Your information should be handled with care.

Who we are

Rural Connections is a New Zealand rural marketplace connecting people who need work done with people offering practical rural services. For privacy questions, requests or complaints, contact our privacy contact at hello@ruralconnections.nz.

Information we collect

Depending on how you use Rural Connections, this may include:

• Account and profile information — your name, email address, phone number, profile photo, role, region, biography, skills and qualifications.
• Location information — an address, region, service area, map position or device location you choose to provide. Precise location is used only where needed to support a job, booking or location feature.
• Marketplace content — job and service descriptions, photos, pricing, availability, questions, offers, bookings, work updates and reviews.
• Communications — in-app messages, support correspondence, notification choices and records of notices sent to you.
• Connections and activity — saved jobs, community connections, interactions with seasonal information and the status of work arranged through the marketplace.
• Technical information — authentication records, device and push notification tokens, IP address, app or browser information, security events and operational logs.

You can choose not to provide optional information. If you do not provide information needed for an account, location-based matching or a transaction, some features may not work or we may be unable to provide that part of the service.

Where the information comes from

Most information comes directly from you when you register, complete a profile, post work, advertise a service or communicate with another user. We also generate records as you use the marketplace, such as booking status and notification history.

Other users may provide information about you through messages, work records and reviews. When you ask us to create a service draft from a public business website, we collect the public page content and image you direct us to for that purpose.

How we use information

• Provide, maintain and improve Rural Connections.
• Create accounts, profiles, job posts, service listings and work records.
• Match and display relevant jobs and services by category and area.
• Enable questions, offers, bookings, messaging, reviews and connections.
• Send service, security and marketplace notifications you have selected.
• Provide customer support and respond to privacy requests.
• Detect misuse, protect users, enforce marketplace rules and meet legal obligations.
• Understand marketplace demand and performance using aggregated operational reporting.

Who can see or receive information

Profile, job and service information is shown to other Rural Connections users where needed for the marketplace. What is visible depends on the feature, your role and the stage of the work. Contact details, messages and precise work locations are not intended for general public display and are restricted to the people and processes that need them.

We also use specialist providers to operate Rural Connections, including:

• Supabase for application hosting, database storage, file storage and authentication.
• Vercel for hosting the public and administration websites.
• Google mapping services for addresses, maps and location features.
• Expo and device platform providers for app delivery and push notifications.
• Resend and Microsoft for operational email and business communications.
• OpenAI when you choose an assisted drafting feature.

These providers may process information outside New Zealand. We use providers and arrangements intended to give personal information appropriate safeguards. We may also disclose information where required by law, to address a serious safety or security concern, or in connection with a genuine business transfer. We do not sell personal information or provide it to data brokers.

Website and AI-assisted drafting

If you choose an assisted drafting feature, the text, photo or public website content you submit is processed to suggest a job or service draft. The result is a suggestion: you remain responsible for reviewing it before publishing. Do not submit sensitive personal information that is unnecessary for the listing.

Storage, security and retention

We use technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect information from loss, unauthorised access, misuse or disclosure. No internet service can promise absolute security, so please use a secure device and keep access to your email account protected.

We retain information while your account is active and for as long as it is reasonably needed to operate the marketplace, maintain work and communication records, resolve disputes, prevent misuse and meet legal obligations. Information no longer required for a lawful purpose is deleted or de-identified, subject to normal backup cycles.

The public website does not currently use advertising or behavioural tracking cookies. Our hosting providers may retain standard technical request logs for reliability and security.

Your choices

• Edit your profile, listing and notification preferences in the app.
• Choose whether to grant device permissions such as camera, photos, location and notifications.
• Pause or remove eligible listings and ask us about closing your account.
• Contact us before using assisted drafting if you have questions about what is processed.

Your privacy rights

Under New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020, you can ask for access to personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct it. You may also ask us to delete information; whether we can do so will depend on why it is held and any lawful need to retain it.

Email hello@ruralconnections.nz with “Privacy request” in the subject line. We may need to confirm your identity before releasing or changing account information.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Changes to this statement

We may update this statement as Rural Connections develops or our legal obligations change. We will publish the updated version here and change the effective date. If a change materially affects how we use personal information, we will provide an appropriate notice.