Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the HalalNearby website and services at halalnearby.com(the “Service”), operated by IKESON Technology Solutions (“HalalNearby,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). By using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Eligibility & accounts

You must be at least 16 years old to use the Service. If you create an account, you agree to provide accurate information, keep your email address current, keep your login credentials secure, and notify us if you believe your account has been compromised. You are responsible for activity under your account.

We may offer different sign-in methods from time to time, such as email and password or Google sign-in. We may require a verified email address before trust-sensitive actions, including reviews, halal-status confirmations, hours confirmations, and restaurant ownership claims.

2. License to use the Service

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Service for lawful personal use, restaurant-owner use, or internal business evaluation. You may not scrape, bulk-download, resell, or re-publish our listings or data, attempt to access accounts or data that are not yours, reverse-engineer the Service, overload the Service, bypass rate limits, impersonate another person or business, manipulate trust signals, or use the Service for unlawful, harmful, deceptive, or abusive activity.

3. Your content and the license you grant us

You retain ownership of reviews, ratings, photos, issue reports, restaurant submissions, owner edits, replies, and other content you provide (“User Content”). By providing User Content, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to host, store, reproduce, publish, display, format, crop or resize media, distribute, moderate, and otherwise use it to operate, improve, protect, and promote the Service.

You represent that you own or have the rights to the content you post (including photos), and that it is accurate to the best of your knowledge, lawful, and does not violate anyone’s rights. Do not upload private documents unless we specifically ask for them — for example, a halal certificate submitted for our review, which is kept private. We may moderate, edit, reject, remove, restore, or respond to User Content and may act on community reports. We have no obligation to monitor all content.

4. Reviews, confirmations, and reports

Reviews are opinions about dining experiences, not halal determinations. Reviews require a signed-in account with a verified email address, are limited to one review per user per restaurant, and are moderated before publication. Re-submitting a review updates the existing review and sends it back through moderation.

Halal-status and hours confirmations are one-way trust signals from accounts with a verified email address. Each person can confirm a given fact about a restaurant once, and confirmations cannot be undone. Issue reports may be submitted without signing in; an optional email helps us follow up. If you are signed in, the report is attributed to your account.

5. Owner listings & claims

Restaurant owners and authorized staff may claim and manage listings. Claims require a signed-in account with a verified email address. If the claimant’s verified email domain matches the restaurant website domain, the claim may be approved automatically. Other claims are reviewed by our team. Approval grants management access for that restaurant only; it does not make you HalalNearby staff or an administrator.

Owners are responsible for the accuracy and legality of information they provide, including hours, contact details, links, photos, replies, and halal self-reports. Owners may self-report only Owner-reported or Muslim-friendly halal status. Owners cannot create a Verified Halallabel for themselves. A halal certificate upload is evidence for our team to review and does not automatically verify the listing. We may approve, reject, suspend, or revoke listing access if we believe it is inaccurate, unauthorized, stale, or abused. If we revoke an owner’s access, they may submit a new claim for review.

6. Restaurant information and third-party services

Restaurant listings, hours, links, menus, maps, delivery links, photos, halal status signals, and owner-maintained details may be incomplete, delayed, inaccurate, or out of date. Third-party websites and services, including map, delivery, social, sign-in, email, and advertising services, are controlled by their own providers. We are not responsible for third-party services, content, availability, prices, fees, menus, orders, delivery, reservations, or business practices.

7. Halal status disclaimer

HalalNearby publishes best-effort halal status signals about third-party restaurants. These signals are informational and are not a religious certification, legal certification, endorsement, or guarantee of halal compliance. Our Halal Accuracy Disclaimer is incorporated into these Terms by reference, and you agree to it. Always confirm halal status directly with the restaurant before relying on it.

8. Ads and monetization

The Service may show clearly labelled sponsored placements. Today those may include house ads we curate. If Google AdSense is enabled, Google may serve ad units in eligible placements. Ads are not halal verification evidence, do not change halal status, and do not mean we endorse the advertiser, restaurant, product, or claim.

9. No payments through HalalNearby

HalalNearby does not currently process payments, sell restaurant food, take orders, or collect payment card information. Any purchase, reservation, delivery order, refund, dispute, fee, tax, allergy accommodation, or service issue is between you and the restaurant or third-party provider you choose.

10. Disclaimers of warranty

The Service, including all listings, halal signals, hours, links, maps, and third-party content, is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including accuracy, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

11. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, HalalNearby, IKESON Technology Solutions, and their operators, staff, contractors, and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, lost profits, lost data, business interruption, reputational harm, food-related harm, religious reliance harm, or loss arising from your use of or reliance on listings, halal signals, owner content, reviews, reports, ads, third-party links, or the Service. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under Ontario or Canadian law.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless HalalNearby, IKESON Technology Solutions, and their operators from claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses arising out of your User Content, owner listing activity, claim of authority over a restaurant, use of the Service, violation of law, infringement of rights, or breach of these Terms, to the extent permitted by law.

13. Termination

We may suspend or terminate accounts, claims, listing access, submissions, content, or access to the Service at any time if we believe you violated these Terms, harmed users or restaurants, manipulated trust signals, infringed rights, created risk for the Service, or used the Service abusively. You may stop using the Service at any time and may request account or data deletion through the contact address in our Privacy Policy.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. The courts of Ontario will have jurisdiction over any disputes, subject to applicable law.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above. Continued use of the Service after changes means you accept the updated Terms.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at info@ikeson.com, or write to IKESON Technology Solutions, 231 Oak Park Blvd Suite 301, Oakville ON L6H 7S8, Canada.