Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Eastham Driving School (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, stores and protects your personal data when you use our website or contact us about driving lessons.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who we are (data controller)

The data controller responsible for your personal data is:

• Business name: Eastham Driving School
• Instructor: Simon Wright
• Email: simon@easthamdrivingschool.co.uk
• Phone: 07572 747 032

If you have any questions about this policy or how we use your data, please contact us using the details above.

2. What personal data we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Identity data - your name (and, where a parent or guardian books on behalf of a learner, their name too)
• Contact data - email address, telephone number, and the area or postcode where you would like to be picked up
• Enquiry data - the type of lesson you need and the content of your message
• Lesson records - appointment times, progress notes and related correspondence once you book
• Technical data - IP address and basic server log information when you submit a form (for security and abuse prevention)
• Communication data - records of calls, WhatsApp messages, emails or other correspondence relating to your enquiry or lessons

We do not intentionally collect special category (sensitive) personal data via this website. Please do not include health or other sensitive information in the contact form unless it is strictly necessary for us to plan a safe lesson. If you later tell us about a medical condition that affects driving, we will only use that information to provide tuition safely.

3. How we collect your data

• When you complete our website contact form
• When you email, call, text or message us on WhatsApp
• When you leave a review or interact with us on social media or Google Business Profile
• When you book and attend driving lessons

Our website is not designed to place non-essential tracking cookies. If we introduce analytics or marketing cookies in future, we will update this policy and, where required, obtain your consent.

4. Why we use your data (purposes and lawful bases)

Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. We use your information for:

• Responding to enquiries and arranging lessons - lawful basis: legitimate interests (to run the driving school and reply to prospective pupils) and/or steps prior to entering a contract where you ask to book.
• Performing a contract - delivering the driving lessons you have asked us to provide (lawful basis: contract).
• Lesson administration - managing bookings, pick-up arrangements and progress (lawful bases: contract and legitimate interests).
• Legal and insurance obligations - keeping records required for tax, insurance or legal claims (lawful bases: legal obligation and/or legitimate interests).
• Website security - preventing spam and abuse of our contact form (lawful basis: legitimate interests).

Where you tick the consent box on our contact form, you are confirming that you wish us to contact you about that enquiry. You may withdraw consent for marketing communications at any time by contacting us (we do not currently send bulk marketing emails).

5. Who we share your data with

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it only where necessary with:

• Service providers who help us operate the website and mailbox (for example, our cPanel hosting provider)
• Professional advisers such as insurers or accountants where required
• Authorities where we are legally required to do so (for example DVSA in connection with a test, if asked)

Any third parties processing data on our behalf are expected to do so only under our instructions and with appropriate security measures.

6. International transfers

We aim to store and process personal data within the United Kingdom. If any provider processes data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place as required by UK data protection law (for example, UK adequacy regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum).

7. How long we keep your data

We keep personal data only for as long as needed for the purposes above:

• General enquiries that do not lead to lessons - typically up to 12 months
• Pupil / lesson records - for the duration of tuition and then as needed for insurance, accounting and legal requirements (often up to 6 years)
• Server / security logs related to form submissions - for a limited period for security monitoring

When data is no longer required, we will delete or anonymise it securely where practicable.

8. How we protect your data

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss or misuse. This includes using secure hosting, restricting access to business communications, and not asking you to send payment card details via the website contact form.

No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. If you have reason to believe your interaction with us is no longer secure, please contact us immediately.

9. Your rights under UK GDPR

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data (subject to certain legal exemptions):

• Right of access - to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification - to have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected
• Right to erasure - to request deletion in certain circumstances (“right to be forgotten”)
• Right to restrict processing - to limit how we use your data in certain cases
• Right to data portability - to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format
• Right to object - to object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Rights related to automated decision-making - we do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 1. We may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within one month.

10. Children and young learners

Driving lessons are aimed at people who are old enough to learn to drive in Great Britain (normally 17, or 16 in limited circumstances). A parent or guardian may contact us on behalf of a young learner.

We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 via this website. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can delete it. Where we hold data about a 16- or 17-year-old learner, we use it only to arrange and deliver lessons, and a parent or guardian may contact us to exercise that learner’s data-protection rights where appropriate.

11. Third-party links and maps

Our website may link to third-party services such as Google Maps, WhatsApp, Facebook or Google review pages. Those services have their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for their content or practices. Using those services may involve sharing data with the third party according to their terms.

12. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK supervisory authority:

• Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
• Website: https://ico.org.uk/
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page will change when we do. Please review this page periodically. Continued use of our website after changes constitutes awareness of the updated policy where permitted by law.

14. Contact

For privacy enquiries, email simon@easthamdrivingschool.co.uk.

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