Muhammad Awais Yousaf, Associate Professor. In these pages, "we", "us" and "Awqatly" refer to him as the operator of the site. You can reach us at awais.yousaf@iub.edu.pk.
The short version
- You can use every part of Awqatly without an account.
- The home page shows times for your approximate city, worked out from your internet connection. It is not stored.
- If you choose to share your exact (GPS) location, it is used only inside your browser. It is never sent to our servers, except rounded to about 1 km if you turn on prayer reminders for it.
- Prayer reminders are optional. If you turn them on, we keep an anonymous push address for your device and the reminder settings, and nothing that identifies you (see Prayer reminders).
- We set two small functional cookies and save your calculation settings on your own device.
- We use Google Analytics to count visits. In the UK, EU, EEA and Switzerland its cookies are only set if you click "Accept"; elsewhere you can switch them off under "Cookie settings". We do not use advertising cookies.
- If you send us a mosque claim or correction, we keep what you write so we can act on it.
- We do not sell or share personal data for marketing.
Information we collect
When you browse
The site runs on Cloudflare. Like any web server, Cloudflare receives your IP address, browser type and the page you requested in order to deliver it and protect the site from abuse. We use this technical data only to run, secure and fix the site, and we do not try to identify you from it. Cloudflare also tells our server which country a request comes from; we use that only to suggest a language (see Cookies below).
Your approximate location
When you open the home page, Cloudflare estimates the city of your internet connection from your IP address (usually accurate to a few tens of kilometres). Your browser receives that estimate once to show local prayer times and nearby mosques. We do not store it or link it to you, and no permission prompt is involved. You can change the location at any time with "Change location".
Your exact location
The home page ("Use my exact location"), "Mosques near me" and the Qibla finder can ask your browser for your location, but only when you tap the button. If you allow it, the position is processed only in your browser to find the nearest city, sort mosques by distance or calculate the qibla. It is not sent to Awqatly, unless you then turn on prayer reminders for that place: the reminders then use it rounded to about 1 km (see Prayer reminders). You can refuse or withdraw permission in your browser settings at any time and search for a city instead.
Weather
City, mosque and home pages show a short weather paragraph. Our server asks MET Norway (the Norwegian Meteorological Institute) for the forecast at the city's coordinates, rounded to about 11 km, and caches the answer. Your own position and IP address are never sent to MET Norway; on the home page the weather is for the nearest city we know, not your exact location.
Mosque claims and corrections
If you use the "Claim this mosque / report a correction" form, we store the mosque, the type of request, your message, and the name and email address you choose to give (both optional). We use them only to review your request and reply to you. We keep them for as long as needed to handle the request and for no longer than 24 months.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics 4 (Google Ireland Limited for the UK and EEA; Google LLC elsewhere) to understand which pages are used, from which countries, and on which devices, so we can improve the site. Google Analytics does not store full IP addresses. We do not use it for advertising, and advertising and personalisation signals are switched off.
UK, EU, EEA and Switzerland: analytics cookies are only set after you click "Accept" on the cookie banner. Until then, and if you click "Reject", Google receives only cookieless, anonymous measurement pings (Google Consent Mode). Other countries: analytics cookies are on by default; you can switch them off at any time. To change your choice, use Cookie settings (also in the footer).
Ask Awqatly (the question box)
The question box answers from Awqatly's own calculations and data, in your browser. What you type is not sent to an AI service or any other third party, and it is not stored. Your saved city stays on your device.
Only if you allowed analytics (the same choice as above), the box sends anonymous daily counts to our own server: which kind of question was asked, in which language, whether it was answered, and whether you pressed 👍 or 👎. For a question the box could not answer, it also sends a shortened copy (at most 80 characters) with web addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, user names and long numbers removed, so we can add what is missing. No IP address, device identifier, cookie or account is stored with these counts, and they are deleted after 13 months. If you reject analytics, nothing is sent.
