Read · 3 min · Updated 17 October 2026
Who we are
This site, halaqa.imatx.org, belongs to IMATX, the Indonesian Muslim Association of Austin, Texas. We are a community organisation run by volunteers. The site holds free study pages for anyone who wants to run a halaqa in their own circle. We prepare them each week for our own Qur'an halaqa.
Most pages need no sign-in
This week's session, and the sessions from the last four weeks, are open to everyone. Sessions 01 and 04, the two we suggest for a circle that is just starting, are always open. You do not need an account. We do not keep anything about you when you read them.
When a session is more than four weeks old, its study pages ask you to sign in first, with Google or with a code sent to your email. The first page of every session always stays open. Its Listen page, with the audio briefing, and its read-aloud edition also stay open. The rest of this page is about that sign-in.
What we keep when you sign in
When you sign in with Google, Google tells us four things:
- your name,
- your email address,
- your Google account number (a long number Google gives every account),
- and whether Google has checked that the email is really yours.
If you sign in with a code sent to your email instead, we only get your email address.
Either way, we also write down the date and time you signed in, and which way you signed in.
That is all. We never see your Google password. We cannot see your contacts, your calendar, your files or your email.
Why we keep it
We keep a simple record of who signs in to read the older sessions. It helps us see who is still using the older sessions, so we can plan the next ones better.
We also use it to keep you signed in, so you do not need to sign in again every week.
We do not use it for advertising. We do not send you marketing email because you signed in.
The one cookie we use
After you sign in, we put one small cookie in your browser. It keeps you signed in for 90 days, and if you keep coming back, it renews itself. It holds your name, your email and your Google account number, or only your email if you used a code. It is signed, so nobody can change it and pretend to be you.
While you wait for an email code, a second small cookie remembers which email the code was for. It ends after 10 minutes.
This site has no advertising cookies and no tracking or analytics tools.
Who can see it
Only the halaqa facilitator and the IMATX volunteers who help run the halaqa. The sign-in record is kept in a Google Sheet in IMATX's own Google account. Email codes are sent from that same account.
Two companies handle the data for us while the site works. Google runs the sign-in and stores our records. Netlify hosts the site and runs the sign-in step. Netlify also keeps normal web server logs, such as your IP address, for a short time.
We do not sell your information. We do not give it to anyone else, unless the law makes us.
How long we keep it
We keep sign-in records for 2 years. After that they are deleted automatically.
An email code is kept for 10 minutes only, and it is gone as soon as you use it.
The cookie in your browser ends by itself after 90 days.
Asking us to delete it
Email admin@imatx.org. Tell us the email address you signed in with. We will delete your records within 30 days and write back to say it is done.
You can also do these yourself at any time:
- Clear this site's cookies in your browser. That signs you out.
- Remove the IMATX halaqa from your Google account at myaccount.google.com/connections. Google will then stop sharing your details with us.
Age
The halaqa is for adults. Please do not sign in if you are under 13.
If this page changes
We will change the date at the top of this page. If we start keeping something new, we will say so here before we do it.
Questions
Email admin@imatx.org. A real person reads it.