World Rugby Privacy Statement

Introduction

World Rugby has developed this Privacy Statement to illustrate its commitment to the protection of the privacy and personal information of data subjects who interact with World Rugby and this website.

When we refer to “World Rugby”, “we”, “us” or “our” in this Privacy Statement, we are referring to World Rugby, the world governing body of the sport of rugby union, and its group of operating companies, including:

Rugby World Cup Limited;
World Rugby Tournaments Limited;
World Rugby Limited;
World Rugby Events DAC.

World Rugby has appointed a Data Protection Officer (DPO), Liam McKenna (dataprotection@worldrugby.org), to underpin its commitment to the privacy and protection of personal information. If you would like to contact us and/or our Data Protection Officer, please email dataprotection@worldrugby.org or alternatively, refer to the “Contact Details” section of this Privacy Statement by clicking here.

This Privacy Statement is addressed to you if you are an individual who interacts with, or whose data is managed by, World Rugby, (e.g. if you are a fan, follower or subscriber of World Rugby and the World Rugby website, if you participate in the game of rugby in certain capacities and at certain levels, if you attend one of our events, enter our competitions, participate in any of our on-line or face-to-face training or education courses, etc.).

The purpose of this Privacy Statement is to provide you with a clear understanding of:

how we process your information on the World Rugby website, apps and other digital and social channels
the types of your personal information which we collect;
how we use and share your personal information;
how we protect your data protection rights;
details on how you can find out more about how we use your personal information; and
other details relevant to how we give effect to the privacy rights of individuals who interact with World Rugby and the World Rugby website and platforms.

In some situations where we are collecting and/or processing your personal information, we will provide you with further details about the information we are collecting, the purposes for which we are using and sharing that information as well as any other information which is particularly relevant to such situations. When we do so, we may also refer back to this Privacy Statement and the general principles set out here.

Scope of activities

As the world governing body of the sport of rugby union with responsibility for regulating, promoting and developing rugby union, and the organiser and owner of international sporting events, including the Rugby World Cup, we carry out a wide range of activities which may involve the processing of personal information.

That’s why we have separated out this wide range of activities into separate headings and categories (as outlined below) to ensure readers of this Privacy Statement can easily identify the specific activity(ies) that relate to you and easily access the relevant information about the data processing for each activity.

For ease of accessibility, please click on the link below to scroll down to the activity(ies) that may be relevant to you.

The activities that generally involve the processing of personal information are as follows:

The personal information that we process about you will vary depending on which of the above activities we are carrying out.

Further details in relation to the data processing that we may undertake in relation to each of the above activities are outlined below and include:

the personal information we collect in connection with each of the above activities;
the purposes for which personal information is processed in connection with those activities;
the third parties to whom your data may be disclosed;
and the lawful basis of the relevant processing in relation to each activity.

2(a) Fan Engagement

Our fans are important to us and it is our mission to keep your data safe. We collect and use your data in order to give you the best experience and improve our services.

You can visit our World Rugby website and platforms without providing personal information, but we may still collect aggregated and anonymised statistical data (as described below). However, many of your interactions with us via the World Rugby website, apps and other digital and social channels will involve you providing us with personal information, or us collecting your personal information.

We may receive your data from a range of sources depending on how you interact with World Rugby, website and platforms, including in the following situations;

When you register an account;
When you watch or engage with video content, or create preferences for the types of content you’d like to see;
When you access & use our apps;
When you purchase our tickets or our products;
When you are signing up for our email communications;
When you create an account to play an online game;
When you are signing up to our communications via our partners’ website;
When you add a tournament schedule to a personal calendar;
When you complete a survey for us;
When you enter one of our competitions or prize draws;
When you enrol for our online learning or education modules;
We may receive your personal information from 3^rd Parties (such as member rugby Unions of World Rugby), rather than collecting it directly from you, but this should only be in circumstances where you have opted-in or consented (e.g. on a third party website) to having your personal information shared with us;
We may also receive your personal information from licensees of our brands (e.g. third party apps, games and retail outlets), but again, this should only be in circumstances where you have opted-in or consented to having your personal information shared with us.

We may share your personal information with other companies, organisations or individuals in one or more of the following situations:

World Rugby may share your personal data with other entities within the World Rugby group of companies (and with the organisers of any Would Rugby tournaments) where you have requested that we do so and/or where it is necessary in order to provide you with information that you have requested, including World Rugby events, news, announcements, tickets, special offers and World Rugby partner promotions. Entities within the World Rugby group of companies include:
- World Rugby Tournaments Limited;
- World Rugby Limited;
- Rugby World Cup Limited;
- World Rugby Events DAC.
Certain associated organisations, where you have consented to us doing so. The associated organisations to which, with your consent, we will share your personal information are limited to:

Member Unions of World Rugby that you support or are related to you;
Our worldwide partners, official partners/sponsors, tournament sponsors and official suppliers; and

Any third parties noted in our Cookies Policy (where you have consented to the use of relevant cookies).

