Privacy Policy

1. Our Commitment to Your Privacy

At CeylonNikah, we understand that finding a life partner is a deeply sacred and private journey. We are dedicated to safeguarding your personal data, matrimonial bio-data, and confidential details in strict compliance with ethical and Islamic privacy standards.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information provided directly by you (or your authorized family guardian/Wali) upon registration, through our online forms, or via our official WhatsApp Concierge (+94 77 790 0278):

• Account & Phone Verification: Mobile telephone number verified via Sri Lankan SMS or WhatsApp OTP, encrypted login credentials, and verification timestamps.
• Matrimonial Bio-Data (10-Step Profile): Full legal name, date of birth/age, marital status, religious background, sect/Jamath, hometown origin, district, education, professional bodies/accreditations, occupation, family background, and partner preferences.
• Media & Verification Documents (Special Category Data under Schedule II): Modest candidate profile photos, private photo galleries, and government National ID (NIC) / Passport documents with biometric live selfie checks. Under Schedule II of the Sri Lanka PDPA, national identifiers and facial biometric geometry constitute Special Categories of Personal Data, collected strictly for authentication and fraud prevention.
• Community Feed Proposals: Circular matrimonial listings submitted directly by families or guardians with mobile OTP verification, or indexed with masked guardian contact details. (Notice: This feature is no longer available. Community posts have been permanently removed and discontinued due to abuse).

3. Legal Basis for Processing & Explicit User Consent (PDPA Compliance)

In accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act No. 9 of 2022 (PDPA) of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, CeylonNikah processes personal data under the lawful basis of explicit, informed user consent granted at the time of registration, alongside our legitimate interest in providing a safe, authentic, and fraud-free matrimonial network:

• Express Consent upon Registration: By creating an account, registering via our WhatsApp Concierge, submitting bio-data, or uploading documents, you expressly authorize CeylonNikah to collect, store, verify, cross-reference, audit, and process all submitted details for matrimonial matchmaking and identity verification.
• Purposes of Data Processing: Data is collected and processed specifically to:
  • Authenticate candidate identity and prevent duplicate, fraudulent, or impersonated accounts;
  • Verify age, civil status, education, occupation, and family guardian oversight;
  • Facilitate private, dignified matrimonial proposals between mutually compatible suitors;
  • Enforce Islamic modesty safeguards (phone number privacy and photo modesty blurring);
  • Comply with statutory legal obligations and prevent cyber abuse or matrimonial extortion.
• Guardian & Third-Party Submissions: Where an account or bio-data is submitted by a parent, sibling, or appointed Islamic guardian (Wali), the submitter warrants that they hold full legal authority and informed candidate consent. CeylonNikah records this relationship and processes the candidate's data on the basis of this declared family authorization.
• Account Activation Policy & Phone Verified Badge: Following registration, newly created candidate accounts enter a pending review state. Profiles are activated either: (1) Automatically by the platform AI verification engine once all registration details, bio-data fields, and 6-digit phone OTP (via SMS or WhatsApp) are confirmed, or (2) Manually by CeylonNikah compliance review officers. Upon successful activation, the profile receives the official Phone Verified badge.
• Social Media & Broadcast Matrimonial Outreach: With explicit consent granted at registration, CeylonNikah may publish non-identifying matrimonial bio-data summaries (such as age, profession, education, district/location, height, and partner expectations) on our official Facebook page, public matrimonial groups, and official WhatsApp Status strictly to assist candidates in reaching compatible suitors. Under no circumstances will personal names, telephone/WhatsApp contact details, photographs, or identity verification documents be shared or published in these promotional outreach channels.
• Identity Verification & Biometric Safeguards (Schedule II, §§ 5, 6, 10, & 26):

  Standalone Point-of-Capture Explicit Consent: Under Schedule II of the PDPA, biometric verification cannot rely on generic terms. Members must tick an unchecked opt-in checkbox confirming: "I explicitly consent to the collection of my National Identity Card and facial photograph solely for identity verification and fraud prevention."

