1. Who we are
Arbitrater is an independent fan opinion platform for rating football referee decisions. This policy explains how we collect, use and protect your personal data in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
2. Data we collect
When you use Arbitrater, we may collect the following:
- Account data: your email address, display name, country and supported team
- Voting data: which decisions you vote on and how you vote
- Profile data: any bio or optional information you choose to add
- Usage data: pages visited, time spent, device and browser type
- Communications: any messages you send us via the contact form
3. How we use your data
We use your data to:
- Provide and improve the Arbitrater platform
- Calculate and display referee approval ratings
- Generate the fan bias index and other aggregated statistics
- Send you notifications about matches and decisions (if you opt in)
- Respond to your support requests
- Comply with legal obligations
4. Legal basis for processing
We process your data on the following legal bases:
- Contract: to provide the service you signed up for
- Legitimate interests: to improve the platform and prevent abuse
- Consent: for optional notifications and marketing communications
5. Data sharing
We do not sell your personal data. We may share data with:
- Supabase: our database and authentication provider
- Vercel: our hosting provider
- Advertising partners: aggregated, anonymised data only — never personally identifiable information
- Legal authorities: if required by law
6. Voting data and public display
Your individual votes are stored securely and are not publicly attributed to you by name. Aggregated vote counts and approval percentages are displayed publicly on referee profiles and match pages. Your username may be visible in chat and forum sections if you choose to comment.
7. Data retention
We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. Voting data is retained indefinitely as it forms part of the historical referee rating record. You may request deletion of your account and associated personal data at any time.
8. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate personal data
- Request deletion of your personal data
- Object to processing of your personal data
- Request restriction of processing
- Data portability
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us.
9. Cookies
We use cookies to maintain your session and improve your experience. For full details please see our Cookie Policy.
10. Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss or destruction. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify registered users of any significant changes by email.
12. Contact and complaints
For privacy-related queries please contact us. If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.