Certain activities which may be available on the sites, apps and platforms (such as competitions or fantasy rugby games) may involve the sharing of some of your personal data (as noted above) with other individuals participating in that activity (e.g. where you enter into a fantasy rugby game league with other players).
When we use specific systems that are provided and operated by third parties on our behalf, such as email systems, data management platforms and content management systems.

While the type of personal data we use or process may change or vary depending on the circumstances, we believe it is important that you are aware of the types of personal data that we will collect, use and process in each circumstance.

You can find the full details below which describes the main purposes for which we process your personal information in each circumstance, the categories of your relevant personal information and our lawful basis for being able to do this. For the purposes of this policy, please note that the purposes and lawful basis set out below apply equally if you are a child or an adult.

2(a)(i) Website, apps and other digital and social channels

If you have used our website and our apps or our other digital platforms, for purposes that are listed below, we may collect information about you such as your contact and account profile details (your name, involvement in rugby, age, home address, country of residence, telephone number, e-mail address, supported rugby union, country supported, gender, preferred language, your geographical location and/or your confirmation that you have read and agree with any applicable terms and conditions and or privacy statements, your professional details (where appropriate to elements of our digital platforms such as the Media Zone) records of your interactions with us, communications and marketing preferences and where relevant, behavioural information such as how you interact with our sites and apps.

We will ask for your preferences and consent to send you marketing information we think you might find useful or which you have requested from us, including our news items, information about our products and services, announcements, offers and information about our commercial partners.

We use the personal information that we collect from you (as outlined above) for the following purposes;

To enable you to create an account or profile with us or to subscribe to our newsletter(s) or mailing list(s) where you have provided your consent;
To answer your queries, complaints or other correspondence with you. We have a legitimate interest to provide complaint handling services to you;
To provide you with content on our websites, apps and other digital and social channels and to continuously improve the performance of such platforms and channels where you have provided your consent;
To enable you to participate in certain activities, facilities or services available on our websites, apps and channels (such as competitions, prize draw, score/match predictors, fantasy rugby games, etc) and for which we may need to fulfil our contractual obligations;
To enable you to participate in a World Rugby survey to help us to improve performance where you have participated and provided your consent;
To enable you to register for World Rugby online learning and education modules to give you a better experience and for which we need to fulfil our contractual obligations.
To give effect to any preferences you share with us or that we observe from your use of our sites, apps and channels, so that we can make information which most interests you available to you (e.g. in order to personalise and improve your experience on our digital platforms), to personalise and/or tailor any communications that we may send you or for profiling purposes to enable us to personalise and/or tailor any marketing communications that you may consent to receive from us, our partners and our Member Unions. See 2(a)(iv) below for more information on this;
To track your activity via our cookies and similar technologies for the purpose of improving platforms performance where you have consented to us using such cookies in accordance with our Cookies Policy;
To send information to you about World Rugby, its platforms and websites, and its activities and/or its commercial partners which you have requested or provided your consent;
To fulfil any contractual obligations that we may enter into with you;
To send marketing information to you in ways set out in this Privacy Statement and where you have requested, and provided your consent, for us to do so.
To pursue our legitimate interests in a way that you might reasonably expect in relation to the operations of World Rugby and which does not significantly impact your data protection interests, freedoms and protected rights

2(a)(ii) Tournaments and events

Where you have subscribed to World Rugby tournaments and events or when you send us confirmation of your interest in receiving information regarding such tournaments and events, we may collect information about you such as your contact and account profile details (your name, involvement in rugby, age, home address, country of residence, telephone number, e-mail address, supported rugby union, country supported, gender, preferred language, requests for additional accessibility and information relating to your attendance at our tournaments or events, your geographical location and/or your confirmation that you have read and agree with applicable terms and conditions or privacy statements, your professional details (where appropriate to elements of our digital platforms such as the Media Zone) records of your interactions with us, and marketing preferences.

We will ask for your preferences and consent to send you marketing information we think you might find useful or which you have requested from us, including our news items, announcements, information about events, information about our tournament or event partners, volunteering and/or tickets.