  Purpose Limitation & Private Storage: NIC scans and selfies are used solely to authenticate age, identity, and profile authenticity. They are never used for marketing, profiling, or displayed publicly. Stored with AES-256 encryption in private AWS S3 vaults accessible strictly to vetted compliance staff via 60-minute signed URLs.

  Third-Party Processors & Zero AI Training: Third-party facial matching APIs act as Data Processors under DPAs adhering to Sri Lankan law. In compliance with Section 26, vendor agreements strictly prohibit retaining user photos or using them to train external AI/ML models.

4. How Your Information is Protected (Privacy Gates)

We do NOT sell, rent, or publicly expose your contact information.

• Phone Number & WhatsApp Privacy: Contact numbers are private by default. They are only disclosed when both sides mutually accept a marriage proposal. Alternatively, members can configure their phone number privacy to "Public to Verified Members" if they wish verified suitors to reveal their contact number directly.
• Name Privacy & Identity Masking: Full names and first names are masked by default across all public feeds and search directories. Members are identified by their unique reference ID (e.g. LK-1042) or first initial (e.g. Fathima A.). Full legal names are disclosed only after mutual proposal acceptance or if explicitly permitted by the member.
• Photo Blurring & Modesty Shield: Candidate photographs are protected behind a modesty blur shield by default ("On Request"). Suitors must submit a Photo View Request, and photos are only unblurred when the candidate or guardian grants explicit permission. Photos feature digital watermarks and screenshot deterrents.
• Encrypted Verification Storage: Government ID scans (NIC/Passport) and biometric selfies are encrypted and restricted to vetted compliance officers. They are never published, shared, or made visible to suitors.
• Profile Viewers & Incognito Ghost Mode: When viewing candidate profiles, your visit is logged in the candidate's recent visitor history (up to 10 for Free Starter, 50 for Silver VIP, and unlimited for Gold VIP). Gold VIP Lifetime members can enable Ghost Mode (Incognito Browsing) to browse candidate profiles 100% anonymously without leaving footprints in viewer logs.
• Private Direct Messaging (1-on-1) & Report-Based Moderation (PDPA Compliance):

  Users expect confidential correspondence in private 1-on-1 chats. In accordance with the Sri Lanka Personal Data Protection Act No. 9 of 2022 (PDPA) (Part II Principles of Processing: Purpose limitation, transparency, and data minimization):

  • No Routine Real-Time Monitoring: CeylonNikah does NOT routinely monitor, read, or surveil private member-to-member conversations without cause. Direct messages are confidential between conversation participants.
  • Report-Based Inspection: Moderation operates strictly on a Report-Based and Safety-Flagged basis. A conversation thread is inspected by human moderation officers solely if a participant submits an in-chat report (for abusive language, harassment, un-Islamic conduct, financial scams, fake profile impersonation, or off-platform coercion) or if automated safety heuristics detect high-risk financial fraud solicitations.
  • Action Against Violations: Upon a substantiated report, moderators will inspect the thread transcript, issue formal moderation warnings, suspend the offending party, or trigger permanent National ID (NIC) and phone blacklisting.

5. Community Proposals & Unregistered Submissions

To serve all Sri Lankan Muslim families, our Community Feed allows families and guardians to submit matrimonial proposals directly without completing a full 10-step member registration, verified securely via SMS or WhatsApp OTP.

Similarly, visitors browsing the Community Feed can submit a marriage proposal directly to a listed bio-data with phone OTP verification. If a marriage is fixed or family consent changes, any proposal can be permanently removed within 1 hour via our 1-click Ethical Take-Down request.

6. Moderation, Rejections & Fraud Blacklisting

Submissions undergo AI audit and human compliance review:

• Action Required / Rejection: If identity documents are unclear or bio-data violates guidelines, the profile is returned with clear correction notes. All 10 steps of data remain safely preserved so the candidate can resubmit without retyping.
• Zero-Tolerance Ban & Blacklisting: Commercial matchmakers, fake accounts, scammers, and abusive users are permanently terminated. Offending telephone numbers and National ID (NIC) numbers are blacklisted permanently from the platform.

