LAST UPDATED: [DATE]
ridem8 ("we", "us") is committed to handling your personal information responsibly and in line with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020. This policy explains what information we collect, why, and how it's used and protected.
When you create an account:
• Name, email address, password (stored securely as a hashed value, never in plain text)
• Role (driver, hitcher, or both)
When you use the platform:
• Ride listings and booking details (routes, dates, prices, seats)
• Ratings and reviews you give or receive
• Messages or communications sent through the platform, if applicable
Payment information:
• We do not store your full card details. Payments are processed by Stripe, our third-party payment processor. Stripe collects and processes your card details directly under their own privacy policy (stripe.com/nz/privacy).
• For Drivers receiving payouts, Stripe collects identity verification information (such as name, date of birth, address, and ID documents) as required for New Zealand financial regulations. This information is provided directly to Stripe and is subject to their privacy practices, not ours.
Automatically collected information:
• Basic technical information such as IP address and browser type, for security and to keep the platform working correctly.
We use your information to:
• Create and manage your account
• Facilitate ride bookings and process payments
• Communicate with you about your bookings, account, or support requests
• Improve and maintain the platform
• Meet our legal obligations, including those related to payment processing and (where applicable) transport regulation
• Stripe — for payment processing and, for Drivers, identity verification and payouts
• Other users — your name, rating, and ride details are visible to other users as needed to facilitate a ride (e.g. a Hitcher can see the Driver's name and rating before booking)
• Legal or regulatory bodies — if required by law, or if we believe in good faith it's necessary to comply with a legal obligation (for example, in response to a request from NZTA or law enforcement)
We do not sell your personal information to third parties.
Your information is stored on servers hosted by Render (our hosting provider) using a PostgreSQL database. We take reasonable steps to protect your information, including password hashing and secure connections (HTTPS/SSL), but no system is 100% secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security.
Under the Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to:
• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Ask us to delete your account and associated data, subject to any legal or legitimate business reasons we may need to retain certain records (e.g. transaction records for tax purposes)
To exercise these rights, contact us at [SUPPORT EMAIL].
We retain your information for as long as your account is active, and for up to 7 years afterward where needed for financial and tax record-keeping purposes, in line with standard New Zealand requirements. Other information may be deleted sooner upon request, where we have no legal or legitimate business reason to retain it.
ridem8 currently uses only one cookie: a login session cookie (ridem8_token) that keeps you signed in. This cookie is essential for the platform to function and does not track you across other websites. We do not currently use analytics, advertising, or other tracking cookies. If this changes in future, we'll update this policy accordingly.
ridem8 is not intended for use by anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect information from children.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We'll update the "last updated" date at the top when we do.
If you have concerns about how we've handled your personal information, please contact us first at [SUPPORT EMAIL] so we can try to resolve it. You also have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (privacy.org.nz) if you're not satisfied with our response.
Questions about this policy? Contact us at [SUPPORT EMAIL].