We use the personal information that we collect from you (as outlined above) for the following purposes;

To enable you to create an account or profile with us or to subscribe to our newsletter(s) or mailing list(s) where you have provided your consent;
To provide you with relevant information such as operational updates (including access information, ticket collection information and fixture changes) relating to match days and other events where we need to fulfil our contractual obligations.
To answer your queries, complaints or other correspondence with you. We have a legitimate interest to provide complaint handling services to you;
To provide you with relevant content about tournaments and events on our websites, apps and other digital and social channels and to continuously improve the performance of such platforms and channels where you have requested from us or provided your consent for us to do so;
To enable you participate in a World Rugby survey to help us to improve performance where you have participated and provided your consent;
To adding a tournament schedule to your personal calendar via World Rugby’s Ecal functionality where we need to fulfil our contractual obligations.
To fulfil any contractual obligations that we may enter into with you, including in relation to the purchase of tickets where we will need to process your data to meet our contractual obligations;
To send marketing information about our tournaments and events related products and services where you provided your preferences and consent.
To communicate any updates and changes about our tournaments and events which you have requested from us or provided your consent;
To make sure there are suitable accessibility arrangements in place if you require any access, disability or dietary facilities and where we may need to fulfil our contractual obligations.

2(a)(iii) Purchases

Where you have purchased tickets, products or our merchandise, we may collect information about you such as your identification data (name, surname, gender, age), contact details (telephone, e-mail, address details), preferred language, supported union, requests for additional accessibility requirements (amenity seats) and any special seat location requests, purchase history, details of the payment method used, ticket and seat allocation, and information relating to your attendance at our tournaments or events.

We will ask for your preferences and consent to sending you marketing information which we think you might find useful or which you have requested from us and consented to, including our news products, information about tournaments and events, special offers, partners promotions, volunteering and/or tickets and information about our event partners or commercial partners.

We use the personal information that we collect from you (as outlined above) for the following purposes;

To track your purchasing where we need to fulfil our contractual obligations.
To enable you to track your own purchasing history to comply with our financial and legal obligations and where we have a legitimate interest to better understand your purchase and to maintain and improve the accuracy of the information about you.
To enable us to track your purchasing history to comply with our financial and legal obligations and where we have a legitimate interest to better understand your purchase and to maintain and improve the accuracy of the information about you.
To provide you with relevant information such as operational updates (including access information, ticket collection information and fixture changes) relating to match days and other events where we need to fulfil our contractual obligations.
To send marketing information about our related products and services based on your purchases where you have requested this from us or given consent to us.
To collect payment of debts from you, for example where payments for hospitality are overdue and where we need to fulfil our contractual obligations.
To administer any refunds required where we need to fulfil our contractual obligations.
To respond to comments / complaints you or others may send to us where we have a legitimate interest to provide complaint handling services to you;
To check your eligibility for tickets and other events which you wish to attend where you have requested communications from us or provided your consent.

2(a)(iv) Improving how we interact and deliver our products and services

We may use the data we collect about you to improve and personalise our products and services so that you have an improved fan experience when engaging with World Rugby, including by showing you more relevant content and advertisements about our products, services, tournaments, events, announcements and special offers (including special offers and promotions of our partners). We also use the data we collect to communicate with you about our products, services, tournaments and special events. If you have consented to hearing from us directly, we will send you marketing, promotional and general World Rugby information messages from time to time.

We analyse the data we collect about you to identify common characteristics and preferences. We do this by assessing various types of information including behaviour, for example, previous activity or demographic information, such as age or location. This helps us to provided you with communications, products and information which may be most important to you.

We carry out research and analysis on your data, to determine the success of campaigns and communications, better understand behaviour and responses and identify patterns and trends. This helps inform our approach and make World Rugby a more effective organisation. Understanding you, your interests and what you care about also helps us to provide an improved fan experience.

Where you have provided your consent to the provision of personal information, we profile our fans on the basis of various criteria including their interests, general geographic location, website/app activity and socioeconomic and age groups. We also use aggregated, anonymised lifestyle data obtained from third parties to supplement our profiles. We will never use data scraped without your explicit consent. This information helps us to ensure communications are relevant and timely and to offer new products and services that may be of interest to you.

Where you have provided your consent, we will track your activity on our Website and platforms via the use of cookies and similar technologies in accordance with our Cookies Policy. We always provide you with an option to accept/consent or reject to our use of cookies via our Cookies Pop-Up and on the Cookies Icon (which is contained on the bottom left-hand side of the website you are visiting). We use a technology platform to collect and manage the data gathered via cookies in one place for our internal analysis and to help generate insights. For more information please see our Cookie Policy.

In particular, we will collect information about your interaction with the World Rugby website, platforms, applications, services and functionalities. This may include information about your computer and, where available, your IP address, operating system and browser type. We may perform statistical analysis of user behaviour and characteristics in order to measure interest in and use of the various areas of the sites and to ascertain the number of users that have visited particular web pages. (“statistical data”). In performing statistical analysis, parts of the sites use Google Analytics (a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc.) to capture and analyse sites statistics. We do this where you have consented to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookies Policy.

