Privacy statement
Last updated 6 November 2026
OfficiateMe helps rugby and other sporting bodies in New Zealand develop their referees and other officials. It holds reviews of named people, so we take care with that information. This statement explains what we hold, why, who can see it, and your rights under the Privacy Act 2020.
Who is responsible
The sporting body (“region”) that uses OfficiateMe is responsible for the referee and review information it puts in, and decides who in the region can see it. the OfficiateMe service runs the service on the region’s behalf and looks after the account and sign-in information of the people who use it. We use the information to run the service and for nothing else: we don’t sell it, we don’t use it for advertising, and we don’t use it to train AI models.
What we hold
- Accounts: your name, email address, optional phone number, the region(s) you belong to and your role there.
- Referees: name, region and area, optional phone and email, an optional coach’s email, and Law test and fitness (Bronco) results if the region records them.
- Reviews: the game, scores, written notes and comments about the referee, the level given, who wrote it and when.
- Requests to join: what you type when you ask to join a region.
- A record of changes: who added, approved, removed or changed the access of whom, and sign-ins, so a region can see how someone got access.
There are no passwords. You sign in with a 6-digit code we email to you, or with your Google account. If you use Google, Google tells us your name and email address, and we never see your Google password. If you switch on an authenticator-app code for extra protection, the secret behind it is kept scrambled, and recovery codes are kept only as fingerprints.
Voice notes
The Speak button turns your voice into text using your own browser’s speech recognition. OfficiateMe doesn’t record or keep any audio and only receives the text. Some browsers, including Chrome, send the audio to their provider (for example Google) to do the conversion, under that provider’s privacy terms. If you’d rather not, type your notes or use your keyboard’s microphone key instead.
Why we hold it
To let reviewers write feedback, to let referees and coaches develop from it, to let a region’s administrators run their people and referees, and to keep the service secure. If a region chooses to share with its national governing body (for example NZ Rugby), that body can read the region’s sent reviews, read-only. Drafts are never shared.
Who can see it
- Reviewers see the referees and sent reviews in their region, and their own drafts.
- Referee coaches see only the referees linked to them and those referees’ sent reviews, read-only. To ask to coach someone, a coach can see the names of the referees in their region, and an admin approves each link.
- Region administrators manage people, referees and reviews in their region.
- Platform administrators can see information in every region so they can run and support the service.
- A reviewer from another region can write a review of a referee. It is filed with the referee’s region, and the reviewer cannot see it again after a short time.
- Referee names can be searched by reviewers in other regions so they can choose who to review. Nothing else about a referee is shown to them.
Cookies and your device
We use only the cookies needed to keep you signed in and remember the region you chose. There are no advertising or tracking cookies. Unsent review drafts are also kept on your device, so nothing is lost if your signal drops.
Where it is kept
Information is stored with our providers: Cloudflare (hosting and database), and Resend (which sends the sign-in code emails, so it sees your email address and the code). If you choose Google sign-in, Google also takes part. These providers are based in the United States and may handle information in other countries, including Australia and the United States. We choose providers that keep information secure and that handle it only to provide their service to us. New Zealand law applies to how we deal with it.
How long we keep it
Reviews and referee records are kept while a region uses the service, so a referee’s development history is available. A region can ask for information to be deleted, and when a region leaves we return or delete its information. Backups can hold deleted information for up to about two months before it is replaced.
Keeping it safe
People sign in with an emailed code or with Google, and can add an authenticator-app code. Access is limited to the region someone belongs to, changes to access are recorded, and the connection is encrypted. If there is a privacy breach that is likely to cause serious harm, we will tell the people affected and the Privacy Commissioner as the law requires.
If you are a referee
Information about you, including reviews of you, is entered by your region’s administrators and reviewers rather than by you. You can ask to see it, and ask for mistakes to be corrected. Your region’s administrator can help, or you can contact us.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you and ask for it to be corrected. We’ll respond within 20 working days. Ask your region’s administrator, who will pass your request on. If you’re unhappy with how your information is handled, you can complain to the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.
Changes
If we change this statement we’ll update the date above.