One policy — but privacy works differently for learning than for a marriage.
1 · Two kinds of privacy
Privacy is not one-size-fits-all. We treat two situations differently:
- Learning & study — courses, consultations, and understanding Islam. This is personal. We apply standard data protection (Thai PDPA): your information stays private, and nothing is published without your choice.
- Marriage (nikah) — this is not only about you. A nikah involves your partner, the wali, the witnesses, and the community that recognises it. So marriage carries a special protection designed to prevent a dishonest or fraudulent nikah and to keep women safe.
2 · Learning & study — general privacy (PDPA)
For anyone learning about Islam, preparing, or receiving guidance from ARAYA: we collect only what the service needs, we keep it confidential, and we never publish your participation without your consent. You have the full data rights described in section 6.
3 · Marriage — every nikah has a checker
Our whole rule for a marriage is one line: every nikah must have someone independent checking on the woman’s side — and the closer that checker is to her, the more privacy you keep.
Who can be the checker, from closest to farthest:
- Her wali (guardian) — closest → fully private.
- Two of the bride’s own female relatives attending and confirming — near → private (if there is no wali in the religious order, ARAYA can appoint a wali hakim and the ceremony stays private).
- The public — farthest → public by nature. The public can only check what it can see, so a public-only check means a public marriage — not a penalty, just how it works.
No wali in the religious order? There are two cases (matching our master wali article): (a) two of the bride’s own female relatives attend and confirm — ARAYA can appoint a wali hakim, an independent guardian through a state-recognised Islamic authority, and the ceremony stays private with no public disclosure required. (b) No wali and no relatives attending at all — we arrange a wali hakim only if you agree to have the nikah disclosed publicly through the company’s public channels, such as Facebook or Instagram, so that public disclosure serves as the independent checker in place of family and confirms this marriage is open and honest.
One thing never changes: the record that a check happened (Layer A) can’t be deleted by one person — otherwise the check would mean nothing later.
In short: a nikah = the vows + an independent checker + a record that can’t be erased. This is our No Secret Nikah rule — a marriage no one can check is how trafficking and fraud happen, and women and children are hurt most.
If we see coercion, deception, or trafficking, we stop — we escalate, report where needed, and protect any team member who raises it.
One rule, three views — for you: “the closer your family stands, the more privacy you keep.” For our team: “always ask who the checker is; no checker, no nikah.” In public: “we do not conduct a marriage that no one can check.”
When there is no wali in the religious order
Two of the bride’s own female relatives attend and confirm — ARAYA can appoint a wali hakim and the ceremony stays private, with no public disclosure required. See all 8 tiers in our master wali article.
No wali and no relatives attending from either side — ARAYA will host the nikah and appoint a wali only if the couple agrees to have the nikah disclosed publicly through the company’s public channels, such as Facebook or Instagram — public disclosure then serves as the independent checker in place of family, following this section’s principle: the closer the checker, the more private the ceremony, and no nikah happens without a checker.
4 · What is shared vs. what is yours
To reconcile “a group act” with “personal privacy” we separate two layers:
- Layer A — the fact of the marriage. That it happened, was validly witnessed, and had a guardian (your own wali or a wali hakim). This is co-owned by several people; no single person can erase it, because that would remove the safeguards protecting the others. We keep this record on the lawful basis of establishing, complying with, or defending the legal claims of all parties involved — a recognised limit on erasure under the Thai PDPA — and for no marketing or secondary purpose.
- Layer B — your data. Contact details, personal documents, and how information is handled afterward. Here your individual consent and full data-subject rights apply.
In plain words: you control your own data, but you cannot ask us to pretend a validly witnessed marriage did not happen — that record is not yours alone to waive.
5 · What data we collect, and why (minimum necessary)
We collect only what is needed to establish that the marriage was properly conducted: the identities of both spouses, the wali, and the witnesses; the date; and the conditions of the nikah. For confidential services (youth counselling, family or divorce mediation, new-Muslim support, inheritance mediation), we collect only what that service needs and hold it at our strictest confidentiality tier. We do not collect unrelated data, and we do not sell your data.
6 · Your data rights (Thai PDPA-aligned)
ARAYA handles personal data in line with Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019). Every individual has the right to be informed, to access, and to correct their data; the right to restrict processing of their own data; and a data-subject-request process with a named contact and a committed response time.
Because a nikah records the data of the wali and the witnesses too, ARAYA gives the wali and each witness their own privacy notice before they sign — their rights do not depend on the couple. Where a marriage is published, that reveals religious information (special-category data under the Thai PDPA); this is exactly why we keep a guardian in place and make publication your choice, given with explicit consent — never the default. Where data is shared across a border for a verification you have requested (e.g. to an embassy), that transfer is specific, consented, and reviewed — never blanket.
7 · How we handle different activities
- 🟢 Announced by default — the existence of a public class or event (that it is taking place), and any marriage that proceeds without a guardian under section 3. We never announce who attends a class or converts.
- 🟠 Shared with witnesses only — matchmaking registration, and finalised divorces.
- ⚫ Fully confidential — individual participation in learning and conversion, youth counselling, family-conflict mediation, divorce mediation, new-Muslim support, apostasy counselling, and inheritance mediation.
8 · Keeping your data safe
Data is classified by sensitivity. Identity, passport, religion, marital status, consent, and safeguarding records are held at the most protected tiers, with access logging and restricted access. Original signed nikah and consent documents are never used to train or feed any AI system, and sensitive client data only enters an assisted tool after redaction, permission checks, and human sign-off. We keep data only as long as necessary for the documentation and protective purpose and any legal requirement, then dispose of it securely.
9 · Contact & your requests
To exercise a data right or ask about this policy, contact ARAYA Nikah Social Enterprise Co., Ltd. at arayawedding@gmail.com or via WhatsApp +66 89 110 9419. We aim to respond within 30 days. Our Donation Policy and Member Information are separate, cross-linked pages.
ARAYA NIKAH SOCIAL ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. (formerly ARAYA Nikah Planner & Consult Co., Ltd.) · Juristic person no. 0105565138468. This is ARAYA’s single privacy & documentation-transparency policy; it supersedes our earlier separate privacy, family-data, and certification-transparency pages. ARAYA is a private social enterprise, not a state or religious authority.