We may do online retargeting. Online retargeting is another form of online advertising that allows us and some of our advertising partners to show you advertising based on your browsing patterns and interactions on the sites. We share and receive online data collected through cookies and similar technology with our advertising partners. This means that when you are on another website, you may be shown advertising based on your browsing patterns on our sites. We do this where you have consented to us using such cookies in accordance with our Cookies Policy.

We also use data provided by you during your interactions with us to assess our fan population, generate insights and improve users’ interactions with the website. This is done by aggregating your data with that of other fans to generate insights that will enable us to improve our interactions with you as well as improve our services. The aggregation is not done on an individual basis or using any information that can directly identify you, such as your name, but does use some demographic information (e.g. gender, age range, address) where such information has been provided to us by you. In general, we are relying on our legitimate interest (to improve the website, interactions and our services) to aggregate this data and generate insights. You may object to this legitimate interest based processing at any time by emailing your objection to dataprotection@worldrugby.org or contacting us using the address contact details at Section 9 below.

Organising tournaments and events

Depending on the capacity in which you participate in, or attend, any of our tournaments or events (including multi-sport events that World Rugby participates in, such as the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games), we may process your information in the following circumstances:

Ticketholders: Where you have purchased tickets to one of our tournaments or events, or attend as a ticketholder, we may collect information about you such as your identification data (name, surname, gender, age), contact details (telephone, e-mail, address details, preferred language , supported union, requests for additional accessibility requirements (amenity seats) and any special seat location requests, purchase history, details of the payment method used, credit card details (solely for the purpose of taking payment) ticket and seat allocation, and information relating to your attendance at our tournaments or events. Our lawful basis is to fulfil our contractual obligations to you. We use this information to process your requests for tickets and to deliver them to you, to provide you with access to the relevant tournament or event venue in accordance with applicable ticketing and admission terms and the security protocols in place at the relevant venue as well as any applicable health and safety or security regulations, to keep a record of transactions in accordance with good business practice, and to analyse ticketing and demand data relating to our tournaments and events.

We will ask for your preferences and consent to sending you marketing information we think you might find useful or which you have requested from us, including our news items, announcements, information about events, volunteering and/or tickets and information about our commercial partners. Our lawful basis for such marketing information is your consent.

Merchandise: Where you are purchasing World Rugby products or merchandise, we may collect information about you such as your identification data (name, surname, gender, age), contact details (telephone, e-mail, address details, preferred language , supported union, any special requests, purchase history, details of the payment method used, credit card details (solely for the purpose of taking payment). Our lawful basis is to fulfil our contractual obligations. We use this information to process your requests for merchandise and to deliver them to you, to provide you with access to the relevant product in accordance to admission terms and the security protocols in place, to keep a record of transactions in accordance with good business practice, and to analyse purchasing and demand data relating to our products.

We will ask for your preferences to send you marketing information we think you might find useful or which you have requested from us, including our news items, information about events, volunteering and/or tickets and information about our commercial partners. Our lawful basis for sending such marketing information is your consent.

Accredited participant/official/supplier/volunteer/media or broadcast personnel: Where you are attending, participating in or working or volunteering at a relevant World Rugby tournament or event, and you require or have applied for accreditation to accreditation-controlled zones, information which we will collect and process may, depending on the capacity in which you apply for, or are granted, accreditation, include the information which you submit in the course of your Application (i.e. information regarding your name, your organisation and role, your date and place of birth, gender, contact details, address, passport details, preferred language, title/function, and designated venues for which you have received or are seeking accreditation), a passport-style photo of you, and, depending on the nature of the Accreditation you are seeking, details such as apparel sizing, your travel preferences and bookings, details of any dietary requirements or mobility restrictions which you provide to us and details of your acceptance of any terms and conditions relating to your accreditation.

We use this information (including by passing such information to organisations who have responsibilities for the organising and/or hosting of relevant tournaments or events) for identity verification and security purposes and for the purposes of the implementation of accreditation arrangements, to arrange (in certain cases) travel and other logistical details relating to the relevant tournament or event on your behalf, performance of applicable accreditation terms and conditions, to contact you and to facilitate your access to venues for which you have received accreditation.

Guest: Where you are attending a relevant World Rugby tournament or event as a guest, we may collect and process some or all of the following information, depending on the circumstances: your identification data, details of your organisation and your role within your organisation, your contact details, where applicable, details of your accommodation, travel and flight arrangements and bookings, your allocated seating and/or hospitality, and any dietary requirements or mobility restrictions relating to you that are communicated to us.

We use this information (including by passing such information to organisations who have responsibilities for the organising and/or hosting of relevant tournaments or events) for the purposes of conferring on you the benefits of being a guest at our event, to arrange (in certain cases) travel and other logistical details relating to the relevant tournament or event on your behalf, performance of applicable terms and conditions, to contact you and to facilitate your access to venues to which you have been invited.

