Al Madina Shipping

This Privacy Policy describes how Al Madina Shipping (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, and discloses information about you when you use our website, customer portal, mobile interfaces, and shipping services (collectively, the “Services”).

1. Information we collect

Account information: name, company, email, phone, mailing address, tax identifiers (EIN), and other onboarding details you provide.
Shipment data: vehicle identification numbers (VINs), photos of cargo, container numbers, booking numbers, carrier and vessel information, port of loading / discharge, and related documentation.
Payment information: billing address, payment instrument references, payment amounts. We do not store full card numbers ourselves; those are handled by our payment processors.
Communications: emails, messages, and uploads you send through the Services.
Usage and device data: log files, IP address, browser type, and pages visited. Used for security, debugging, and improving the Services.

2. How we use information

Provide, operate, and improve the Services.
File U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) declarations on your behalf (AES filings, ITN, DIS documents) and communicate with ocean carriers.
Bill you and collect payment for shipping services.
Send transactional emails (sign-in links, invoices, shipment status updates, release confirmations).
Detect, prevent, and respond to fraud, abuse, and security incidents.
Comply with legal obligations, court orders, and government requests.

3. How we share information

We share information only with parties needed to provide the Services:

Ocean carriers and terminals (e.g. MSC, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, Hoegh, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Sallaum, Grimaldi, ARC) to book and execute your shipments.
U.S. Customs & Border Protection and other government agencies, as required by export law.
Service providers we rely on for infrastructure: Google Firebase (authentication, database, storage), Vercel (hosting), Resend (email delivery), Cloudflare (DNS, CDN), and similar.
NHTSA vPIC API for VIN decoding (we send VINs only; no personal data).
Professional advisors (lawyers, accountants, auditors) as necessary to protect our rights and comply with obligations.
Successors in interest in the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not share your information for third-party advertising purposes.

4. Google user data (Gmail API access)

When an authorized Al Madina Shipping administrator connects the company's Google Workspace or Gmail inbox to the Services, we request a single Google OAuth scope: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.settings.sharing. This section describes exactly how we access, use, store, and share Google user data, in compliance with the Google API Services User Data Policy.

Data accessed. The gmail.settings.sharing scope lets us read and modify the connected inbox's “Send mail as” alias settings only. We use it to register the company's department email addresses (for example, info@, support@, accounting@, documentation@, shipping@, and contact@ on the company's domain) as verified send-as aliases on the master inbox. We do not request, and the scope does not grant, the ability to read, send, delete, or download the content of any email messages, contacts, or attachments.

Data usage. We use this access for one purpose: to programmatically configure send-as aliases so that staff replying from the master inbox can send mail that appears to come from the correct department address. The access is invoked only when an administrator initiates the connection (typically once during onboarding, occasionally when a new department mailbox is added). We do not use Google user data for advertising, for training AI/ML models, or for any purpose other than the send-as configuration described here.

Data storage. The OAuth refresh token issued by Google is stored encrypted in our secrets manager and is used solely to perform the send-as configuration described above. We do not store the content of any Gmail messages. The administrator can revoke our access at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.

Data sharing. We do not transfer Google user data to any third party.Al Madina Shipping's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

5. Data retention

We retain account and shipment records for as long as your account is active and for a period thereafter as required to comply with U.S. Customs export recordkeeping rules (typically 5 years) and other legal obligations. You may request deletion of personal information that is not subject to a retention requirement.

6. Your rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to:

Access the personal information we hold about you.
Correct inaccurate information.
Request deletion of personal information that is not subject to a legal retention requirement.
Object to or restrict certain processing.
Request a portable copy of your data.

To exercise any of these rights, email support@almadinashipping.com. We respond within 30 days.

7. Security

We use industry-standard safeguards (encryption in transit via HTTPS, scoped access controls, audit logging) to protect your information. No system is perfectly secure; you use the Services at your own risk and should keep your account credentials confidential.

8. Children

The Services are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has submitted information, contact us and we will delete it.

9. International users

We are based in the United States. If you access the Services from outside the U.S., your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the U.S., which may have data protection laws different from those in your country.

10. Cookies and analytics

We use cookies and similar technologies for session management, authentication, and basic usage analytics. You can control cookies through your browser settings; disabling them may break sign-in.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. We will post the revised Policy on this page and update the Effective Date. Material changes will be communicated by email or in-app notice when reasonably possible.

12. Contact

Questions or requests about this Policy:
Al Madina Shipping
4122 Fuqua St, Houston, TX 77048, USA
support@almadinashipping.com