7. Data Retention, Matrimonial Hold & 14-Day Account Deletion Policy (PDPA Section 15)

Under Section 15 ("Right to Erasure") of the Sri Lanka Personal Data Protection Act No. 9 of 2022 (PDPA), you retain full sovereignty over your personal information and matrimonial bio-data. You can pause or permanently erase your data at any time:

• Matrimonial Hold (Temporary Pause): If you are actively in discussions with a suitor and wish to pause inquiries without losing your account history, you can toggle "Matrimonial Hold" via Settings. This immediately removes your profile from all search results, candidate discovery feeds, and visitor logs, while safely preserving your shortlists, chat history, and unlocked contacts for when you return.
• Account Deletion Request: Any registered member can initiate an account deletion request at any time from Account Settings → Deactivate / Delete Account (available on both Web and Mobile).
• Immediate Profile Hiding: As soon as an account deletion request is submitted, our system immediately hides your bio-data, masked profile, and contact details from all suitor directories, recommendation engines, and search feeds.
• Admin Deletion Queue & Mandatory Phone Verification Call: To safeguard vulnerable members against malicious account tampering, unauthorized deletion by family members or siblings, or phone theft, all deletion requests are routed to our secure Admin Deletion Queue. A CeylonNikah compliance officer conducts a mandatory telephone verification call to your registered phone number to confirm your identity and voluntary consent for permanent account erasure.
• 14-Day Permanent Purge SLA: Once identity and consent are verified via telephone call, our engineering team executes a permanent, irreversible purge of your account within 14 calendar days. All personal bio-data, encrypted National ID (NIC/Passport) documents, biometric live selfies, uploaded photos, and private message threads are permanently destroyed in accordance with PDPA guidelines.
• Encrypted Vault Storage for Verification Assets (Section 8 Storage Limitation): Holding government identity cards and biometric facial geometry requires the highest standard of statutory safeguards. In compliance with Section 8 of the PDPA, CeylonNikah stores raw National Identity Card (NIC) scans, Passport documents, and biometric selfie photographs with end-to-end AES-256 encryption in secure, private cloud vaults. These assets are accessible exclusively to vetted compliance personnel via short-lived presigned URLs solely to resolve contested verification disputes, defend against identity theft fraud, and satisfy statutory auditing.
• Preservation of Verified Badges: Verification documents are strictly confidential internal verification records and are never published publicly or shared with suitors. Your is_verified badge, nic_verified status, is_selfie_verified confirmation, masked NIC number record, and immutable audit timestamps remain active and fully intact for the lifetime of your active profile.
• Cancellation Option: Should you change your mind during the 14-day review window, you may log in to Account Settings and click "Cancel Deletion Request & Keep My Account" to restore your profile to active status.

8. Automated Conversational AI Processing & Human Takeover on WhatsApp

In furtherance of transparency and non-deceptive processing under Sri Lanka's PDPA No. 9 of 2022:

• Nature of the WhatsApp Concierge: CeylonNikah operates an automated conversational AI assistant (Sister Fathima AI) accessible via WhatsApp (+94 77 790 0278) to facilitate 24/7 proposal searches, bio-data document intake, and support inquiries. The assistant is an automated artificial intelligence system, not a human agent.
• Unconditional Right to Human Intervention: Users retain the absolute right to human intervention at any time. Sending keywords such as HUMAN, AGENT, COORDINATOR, or HELP (or "மனிதன்" in Tamil / "මිනිසා" in Sinhala) immediately halts automated AI processing and routes the conversation to a human matchmaker or compliance officer.
• Data Processing & Privacy Safeguards: Bio-data documents and candidate queries transmitted to the WhatsApp AI assistant are processed strictly for matchmaking compatibility, account administration, and verification. In accordance with Section 26 of the PDPA, user communications are never used to train third-party public AI models.

9. Contact Our Privacy Team

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our privacy practices or wish to submit an inquiry, please contact our data protection desk at [email protected] or via our official WhatsApp helpline at +94 77 790 0278.