Your voice, image and likeness may be included in any recordings of sound or images taken at the relevant event and, where applicable, such recordings may be used by us for the purposes of promoting and publicising the relevant event or tournament. The processing of your personal data in this manner is on the basis of our legitimate interests in promoting and publicising the relevant event or tournament.

Where we have been provided with information on any dietary requirements or mobility restrictions relating to you, we shall process such information on the basis of your explicit consent, which, by volunteering such information to us, we will deem you have given. You are free to withdraw such consent at any time by contacting us using the details below, but please note that, if you withdraw such consent, we may not be able to cater for your dietary or mobility needs. Where any requests are made to us in relation to any mobility or dietary requirements you may have, we will treat such requests as evidence of your consent for us to process information relating to your mobility or dietary needs to enable us to attempt to facilitate such requests.

We will share your personal data with the appointed hosts or organisers of the tournament or event, and suppliers who have been engaged in connection with the tournament or event, for the purposes of facilitating your attendance at the tournament or event.

Our lawful basis for using and disclosing your personal data for these purposes is that it is necessary for the performance of applicable ticketing, accreditation or guest programme terms and conditions and to confer benefits on you in respect of your attendance at the relevant tournament or event.

Training and Education Services

Certain of our platforms have been created to provide you with access to online training courses and modules relating to participation in rugby and provide you with information on training courses and events which you can attend in person and assessments which you can sit for further accreditation.

These sites involve additional processing (and sharing) of personal data in the context of their educational purposes and are subject to their own privacy statements, which will be communicated to you when you use those sites.

Match information, results, statistics, imagery and footage

Where you participate in international rugby as a player, member of team management or medical staff, or as a match official, we will process personal data relating to your participation in international rugby, including match, team and player statistics, and still and moving imagery and footage of your participation in matches.

We process and publish this data (which may include imagery and audio visual footage of you) on the basis of our legitimate interests in maintaining comprehensive records of international rugby matches and to make these records available to the public and for media, promotional and journalistic purposes, and to carry out analysis of matches to analyse trends within the game of rugby and develop other insights into the game.

In connection with such purposes, World Rugby also operates official repository of match information for all international rugby matches and events, which necessarily involves the storage of match, team and player data for historical, research, promotional and journalistic purposes. This system is also used to gather squad and selection information from teams in advance of international rugby matches.

In connection with this system, World Rugby collects data on players and other rugby participants such as their name and other identification data, date of birth, place of birth, playing height and weight, promotional head shots, match reports (e.g. squad lists, substitutions and replacements, scorers, yellow and red cards), appearance and performance statistics.

This data is processed for the purposes of enabling team selection information to be confirmed by team management international rugby matches and events, to act as a centralised official source of team selection information, match results and match statistics, as well as providing an efficient process for match statistics to be directly logged into the central system, to act as the archive of international rugby, logging the results and other details (e.g team lists) of matches for posterity and to foster interest in the game by keeping all-time records and enabling media and World Rugby’s to track, analyse and profile, the development of the game over time, to make data available to support the ongoing promotion of international rugby, to allow direct access to certain information, statistics and records to sports media and rugby fans, and for operational and logistical matters relating to Tournament organisation, logistics and procedures (including disciplinary procedures) and logging the capturing of players for the purposes of World Rugby Regulation 8.

In the interests of ensuring the accuracy of the data collected for each player and other participant, World Rugby collects passport information in relation to new entrants onto the system. This allows World Rugby verify the accuracy of name and identification details relating to each player and other participant, and ensures that similarly named players can be correctly distinguished, in the interests of ensuring overall accuracy of their data.

As this system is intended to operate as the official archive / almanac of international rugby matches, results and statistics, certain personal data (e.g. details of a player’s selection in a particular match, and statistics relating to that match) will be kept indefinitely as a matter of historical record.

In addition to publishing this data via our sites, apps and channels, this data (excluding passport information which is used for identity verification purposes only) may be disclosed and shared in the following way:

Via publication and distribution of match statistics, images and footage, and team and player stats directly to the public on World Rugby platforms and via distribution to accredited media;
to companies involved in broadcast and online coverage and promotion of relevant matches and rugby more generally, and who need match, team and player information for these purposes. This may include commercial partners of World Rugby;
To tournament organisers and team management who need to access relevant data for administrative and management purposes.

Our lawful basis for processing this data is our legitimate interests in being able to process accurate and complete player, team and match information for the purposes identified above, and for historical and statistical purposes.

Individuals whose data are processed in this context for historical and statistical purposes have the right, subject to certain exceptions, to object to processing of personal data concerning him or her on grounds relating to his or her particular situation. They may do that by contacting us using the details below.

