Trust & safety
Safety first, and fair to everyone on the record.
The people in care come first. That means taking every concern seriously. It also means being fair to the carers we verify, careful with what we hold, and honest about how it all works.
Keeping people safe
Every record belongs to a verified person
A name and a phone number aren't an identity. A worker's record is anchored to their legal name and date of birth, confirmed with an automated ID document and selfie check. Someone let go for good reason can't simply reappear under slightly different details.
Concerns are taken seriously, and looked at by a person
When a past employer raises a concern about how a worker treated the people in their care, it goes straight to our review team. It is never published automatically and never dismissed automatically. A real person looks at it before it shapes anyone's record.
Criminal record checks — coming soon
We're registering with the Ministry of Justice so families and organisations can request a criminal record check through us. A check will only ever be requested with the worker's explicit consent for that specific request. A Ministry of Justice criminal record check is not an NZ Police vet. On its own it doesn't meet the Children's Act 2014 safety-check requirements for children's workers.
Some people shouldn't come back
Where there are serious grounds, FIDES can permanently exclude a worker from the platform. The worker is told the reasons and can respond first, and two people decide. A safety flag is kept while it remains relevant to safety. A flag found on review to be inaccurate, or about the wrong person, is corrected or removed. After five years, the referee's name and details are removed from the flag.
Fair to workers
Documented facts, not phone calls
Employers answer fixed, structured questions, not open-ended complaints. Every answer in a full reference check is marked as either documented fact or an informal account, and the two are never treated as the same thing. Free-text comments stay with our review team and are never shown to other organisations.
Workers choose who sees their record
Nothing is visible until a worker consents to being on FIDES. After that, each organisation or family needs that worker's permission before they can see their record, and the worker can withdraw it at any time. Workers can also switch off being findable in search.
A right of reply
Workers see exactly what's been flagged about them, and can reply to it. They can also ask us to correct a factual mistake, like a wrong date, the wrong employer, or a record mixed up with someone else's. We correct facts. We don't overrule an employer's honest opinion.
Protecting what we hold
Referees can speak honestly
Before answering, every referee is told that any safety concern they raise will be shown to the worker so the worker can respond, and that their name is withheld from the worker unless the law requires it to be released.
Locked down, and logged
Access to sensitive information is enforced in the database itself, not just in the app. Every view, request, and change to a sensitive record is logged with who did it and when.
Only what's needed
We hold what's needed to verify a worker and keep people safe. Nothing about a worker is visible to anyone until that worker consents. Our privacy policy sets out what we keep, who we share it with, and how long we hold it.
Worried about someone right now?
FIDES isn't a reporting line. If you're concerned about a worker but haven't been asked for a reference, contact their employer, the relevant sector body, or NZ Police. If someone is in immediate danger, call 111.
The full detail is in our privacy policy and our safety concerns policy. Questions? Email info@fidesid.co.nz.