Privacy Policy

Certo (“Certo”, “we”, “us”) is a mobile app that helps New Zealand electricians and electrical inspectors produce electrical certificates by voice — Certificates of Compliance (CoC), Electrical Safety Certificates (ESC), Records of Inspection (RoI) and Certificates of Verification (CoV) — and, where available, gasfitting and plumbing certificates. This policy explains what we collect, why, and how it’s handled.

Who we are

Certo is developed and published by Māhanga Technologies Limited (New Zealand; NZBN 9429053963871). Contact: certo-admin@mahanga.co.nz.

Information we collect

• Account details — your email address, and name if you provide it, via Sign in with Apple, Google, or email/password.
• Certificate data — the information you enter or dictate to complete a certificate: job/site address, customer name, address, phone and email, work descriptions, test results, your registration/licence details, company name, and your signature.
• Voice recordings and transcripts — when you use voice entry, your speech is transcribed to text so the app can fill the form. See “How voice works” below.
• Photos — any images you choose to attach (e.g. a Certificate of Compliance you scan, or screenshots you send with feedback).
• Feedback — voice notes, transcripts and images you submit through the in-app Feedback feature.
• Basic diagnostics — limited technical error logs to help us fix problems.
• Registration and identity checks — your trade registration number(s), which we check against the public registers (e.g. EWRB, PGDB). When we ask you to verify your identity, this is done by Stripe Identity: Stripe collects your ID document and a selfie on our behalf. Certo keeps only the result (verified or not) and the verified name — not the images.
• Subscriptions and purchases — whether you subscribe or buy add-ons or inspection credits. Payment is handled by Apple or Google (or Stripe for company web billing); Certo never sees your card details. Subscription status is managed through RevenueCat.
• Device push token — so the app can send you notifications (for example, a returned inspection), if you allow notifications.

How voice works

Speech-to-text is performed using your device’s speech recognition and/or a secure cloud service. The resulting transcript is sent to our processing function, which uses OpenAI’s GPT models to organise the words into the correct certificate fields. Audio/transcript is used only to complete your certificate and is not used to train third-party models.

How we use your information

• To create, preview, sign, store and share your electrical certificates.
• To back up and restore your certificates and settings to your account.
• To improve the app (including feedback you choose to send).
• To provide support and respond to you.

How we use app activity

We record how the app is used so we can improve Certo and run Māhanga’s services: which screens and buttons are used, when sessions start and how long they last, and counts of items (for example how many certificates of each type you have started, signed and sent, and inspection requests received, accepted, declined and returned). We also record your email, plan and the town and region of your jobs. We never record street addresses or GPS location.

The content of your records is not included — no certificate details, test results, customer names, voice transcripts, photos or anything you type. This activity information is stored by Māhanga Technologies Limited (Cloudflare, New Zealand/Australia), is never sold or shared with advertisers, and is not used to track you across other companies’ apps or websites. Detailed activity is kept for 13 months and totals for 3 years, and all of it is deleted when you delete your account. You can turn activity recording off in the app: Settings → Analytics.

Where your data is stored

Your certificates, backups, photos and account are stored using Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore and Cloud Storage). Signed certificate PDFs are retained as your compliance record. Data is protected by access rules so that, in general, only your account can read your data.

Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with the service providers that make the app work — Google Firebase (hosting/storage/auth), Cloudflare (web hosting), OpenAI (voice-to-field processing), Stripe (identity verification and company web billing), RevenueCat (subscription status), and Apple/Google (sign-in and, if you subscribe, payment processing). Each processes data on our behalf to deliver the service. When you choose to send a certificate to someone — an inspector, a property manager, a lines company or your company — it is shared with them because you asked. We may disclose information if required by law.

Retention

Signed certificates are a legal record and are retained accordingly (an electrical safety certificate is generally kept for at least 7 years). You can delete drafts in the app. You can delete your account and its associated data yourself in the app (Settings → Account & Backup → Delete account), or by emailing certo-admin@mahanga.co.nz.

Your choices

• Voice entry is optional — you can type instead.
• Photos and feedback are optional and only sent when you choose.
• App activity recording is on by default; turn it off any time in Settings → Analytics.
• You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal information by emailing us.

Children

Certo is a professional tool and is not directed at children under 13.

Changes

We may update this policy; the “Last updated” date will change. Continued use of Certo means you accept the current policy.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email certo-admin@mahanga.co.nz.