Privacy

Privacy Policy

Last updated 12 September 2026

WhatSurah is built to help you find an Ayah, not to learn about you. This page says, in plain language, what leaves your device when you use the website, the Telegram bot or the Android app, what we keep, for how long, and why.

The short version. No accounts, no logins, no advertising, no analytics companies. What you send to be identified (a link, a voice clip or Arabic words) goes to our server so it can be matched. A voice clip is kept for up to 30 days so we can check the matches are right, then it is deleted. A record of the request (the result, the link or the words, and the country it came from) is kept so we can improve the service. Everything you read, save or listen to in the app stays on your phone. We do not sell or share your data.

1. Who we are

WhatSurah is a free service that identifies which Surah and Ayah of the Qur'an is being recited in a video or in your own voice, reads the Qur'an with you, and holds a library of hadith. In this policy, "we" and "us" mean the people who run WhatSurah, and "you" means anyone who uses it. It applies to the website at whatsurah.org, the Telegram bot @WhatSurahBot, and the WhatSurah Android app.

2. What we do not collect

No accounts, no sign up, and no passwords.
No names, email addresses, or phone numbers (unless you choose to email us).
No advertising identifiers, no advertising, and no third-party analytics or tracking libraries.
No contacts, photos, files or location from your phone.

3. What you send to be identified

To find an Ayah you paste a link, record your voice, or type Arabic words. What happens depends on which one:

A link is sent to our server, which retrieves the first part of the audio from the platform the link points to (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or X), transcribes it and matches it against the Qur'an. The audio is kept in the same way as a voice clip, below. Some sideloaded builds of the app fetch the audio on your phone instead and upload only that clip; either way the same rules apply.
A voice clip is sent to our server and matched the same way. Recording starts only when you tap the button, stops when you tap Done or after thirty seconds, and the microphone is not used at any other time.
Arabic words typed into the app are searched on your phone and do not leave it. On the website and in the bot they are sent to our server.

4. What we keep, and for how long

The audio. A copy of each voice clip or link audio is kept on our server for up to 30 days so that a person can listen back and check whether the match was right. This is how the matching gets better. After 30 days it is deleted automatically. It is not copied anywhere else.
The request. We keep a record of each request: when it was made, whether it came from the website, the bot or the app, the link or the words you sent, what our transcriber heard, the result and how confident it was, the country it came from, the kind of device and browser, and the app version. This record does not include your name, and there is no account to attach it to.
Your IP address is stored with the request record and used to work out the country and to protect the service from abuse.
On Telegram, the bot also stores your Telegram user id and username with the request, because that is how Telegram identifies who to reply to. A summary of each request (not the audio, not the IP address) is posted to a private Telegram group that only we can read, so we notice problems quickly.

A report you send us

The app has a Report screen for a mistake, a bug or a suggestion. What travels is what the screen says: your note, up to three pictures you chose, a Telegram username or email if you typed one so we can answer, the app version and the phone model, and which screen you were on. It goes to our server and on to the private Telegram group where we read reports; we keep the note and the details, and the pictures live only in that group. There is no identifier that outlives the report, and nothing is sent unless you press Send.

5. What stays on your phone

In the Android app, the ayat you save, your reading position, your identify history, your saved hadith, your reading marks and your settings are stored only on your phone. They are never sent to us. If you have Android backup switched on, Android may include them in the backup of your device to your own Google account, under Google's terms, so that they come back on a new phone. Clearing the app's data or uninstalling it deletes all of it.

6. Other services the app talks to

To play recitation and to show the printed mushaf, the app downloads recordings and page fonts from public content networks (everyayah.com, quran.com) as you need them. A second hadith language, if you choose one, is downloaded once. These services see your IP address when the app fetches from them, as any website would; we send them nothing about you.

When you paste a link, the platform it points to is contacted to retrieve the audio. Your use of those platforms is governed by their own privacy policies, which we do not control.

7. Permissions the app asks for

Microphone, asked for the first time you tap the button on Identify, used only while it is listening.
Notifications, so that recitation can be controlled from the lock screen while it plays.
Internet, to identify, to play recitation and to download page fonts.

8. Cookies and analytics

The website sets no tracking or advertising cookies. It remembers your light or dark preference in your own browser. We count requests and page views ourselves, on our own server, from the request records above; no analytics company is involved.

9. Children

WhatSurah is suitable for all ages. It has no accounts, no messaging, no advertising and no purchases, and it does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children.

10. Your choices, and deleting your data

Because there is no account, there is nothing to log in to and nothing to delete on demand in the app. If you would like a clip or a request record removed from our server before it expires, email us with roughly when you sent it and what it was, and we will find and delete it.

11. Security

Everything travels over HTTPS. Clips and request records are held on a single server we control and are not shared with anyone. Because we keep so little, there is very little about you for anyone to access.

12. Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update the date at the top of this page. Significant changes will be made clear on the site and in the app.

13. Contact

Questions about your privacy? Email us at hello@whatsurah.org.