Regulatory Activities

Many of the regulatory activities carried out by World Rugby in governing, regulating and developing the sport of rugby union involve the processing of personal information.

You can read further information below on the processing of personal information by World Rugby in the context of the regulatory activities listed below. In some cases, we have created specific privacy notices or statements for these activities, which you can visit by clicking the relevant link provided below.

i. Anti-doping

As a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code, World Rugby is required to process personal data in order to detect anti-doping rule violations in order to ensure that the risk to the integrity of the sport of rugby union is not being damaged by doping.

You can find more information on how World Rugby processes personal information in the context of its anti-doping activities at world.rugby/privacy-policy/anti-doping.

ii. Anti-corruption

To enable World Rugby to further its efforts to preserve the fundamental character of sporting competition as an honest test of skill and ability and to prevent corrupt gambling practices from undermining the integrity of the Game, World Rugby has developed its own Anti-Corruption Regulations, which gives World Rugby power to investigate betting and integrity breaches by those participating in the game of rugby union.

You can find more information on how World Rugby processes personal information in the context of its anti-corruption activities at world.rugby/privacy-policy/anti-corruption.

iii. Disciplinary processes

As part of World Rugby’s role as the world governing body of rugby union, World Rugby’s role in disciplinary processes within the sport requires it to process personal data relating to players and other participants in the sport in connection with the investigation and reporting of breaches of any of the provisions contained in the Laws of the Game and the World Rugby Regulations Relating to the Game. This requires us to process categories of personal data such as names and other identification data, and details and evidence relating to the Laws of the Game and the World Rugby Regulations Relating to the Game, both in the context of World Rugby’s own tournaments and across the game of rugby more generally. This data is processed in accordance with the procedures set out in World Rugby Regulations 18, 19, 20 and 21.

Our lawful basis for processing personal data for these purposes is that the processing is necessary in our legitimate interests as the global governing body for investigating and sanctioning breaches the Laws of the Game and the World Rugby Regulations Relating to the Game.

iv. Player eligibility

In accordance with its role under World Rugby Regulation 8, World Rugby may collect and process data relating to a player’s eligibility to represent a national representative team of a Union to give rulings, resolve disputes, enforce the rules set out in World Rugby Regulation 8 and to make information available to Unions so that they may comply with their own obligations under World Rugby Regulation 8. The data which may be processed by World Rugby in these situations include Passport data, birth certificates, proof of residence, passport, birth certificate or other information relating to a parent or grandparent of a player, information relating to past appearances made by a player in international rugby.

Our lawful basis for processing personal data for these purposes is that the processing is necessary in our legitimate interests as the global governing body in protecting the integrity of international competition in the Game of Rugby by (a) ensuring genuine, close, credible and established national links between players and the countries they are representing; and (b) ensuring that the genuineness of the link between a player and the country they are representing by preventing (save in limited circumstances) players from representing more than one country, ensuring that evidence is available to demonstrate such links between players and the country of the Union they are representing and ensuring that breaches of World Rugby’s eligibility rules can be detected and sanctioned appropriately in order to protect the integrity of international competition.

v. High Performance activities

Pursuant to World Rugby’s mandate to increase participation and competitiveness in global rugby, World Rugby makes a financial investment in high performance programmes of selected Member Unions. As part of this activity, World Rugby collects performance data on teams and players (including personal data relating to players) in the interests of assessing the investment decisions it has made and to inform future investment decisions.

Further details on the personal data processed in the context of this activity is available at world.rugby/privacy-policy/high-performance.

vi. Research

World Rugby carries out a range of research activities to inform player welfare improvements and updates to World Rugby Regulations and the Laws of the Game. These research activities are alternatively carried out by World Rugby’s own internal research unit, often in collaboration with independent research partners, or by third party research bodies who are receive funding from World Rugby.

A summary of data protection considerations connected to the main research projects carried on by World Rugby’s Research Unit is available at world.rugby/privacy-policy/project-summary.

vii. Player insurance

World Rugby maintains player insurance policy cover that its Member Union may purchase or avail of to cover their players when on international duty if those Member Unions wish.

In order to arrange such cover, World Rugby collects date of birth and a salary range information relating to players who will be subject to such cover. In the event that a claim needs to be made on such insurance, World Rugby may be required to collect medical and injury information relating to a player from the relevant Member Union and to share data relating to such claim and the specific injury or illness suffered with the relevant insurers and Member Union.

