Privacy Policy

Last updated: 15 September 2026

1. About this policy

Hawalina helps you discover restaurants and cafés in Oman, explore menus, and view and share food-related content. CloudTech Oman (“we”, “us”, or “our”) operates Hawalina and is responsible for personal data processed through the app, the Hawalina website, and related support services.

This Privacy Policy explains the information we process, why we use it, when it is disclosed, and your choices and rights. For privacy questions, contact support@hawalina.app.

This policy does not replace separate consent or device permission requests where these are required by law.

2. Information we process

Account information

We process your phone number, display name, and information linking your account to its sign-in method to provide and manage your Hawalina account, authenticate access, and assist with account-related requests.

Content you contribute

We process the ratings, reviews, comments, and reels you submit, together with information needed to associate them with your account and display or moderate them. Content you publish is visible to other users. Your content may itself contain personal information, including faces, voices, names, or locations you choose to include.

Avoid including private contact details, identity documents, or another person's personal information in public content unless you have the necessary permission and a lawful reason to do so.

Notifications

We process device notification tokens to deliver app notifications. You can control notification permissions through your device settings. Deleting your account removes its device notification tokens, as explained below.

Support and reports

If you contact us, report content, or raise a complaint, we process the information you provide, relevant account or content details, and our correspondence so we can investigate and respond. Please do not send passwords or one-time verification codes to support.

Technical information

Operating an online service involves processing technical connection information, such as IP addresses and requests made to our servers. We use technical information needed to deliver the Service, investigate faults, protect accounts, and address misuse.

3. How we use information

We use personal data to:

Create, authenticate, maintain, and support accounts.

Deliver restaurant and café discovery features and display content you request.

Publish and manage your ratings, reviews, comments, and reels.

Deliver notifications and important account or service communications.

Respond to questions, reports, complaints, and deletion requests.

Investigate misuse, protect users, and maintain the security and operation of the Service.

Meet applicable legal obligations and establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

We obtain consent where applicable law requires it. Where the law permits processing without consent, we rely on that exception only to the extent it applies. You may withdraw consent by contacting us or using the relevant app or device controls. Withdrawal does not invalidate processing that was lawful before it was withdrawn, but it may prevent us from providing a feature that requires the information.

We will explain any materially different use of personal data and obtain additional consent before starting that use where required.

4. Public content and sharing

Content visible to others

Ratings, reviews, comments, and reels submitted for publication can be viewed by others. Other people may copy or share content that you make public. Removing content from Hawalina does not automatically remove copies independently made by others.

Service providers

We may give providers that support the Service access to the personal data necessary for their work, such as operating technical infrastructure, supporting authentication or notification delivery, and resolving service issues. Access must be limited to the relevant purpose and subject to appropriate confidentiality, security, and data protection requirements.

Legal and security disclosures

We may disclose information when required or permitted by applicable law, including to respond to a valid legal request, investigate fraud or abuse, protect users, or exercise or defend legal rights. We limit disclosures to what is appropriate for the circumstances.

Changes to the business

If the Service is transferred as part of a merger, acquisition, or similar transaction, personal data may be transferred with it, subject to applicable safeguards, notice requirements, and any consent required by law.

5. Third-party websites and services

When you leave Hawalina to open a restaurant website, contact a business, or use another service, that third party handles the information you provide under its own privacy policy. Review its privacy practices before sharing personal information. A link or listing does not make that third party part of CloudTech Oman.

6. Retention and security

We retain account information for the operation of your account until you delete it or it is otherwise closed. Public contributions are handled separately as described in the account-deletion section.

We retain support correspondence, reports, and technical records only for as long as reasonably necessary to resolve the relevant issue, maintain security, prevent abuse, or meet an applicable legal requirement. The retention period depends on the purpose, whether a complaint or investigation remains open, and any legal obligation to preserve the record. Records retained for a legal or abuse-prevention purpose are restricted to that purpose.

We apply appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and loss. No online service can guarantee absolute security. We investigate suspected personal-data breaches and notify affected people or authorities when the law requires it.

Where the operation of the Service involves processing personal data outside Oman, we are responsible for meeting applicable cross-border transfer requirements and applying appropriate safeguards. You may contact us for information about processing locations and safeguards relevant to your data.

7. Deleting your account

You can delete your account directly in the Hawalina app:

Open Hawalina and sign in.

Open the Me tab.

Scroll down and select Delete Account.

Confirm deletion.

Deletion begins immediately after confirmation and cannot be reversed. As part of this process:

Your phone number is removed from the account and replaced with an anonymous identifier.

Your display name and the account's sign-in association are removed.

Your device notification tokens are removed, stopping account-related push notifications.

Content that may remain

Ratings, comments, and reels you have published may remain visible without your display name or account attribution. This does not guarantee that the content itself is anonymous: a video, voice, photo, or comment may still identify you or another person.

To request removal of a specific contribution, contact support@hawalina.app, identify the content, and explain your request. We may retain limited report records where necessary to meet legal obligations or prevent abuse.

If you cannot access the app

You can request account-deletion assistance by emailing support@hawalina.app. Use the subject “Hawalina account deletion” and provide the phone number associated with the account so we can identify it. We may verify that you own the account before taking action. Do not include your password or verification code.

Public deletion instructions are available at https://hawalina.app/delete-account?lang=ar. Uninstalling the app does not delete your account.

8. Your privacy rights

Subject to applicable law, you may request access to your personal data, correction or updating, deletion, withdrawal of consent, and other rights available to you. Contact support@hawalina.app to make a request.

We may request proportionate information to verify your identity and protect your account. We respond within applicable legal time limits and explain any lawful reason that prevents us from fulfilling a request in full.

You may also raise a complaint with the competent data protection authority, including Oman's Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology where applicable.

9. Children and guardians

Children's personal data requires special protection. Where applicable law requires guardian consent, a child must not provide personal data through the Service without that consent and the required protections being in place. A parent or guardian who believes a child has provided data without the necessary authorization should contact us so we can investigate and take appropriate action, including deletion where required.

10. Policy changes

We may update this policy to reflect changes to the Service, our practices, or legal requirements. We will publish the revised policy with an updated date and give additional notice or obtain renewed consent where required. Updating this policy does not by itself authorize processing that requires separate consent.

11. Contact

CloudTech Oman — Hawalina

Email: support@hawalina.app

Website: https://hawalina.app/