Muslim Pro cuts ties with X-Mode over selling user data to US military

A popular Islamic prayer and Quran app is immediately terminating its relationships with their data partners, including X-Mode.

This was in response to the news that the third-party data broker company X-Mode has been selling the app’s user information to defence contractors, including the United States military.

Muslim Pro Head of Community Zahariah Jupary explained that the company has not been selling personal data to the U.S military, adding that it adheres to the most stringent privacy standards and data protection regulations, and never shares any personally identifiable information, according to the Rakyat Post News Outlet.

She said that since the company has been made aware of the situation, it has launched an internal investigation and are reviewing its data governance policy.

She also revealed that X-Mode and Muslim Pro had only started working together four weeks prior.

Muslim Pro is used by Muslims in over 200 countries and has been downloaded as many as 50 million times on Android, and over 98 million times on other platforms, including iOS.

It does not only remind users of prayer times but can also indicate the direction of Qibla in relation to the user’s location and includes passages and audio readings from the Quran.

In 2018, the New Straits Times reported that Malaysia is among the top five key markets for Muslim Pro, with at least 12 million monthly active Malaysian users.

Malaysia has its own dedicated team that works to grow the app’s presence in Malaysia, called Muslim Pro Malaysia and headed by country manager Nik Emir Din.