Our lawful basis for this processing is that it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the relevant players are a beneficiary (i.e. the insurance policy) and that it is necessary for the processing and exercise of claims under the insurance policy.

viii. Specific systems

In the context of its regulatory activities, World Rugby operates a number of systems connected with specific regulatory functions that may process personal data (e.g. in relation to referee performance management, High Performance training, artificial turf assessment and regulation, “World Rugby approved” label ordering, investment and funding applications, and rugby information management).

Where you are a user of one of these systems, we will need to process your personal information for the purposes of registering you as a user of the relevant system(s) and providing you with the access that you need. In such context, we will process data such as your name, email address, user ID, the systems that you are entitled to access and the scope of such access, and will safely store your password information. Your data may be processed within a single-sign-on or identity and authentication management service that creates, maintains and manages user identity information and provides you authentication services across different World Rugby systems.

Our lawful basis for processing this information is that it is necessary to perform a contract with you for the provision of safe, secure and appropriate access to our system(s) which you are accessing in accordance with good identity and authentication management practices.

To the extent that additional information is processed about you in connection with the operation of any of these systems which you are accessing, you will be provided with further details on this when you access such system.

ix. Assessing the development of rugby union at local, national and regional level within World Rugby’s Regions and member unions.

In connection with World Rugby’s mandate to drive participation in rugby at all levels of the game, World Rugby receives regular reports from its member unions and regional associations regarding participation and development in rugby throughout the world. In general, data processed by World Rugby in the context of these activities is aggregated and anonymised. However, depending on the uniqueness or noteworthiness of a particular development activity that is reported on, individuals may be identifiable in connection with such activity. In those circumstances, the personal data collected is limited to the identity of relevant data subjects and their participation in a particular rugby development project.

Such personal data is processed by World Rugby in connection with its role in monitoring the driving the development of the game of rugby and, where appropriate in the context of a particular rugby development project, for the purposes of highlighting and promoting such project and rugby development activities more generally.

Our lawful basis for processing personal data in the context of these activities is our legitimate interests in monitoring, driving and promoting the development of rugby throughout the world, taking into account that the nature of any personal data processed is limited and proportionate.

Right to withdraw consent and performing contracts

If you have given us your consent to process your personal information for a specific reason, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

If you do withdraw your consent, it does not mean that any processing, with your consent, of your personal data up to that point is unlawful.

Your right to withdraw consent also relates to our use of your personal data for marketing purposes. You may withdraw your consent to receiving marketing communications from us by contacting us using the details below in the Contact Details section or by using the “Unsubscribe” option available to you in each communication.

Please note that if you have opted in and consented to receive any information from our associated organisations, third parties or our partners and you wish to unsubscribe from their marketing or communications, please contact those organisations directly or use the “Unsubscribe” option available to you in their communications.

As outlined above, we may also process your personal data for the purposes of performing a contract with you (e.g. in relation to your performance or attendance at one of our tournaments or events, or to you accessing features on one of our sites or systems). Our ability to perform such contracts may depend on you providing us with such personal information. Failure or refusal on your part to provide the personal data which we have requested and require in these circumstances will result in the relevant contract being rendered impossible (with the potential consequences, for example, that you will not be able to participate in our tournament or event, attend any such tournament or event in any capacity, or access a system to which you are seeking access).

Sharing of your Data

In addition to the specific sharing or disclosure of your data referenced, detailed or set out in section 2 of this Data Privacy Statement, we will also share your personal data with third parties in the following circumstances:

We may need to provide third party service providers with access to your information to enable us to obtain maintenance, administrative or technical support for any of the sites, apps, platforms, systems or processes referenced above, or where such third parties perform functions on our behalf or provide services to us (e.g. professional advisors, technology providers and web hosting companies; advertising companies and exchanges; analytics companies; payment providers; fraud and credit checking companies). These service providers are not authorised by us to use or disclose personal data except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements;
Where we need to share your personal data to provide a product or service you have requested;
Where relevant, we may share your personal information with a Member Rugby Union or Regional Association or tournament organiser in connection with combined regulatory activities undertaken by us and such other organisation;
Where we are partnering with a Member Rugby Union, event organiser or delivery partner for the purposes of delivering a World Rugby tournament or event, such as the HSBC SVNS or Women’s Rugby World Cup, we may share pseudonymised data related to interested fans with that Member Rugby Union, organiser or delivery partner. The data will be pseudonymised by World Rugby prior to being shared and no other related information will be made available to the Member Rugby Union, organiser or delivery partner to ensure that they cannot re-identify the data without taking additional steps outside of World Rugby’s control. This sharing is based on the legitimate interests of both i) World Rugby and ii) the relevant Member Rugby Union, organiser or delivery partner, to assess and prepare for the success of the relevant event, including promotion of the event, ticket sales and operational requirements. The data will only be used by the Member Rugby Union, organiser or delivery partner to generate aggregated insights into fans that have registered an interest in the relevant event. If you have registered an interest in a particular event via a World Rugby website or otherwise and this sharing of pseudonymised data may be relevant to you, you can object to this sharing at any time by emailing your objection to dataprotection@worldrugby.org or contacting us using the address contact details at Section 9 below.
We may also share your personal information with third parties:

when required by law or as required within a specific legal process;
in response to a request from law enforcement relating to a criminal investigation;
to protect our rights, privacy, safety or property, or that of the public;
to analyse our data, conduct mobile analytics services or to maintain and improve our services (subject to confidentiality agreements as appropriate);
to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit damage that we may sustain;
if the rights or safety of another individual might be violated or in threat; and
where you otherwise consent to such sharing.