Widgets and the Windows app
When a website shows the Awqatly widget, or you use the Awqatly Windows app, our server counts the request by day (which website embedded the widget, which city, which app version, and your country). We do not store IP addresses for this. To count how many app installs are active each day we keep a short, one-way code made from your IP address and app version combined with a random value that is deleted the next day; the code is removed after 8 days and cannot be traced back to you.
Cookies and browser storage
| Name | Type | Purpose | Lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
cc | Cookie | Your country code, used only to suggest a page language | 1 day |
lang_pref | Cookie | Remembers the language you chose in the language banner | 1 year |
consent | Cookie | Remembers whether you accepted or rejected analytics cookies | 1 year |
_ga, _ga_C5PQTF59ZK | Cookie (Google Analytics) | Distinguish visits for statistics. Only with your consent in the UK/EU/EEA/Switzerland. | Up to 2 years |
awqatly.school | Local storage | Remembers whether you chose Sunni or Shia (Fiqh Jafaria) prayer times. | Until you clear it |
prayer-prefs-v1 | Session storage | The calculation method and Asr school you picked on a city page | Until you close the tab |
awqatly-location-v1 | Session storage | The location you chose on the home page (a city, or your exact position if you shared it). It stays on your device. | Until you close the tab |
awqatly-qibla-loc-v1 | Session storage | The place the qibla finder used (your position if you allowed location, or the city you chose). It stays on your device. | Until you close the tab |
awqatly-last-place-v1 | Local storage | The last place the home page showed times for, so the page still has times when you are offline. It stays on your device. | Until you clear it |
awqatly (database) | IndexedDB | Only if you turn on prayer reminders: the place, method, prayers and wording the reminders use. It stays on your device. | Until you stop reminders |
| Offline copies | Service worker cache | Copies of the pages you visited and the site's own files, so the site opens without internet. | Replaced with each update |
qibla_sound, qibla_sun_offset_v2 | Session storage | Whether the compass chime is on, and the Sun-check correction for your phone's compass. | Until you close the tab |
Apart from the Google Analytics cookies, these are strictly functional. The site works without any of them; clearing them only resets your preferences.
Prayer reminders
Reminders are optional and off until you tap "Yes, remind me" and allow notifications. We then keep, on our server: the address your browser's push service gives us for your device (an anonymous link, not a phone number or e-mail), the place rounded to about 1 km, its time zone and country (for its moon-sighting calendar), the calculation method, which prayers and occasions you chose (such as the 1st of each Islamic month), how many minutes before, and your language. Nothing else: no name, account or exact position.
At each reminder time we send your browser's push service (Google, Apple, Mozilla or Microsoft, depending on your browser) an empty message; your phone then shows the prayer and its time itself. Tap "Stop" in the reminder card or in a notification to delete your entry; it is also deleted automatically when the push service tells us the browser no longer accepts it. You can also block notifications for this site in your browser settings at any time.
Services from other providers
Our fonts and scripts are served from our own domain. A few parts of a page come from other providers, which receive your IP address when they do:
- Cloudflare, which hosts the site, its database and its content delivery.
- OpenStreetMap, which supplies the map images (from tile.openstreetmap.org) when you scroll to a map.
- EveryAyah.com, which supplies the Quran recordings (from everyayah.com) only when you press a play button in the Quran reader.
- Google Analytics (googletagmanager.com, google-analytics.com), for visit statistics as described above.
- Google Maps or Apple Maps, only when you tap a Directions button. Their own privacy policies then apply.
If we add advertising in future, we will update this policy first and ask for your consent where the law requires it.
Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the UK GDPR, the EU GDPR or Canadian and Australian privacy law), you may have the right to access, correct or delete personal data we hold about you, or to object to how we use it. Email awais.yousaf@iub.edu.pk and we will respond within 30 days. You can also complain to your local data-protection authority.
Children
Awqatly is suitable for all ages and does not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal data through the mosque form, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes
We will post any change here and update the date at the top of this page.