Privacy at RUGBE

Plain English, because that's how we'd want it explained to us. Last updated 13 July 2026 (beta).

What we collect

Your email address, to sign you in (magic links) and connect family and team invites. Your profile, a public handle, an optional profile photo you upload, plus rugby details you choose to share (positions, junior/senior clubs, school, favourite player, favourite try). Your real name and birth year, optional, stored separately with strict access rules (see below). Content you create, feed posts and any photos or video links you attach, comments, poll votes, reactions, public chat messages, and private 1:1 messages. Beta access, the email and password used to join the beta. When you pick a school we match it against the Ministry of Education's public school directory.

Who can see what

Your handle and rugby details (positions, clubs, school, favourites) are visible to signed-in RUGBE members, and your feed posts and public chat messages are visible to the whole signed-in community. Your real name and birth year are visible only to you, your accepted family connections, your team's coaches/managers, the managing parent (for children), and the site administrator, this is enforced in our database, not just hidden in the app. Private messages are visible only to the two people in the conversation. Poll votes are private, only totals are ever shown. Comments and reactions on a player's videos are visible only to people connected to that player.

Children

Children under 13 never get their own login. A parent or guardian creates and controls the profile, is the only person who can add videos of them, and can edit or remove anything at any time. Children appear publicly by handle only, and cannot be sent private messages, our database refuses any message addressed to a managed child's profile, so no one can open a private channel to a child. We ask the adult to confirm they are the child's parent or guardian before creating the profile.

Keeping everyone safe (Yellow & Red Cards, and our message log)

Any member can Yellow Card (flag) or Red Card (report) content. A Red Card is sent to our administrator for review. So that reports can always be checked, chat and private messages are never fully erased: deleting a message hides it from everyone, but a copy is kept in a protected log for child-safety and moderation. We keep these records while RUGBE is running and review how long we hold them periodically. We think keeping kids safe is worth this, and we'd rather tell you plainly than surprise you.

What we don't do

We don't sell your data. We don't show ads. Embedded videos (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook) do not load until you press play, nothing is requested from those platforms just by viewing a page. Once you choose to play a video, that platform can see you the same as if you'd opened it on their site, under their privacy policy. Photos and avatars that link to other websites are loaded without telling those sites which RUGBE page you were on.

Where it lives (and who we share it with)

Data is stored with Supabase (database, Sydney, Australia) and the site is served by Vercel. Red Card notification emails are sent through Resend. These providers are based in Australia and the United States, so your information is held and processed outside New Zealand by reputable providers with strong security practice. We don't share your information with anyone else except as needed to run RUGBE or if the law requires it.

Your rights

Under the NZ Privacy Act 2020 you can ask for a copy of your information, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete your account. Deleting your account removes your profile and content from RUGBE; safety-related message logs are kept where we need them to protect children. A parent or guardian can exercise these rights for a child they manage. Email ryanthelion@afewquietyarns.co.nz and we'll sort it, no forms, no fuss.

If something goes wrong

If we ever have a privacy breach that could cause you serious harm, we'll notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as required by the Privacy Act. You can also raise any privacy concern with the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.