talabat

Is talabat safe to use?

talabat is safe enough for ordering a meal or groceries, but it is not private, and its record with consumer regulators is weak. We found no breach of talabat customer data. Apple's privacy label, though, lists your location, contact details and device identifiers as data used to track you across other companies' apps. In September 2025 Qatar closed talabat for a week for misleading customers. We score it 51/100, below its sister app foodpanda (56) and above Glovo (46).

Who runs talabat

talabat started in Kuwait in 2004 and now operates across the Gulf and in Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. The app is published by Talabat General Trading and Contracting Company, and the business sits under Talabat Holding PLC, part of Berlin's Delivery Hero SE. On 16 July 2026 Uber offered €41.50 a share in cash for Delivery Hero, an equity value it put at US$14.8 billion, and Delivery Hero's boards backed the offer. talabat's eight markets are among those Uber would control. The deal still needs merger and financial clearances, so the owner may change again.

The Qatar closure

On 10 September 2025 Qatar's Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued Administrative Decision No. 29/2025, closing Talabat Services Company for a week. The ministry said talabat had broken Articles 7 and 11 of the 2008 consumer protection law by showing false or misleading product information, deceiving consumers, collecting unjustified payments and failing to guarantee its services. The decision followed a run of consumer complaints.

talabat reopened after the ministry accepted its fixes. It set up a permanent call centre for complaints, resolved every case filed with the ministry and paid fines of QAR 1.14 million, about US$313,000, the Qatar Tribune reported. A national suspension is a serious step for a regulator, and here customers were the harmed party, so it counts in full.

Kuwait is a different story. Its Ministerial Decision 109/2026, in force from 1 September 2026, caps delivery fees for online orders at KD 1, limits restaurant commissions to between 10% and 17% and bans extra "operational" or "processing" fees. talabat sued. In September 2026 Kuwait's Administrative Court struck down only Article 15, the scale of penalties for platforms, and rejected talabat's other requests, Kuwait Times reported. The fee cap still applies. This is talabat challenging a rule, not an order against it, so it does not lower the score. We found no fine on talabat in Kuwait or the UAE.

What the app tracks

Apple's label puts location, contact info and identifiers under "Data Used to Track You", and links the same data to you. Google Play's data safety section tells a milder story: it says email addresses, phone numbers and device IDs are shared, mainly for fraud prevention, and that "other info" may be collected for advertising. Where a label and a store listing differ, we score the broader one.

The privacy policy does not help much. The version on talabat's UAE site has no date and names no company as the one responsible for your data. It still refers to Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. It says advertising companies collect only information that is "completely anonymous", which does not fit Apple's label. It does say talabat will not sell or rent your personal information for other companies' marketing without your explicit consent, but it may combine your data with information from other companies for ads.

Security

We found no confirmed breach of talabat customer accounts. Google Play says data is encrypted in transit, and the policy says most critical data is stored encrypted. What is missing is a channel for outside researchers. talabat has no security.txt file or HackerOne programme we could find. Delivery Hero's own security page offers a vulnerability report form and mentions work with HackerOne, but lists no rewards. Apps that pay researchers, such as Zomato, score higher on security for that reason.

How to use talabat more safely

1. On iPhone, tap "Ask App Not to Track", and allow location only while you use the app.
2. Check the final price and fees before you pay, especially for promotions and "free delivery" offers.
3. If you are charged wrongly in Qatar, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry takes consumer complaints; talabat now also runs a complaints call centre there.
4. Never give a one-time code or card details to anyone who calls about an order. Use the in-app help.
5. Delete your account in the app when you stop using it; settle any pending orders first.

How we scored it

Security (58) is talabat's strongest factor: no known breach, held back by the lack of a public bug bounty. Privacy (40) is the weakest, because Apple's label lists location and contact details as used to track you and the policy is too old to explain it. Regulatory record (57) reflects Qatar's one-week closure and fine for misleading customers. Delivery Hero's €329 million EU cartel fine in 2025 does not name talabat, so it is background only.