International transfers of your data

World Rugby is the world governing body of the sport of rugby union, and has a group of operating companies, as outlined below:

World Rugby Tournaments Limited;
World Rugby Limited;
Rugby World Cup Limited;
World Rugby Events DAC.

As the activities of World Rugby are international in scope, the World Rugby group will have separate and distinct legal entities across various countries.

In some of the circumstances described above within this Privacy Statement, your personal data may be transferred, accessible or visible to individuals and/or entities located outside of the European Union. Countries outside the European Union may not provide a level of legal protection for your information which is as strong as the level of protection provided in Ireland or your home country. Where we transfer your personal data to a recipient based outside of the European Union, we will put in place a relevant agreement with the overseas recipient of the information, protecting the information, in the appropriate standard form approved for this purpose by the European Commission (please contact us if you would like to see a copy of any of these agreements). The only exceptions are where we transfer information to member states of the European Economic Area or to countries outside the European Union which have been determined to provide an adequate level of protection by the European Commission such as adequacy decision, or where the transfer is legally justified on another basis.

How long do we keep your personal information?

The duration for which we retain your personal information will vary depending on the type of information and the reason why we collected it from you. We will only retain your personal information for as long as is necessary, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements, and to fulfil the original purpose for which we collected the information.

When determining the appropriate retention period for any personal data that we collect or process, we take into account the following considerations and criteria:

the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data;
the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data;
the original purposes for which we collected and are processing your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means;
our contractual obligations and rights in relation to the personal data involved; and
any applicable legal requirements (including prescribed retention periods and statutes of limitations).

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may retain and use such information without further notice to you.

Cookies

Our websites, platforms and apps use cookies. Cookies help us to provide you with the very best experience when you use our website and help us to make improvements, including in relation to performance, to the website.

You can accept, reject or manage cookies by clicking on the Cookie Consent Banner (see the Cookies Icon on the bottom left side of the pages on this website) or the Cookies Pop-Up on the relevant site.

For detailed information on the Cookies that we use and the reasons why we use them, please feel free to consult our Cookies Policy.

Your rights to access, correct, modify and/or remove your personal information

In addition to your right to withdraw consent referenced in Section 3 above “Right to Withdraw Consent and Performing Contracts”, you have the following rights under applicable data protection law:

the right to receive a copy of and/or access, correct, and/or modify the personal data that we hold about you, together with other information about our processing of that personal data (i.e. you have a right to be informed about our processing of your personal data);
the right to request that any inaccurate data that is held about you is corrected or rectified, or if we have incomplete information you may request that we update the information such that it is complete and accurate;
the right to request that we erase your personal data or restrict the processing of your personal data;
the right to request that we no longer process your personal data for particular purposes,
the right to object to our use or processing of your personal data or the way in which we process it;
the right to data portability;
Right not to be subject to Automated Decision-Making or Profiling; You have a right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing or profiling, where such decisions would have a legal effect or significant impact on you. Where we (or one of our third-party processors) use profiling, which produces legal effects for you or otherwise significantly affects you, you will have the right to object to such processing.

Your ability to exercise any of the above rights may be restricted or subject to specific conditions depending on certain circumstances.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Statement, the practices of the website and platforms or your dealings with the website and platforms, you can contact us at the contact details set out below.

Contact details

If you have any queries in relation to this Privacy Statement, or if you would like to contact World Rugby in relation to your rights, please write to us at dataprotection@worldrugby.org or at World Rugby House, 8 – 10 Lower Pembroke Street, Dublin 2.

You can also contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing dataprotection@worldrugby.org

Complaints

If you are not happy with the way that we have used your information or addressed your rights, you have the right to make a complaint to the Irish Data Protection Commission by using the following link: https://forms.dataprotection.ie/contact.

Changes to this Privacy Statement

We reserve the right to change and/or update this Privacy Statement at any time. Accordingly, we recommend that you check this page periodically in order to review the most updated version(s) of our Privacy Statement.

This Privacy Statement was last updated on 11.12.2023

World Rugby Privacy Statement

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