Privacy Policy

Introduction

The New Crescent Society ("NCS", "we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy of our members and website visitors. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Data Controller

New Crescent Society is the data controller responsible for your personal data. For any privacy-related enquiries, please contact us at: info@newcrescentsociety.org

Public Website

Our public website at newcrescentsociety.org does not use tracking cookies or advertising mechanisms. You may browse our public content without providing any personal information. However, if you choose to contact us or register for an event, we will collect the information described below.

Website Analytics

We use Cloudflare Web Analytics to understand how visitors use our website. This service is designed to be privacy-friendly and does not use cookies, does not track individual users across websites, and does not collect personal data. It only provides us with aggregate information such as page views, referrers, and approximate visitor locations (country level). No consent is required under UK GDPR for this type of analytics as no personal data is processed.

Contact Form

When you submit an enquiry through our Contact Us form, we collect:

• Name – to address you in our response
• Email address – to reply to your enquiry
• Enquiry type and organisation name – to understand and appropriately route your enquiry
• Subject and message – the content of your enquiry
• IP address (hashed) – a one-way hash used solely for rate limiting to prevent abuse; your actual IP address is not stored

We process this data under the lawful basis of legitimate interests – specifically, our interest in responding to enquiries from the public and potential members. Contact form submissions are retained for 12 months, after which they are automatically archived. Only NCS administrators and moderators can access this data. To request deletion of a submission, please contact us at info@newcrescentsociety.org

Event Registration

When you register for an NCS training session or event, we collect:

• Name – to identify attendees
• WhatsApp number – to share event details (e.g. Zoom link) via the event WhatsApp group
• City (optional) – to understand our community distribution
• IP address (hashed) – a one-way hash used solely for rate limiting to prevent abuse; your actual IP address is not stored

We process this data under the lawful basis of legitimate interests – specifically, our interest in organising educational events for the community. Event registrations are retained for 12 months, after which they are automatically archived. Only NCS administrators and moderators can access this data. To request deletion of a registration, please contact us at info@newcrescentsociety.org

Member Registration and Data

When you register as an NCS member, we collect the following information:

• Email address – for authentication and communication
• Full name – for identification within the community
• Phone number – for moon sighting notifications and verification
• Location (general) – to understand our community distribution
• Time zone – to provide relevant sighting information

Moon Sighting Observations

When you submit a moon sighting observation, we collect:

• Observation location (coordinates) – essential for astronomical verification
• Date and time – to correlate with lunar data
• Weather conditions – for contextual verification
• Observation method – to assess sighting credibility
• Photographs (optional) – as evidence of sighting
• Photo metadata (EXIF) – to verify photo authenticity and location
• Witness information (if provided) – names and contact details of corroborating witnesses

This data is necessary for the legitimate purpose of maintaining accurate Islamic calendar records based on verified moon sightings.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We process your personal data under the following lawful bases:

• Contract – Processing necessary for your membership with NCS
• Legitimate Interests – Processing necessary for the operation of moon sighting verification and calendar determination, which is the core purpose of our organisation
• Religious Organisation Exemption – As a religious community organisation, we may process data relating to religious activities under Article 9(2)(d) of the UK GDPR

Data Retention

We retain your membership data for as long as you remain an active member of NCS. Moon sighting observation records are retained indefinitely as they form part of the historical Islamic calendar record. If you request account deletion, we will remove your personal profile data, but anonymised observation records may be retained for historical purposes.

Data Sharing

We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. Your data may be shared in the following circumstances:

• Verified observations – Your observer code (pseudonymised identifier) and observation details may be visible to other members and the public
• Service providers – We use Supabase for secure data storage and authentication, operating under a Data Processing Agreement
• Legal requirements – If required by law or to protect our legal rights

Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, and secure authentication. Our data is stored on servers operated by Supabase, which maintains SOC 2 Type II certification and GDPR compliance.

Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access – Request a copy of your personal data
• Right to rectification – Request correction of inaccurate data
• Right to erasure – Request deletion of your data (subject to retention requirements)
• Right to restrict processing – Request limitation of how we use your data
• Right to data portability – Request your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to object – Object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@newcrescentsociety.org

Cookies

Our website uses only strictly necessary cookies for authentication purposes in the members area. These cookies are essential for the operation of the website and do not require consent under UK cookie regulations. We do not use tracking, analytics, or advertising cookies.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any significant changes will be communicated to members via email. The date at the top of this policy indicates when it was last updated.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first at info@newcrescentsociety.org. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk