01Who we are
Ruckr is the rugby club software service operated as Ruckr Rugby (“Ruckr”, “we”, “us”). Contact [email protected] about the service, these documents or Ruckr’s handling of personal information. Your club is a separate organisation; its name and contact details should appear in its own policies.
02Safeguarding remains a club responsibility
The club is responsible for its safeguarding arrangements, suitably appointed and trained leads, safer recruitment and appropriate checks, supervision, risk assessments, medical provision, reporting, escalation and compliance with its governing body’s rules. It must keep its own policies current and make them available to members and parents.
Ruckr provides tools to support that work: scoped permissions, guardian links, consent records, concern reporting, access records and welfare workflows. Software, an acknowledgement or a green status does not verify a person’s suitability, guarantee safety or replace professional judgement. Ruckr does not become the club’s safeguarding officer, clinician, event organiser or regulator by providing these tools.
This allocation does not excuse Ruckr from its own security, privacy, contractual or statutory duties. Ruckr may need to act on unlawful content, a credible risk or a lawful authority request within its own responsibilities. No clause prevents a necessary, proportionate safeguarding disclosure.
03What the club must put in place
Appoint accessible safeguarding/welfare leads and deputies; follow the relevant governing body’s procedures; conduct appropriate recruitment, vetting and training; manage supervision and adult/child contact; and maintain risk assessments, emergency plans, first-aid and medical arrangements appropriate to each activity.
Publish a club safeguarding policy with reporting routes, escalation outside the club, expected response arrangements and rules for images, messages, transport, changing areas, tours and events. Keep contacts current and ensure someone covers absence. A person’s Ruckr role or qualification record is not verification that they are suitable, checked or available.
04Using the tools responsibly
Assign welfare and medical permissions only to authorised people with a legitimate need. Check scope, expiry and guardian restrictions. Keep concern details out of general team groups, ordinary support tickets and payment descriptions. Use the correct protected workflow and review relevant access and action records.
The club must monitor its reporting channels, triage reports, follow up, make referrals and record decisions. A submission or notification does not prove that a trained person has seen it. Make a direct contact when urgency, access problems or absence make that necessary.
05Urgent danger and independent routes
Ruckr support is not an emergency or safeguarding response service. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999 or 112. Otherwise contact your club’s safeguarding lead, the relevant governing body or local safeguarding services. If the concern involves the club lead, use an independent route.
A report about a club officer, safeguarding lead or the club itself must have an independent route. Use the governing body, local safeguarding services or police as appropriate. Do not require someone to resolve a concern internally first where that could delay protection or expose them to retaliation.
06Information sharing and confidentiality
Share the minimum relevant information with the right recipient for a lawful safeguarding purpose. Record the purpose, basis, recipients and decision. Data protection is not a reason to withhold information needed to protect someone; equally, a safeguarding label is not permission to distribute a whole case to everyone.
Consent is not always the appropriate basis for safeguarding. Seeking consent or notifying a person can be unsafe in some circumstances. The club must assess the relevant legal basis, sensitive-data condition and any lawful restriction on access or notification, seeking specialist advice where required. Do not promise absolute secrecy that would prevent a necessary referral.
07Medical and return-to-play decisions
Coaches, qualified medical personnel and the club must follow applicable clinical and governing-body guidance. Ruckr’s injury records, restrictions and reminders support those processes; they are not diagnosis, treatment or clearance to play. Check information that affects safety and keep an emergency route available when a device or connection fails.
08Events, visitors and other clubs
Hosts and visiting clubs must agree who covers safeguarding, supervision, consent checks, lost-child procedures, medical care and incident escalation at a friendly, tour or tournament. A guest link or accepted fixture does not transfer those duties to Ruckr or verify another club’s arrangements.
09Ruckr’s own role
Ruckr protects its systems, restricts unauthorised access, provides reporting and support routes for platform misuse and assists club controllers under the DPA. We may act on a credible risk, unlawful content or lawful authority request within our responsibilities. Routine support is not a monitored emergency line and Ruckr does not investigate every club safeguarding report.
Nothing in a club policy, waiver, permission or these terms excludes a legal duty that cannot be excluded, limits a child’s rights, or prevents reporting a concern to an appropriate authority.
10Retention, leaving and deletion
Club records follow the club’s documented retention schedule, the purpose for keeping each record and any applicable legal, safeguarding, accounting or dispute obligations. The app’s default periods and minimum settings are product controls, not a statement that every club is legally required to retain every record for that length of time. A club must review their suitability and contact Ruckr if a valid erasure request or legal requirement needs a different approach.
Closing a sign-in account, ending membership, withdrawing a permission and erasing a club record are different actions. Some records can be removed; others must be restricted or retained for a justified purpose. A child’s club record is not automatically erased when a parent deletes their own account or when the child removes their sign-in.
Local account closure and a provider’s deletion can finish at different times: the Ruckr record is removed first, and the sign-in held by the authentication provider and any stored files follow. Copies a provider keeps under its own terms are covered by that provider’s notice.
Exports, emailed files, calendar copies, published social posts and a recipient’s own records do not disappear when the original is removed from Ruckr. The controller must address those copies too. Backup copies remain protected and expire through the applicable backup cycle; they must not be restored for ordinary use in a way that defeats an erasure decision.
11Changes and the version you are shown
Each document shows its version date and review status. Material changes must be explained to the people affected before the new processing begins, with any further notice required by law. A public page is the current explanation; an acceptance record must identify the exact document or notice shown at the time.
Reading a privacy notice acknowledges information; it is not blanket consent. Where a club relies on consent for a changed purpose, recipient or activity, it must obtain a fresh, specific choice before that new use. Silence, continued membership and an earlier yes do not authorise an expanded consent-based purpose. Necessary processing based on a different lawful basis must be assessed and explained separately.