This Privacy Policy explains how DMW Driving School collects, uses and looks after your personal information. It applies to our website (dmwdrivingschool.co.uk), the Drive My Way app we use to manage your lessons (on the App Store and Google Play) and when you take driving lessons with us.
1. Who we are
DMW Driving School is run by Dale Willetts, a sole trader based in Gloucester.
Correspondence address: available on request
Email: admin@dmwdrivingschool.co.uk
Phone / text: 07432 855096
I am the data controller for the personal information I collect. If you need a postal address to exercise your data-protection rights, please email me and I will provide one.
2. What information I collect
- Name, address, phone number, email address and date of birth
- Driving licence number and a photo of your driving licence (only if you choose to upload it in the app)
- Lesson availability, booking history, progress notes and reflective logs
- Driving test date and time (if you tell me)
- Payment records (amount, date and method – cash or bank transfer)
- Messages between us in the app
- Theory test and hazard perception practice results, if you use them in the app (including when you tapped during a hazard clip)
- Your pick-up address, used to show you when I'll arrive when I'm on my way to your lesson. You're told I'm on the way as soon as I set off, with my arrival time, but my own live location isn't shared with you until I'm within a 2-mile radius of you and at least a quarter of a mile from where I set off, so you never see where I've come from (such as another pupil's home). If I'm starting closer than a quarter of a mile away, there's no live map. My location is wiped when the trip ends
- A photo of you when you pass your test (only with your clear consent) – used on the website, Facebook, Instagram and Google
- Basic technical information when you use the website or app (for example IP address, device type and browser), a record of when you sign in to the app, and the details your phone needs to receive the app's notifications
3. Why I collect it and the legal reason
| Purpose | Legal basis |
|---|
| Creating your account and booking lessons | Contract |
| Sending lesson reminders and important updates | Contract / Legitimate interests |
| Messages, theory and hazard perception practice, and showing you when I'll arrive | Contract |
| Keeping payment and tax records | Legal obligation |
| Taking and displaying your pass photo (website, Facebook, Instagram, Google) | Consent |
| Improving the website and app | Legitimate interests |
| Requesting a review after you pass | Legitimate interests |
4. How long I keep your information
- Name and payment history → until 5 years after the 31 January tax return deadline for the tax year of the payment, as HMRC's record-keeping rules require (up to about 7 years), then deleted automatically
- When you pass your test → your lessons (apart from the driving test), messages, progress notes, reflective logs, contact details, address, date of birth, licence details and app login are deleted. I keep your name, your payments and your test result
- If you stop lessons without passing → I mark you as inactive and the app closes to you (it comes back if you start lessons again). If your last test was a fail I can leave your messages and the Test Booking & Resources page open, so you can still get hold of me and book your practical test around my diary; I can close either of those at any time. After 11 months, if you are still using the app, you are asked whether you still want your account and told why. Say yes and nothing is deleted. If nobody answers within 30 days, your lessons, messages, progress notes and reflective logs are deleted, and your phone number, email, address, date of birth, licence details and other personal details are removed. I keep your name and payments
- 6 years after your last payment → your record is removed from the app. Your payments stay in my business records, with your name, until they're deleted under the tax rule above
- If I can't take you on after an enquiry → your details are deleted
- "On the way" trips → my live location is wiped when the trip ends, and the trip record (when it started and ended, and the pick-up point) is deleted after 30 days
- Pass photo → kept while it is used for advertising, or until you ask me to remove it
Backups: I take an automatic backup of my database every night so that information is not lost due to an accident, error or technical fault. Backups are kept for a rolling 6 months and then permanently and automatically deleted. This means that for up to 6 months after something is deleted from the live system (for example, under the timeframes above), a copy may still exist in a backup. Backups are stored securely with Cloudflare (see section 5) and are not used for any other purpose.
5. Who I share your information with
I do not sell or rent your information.
I only share it when necessary with:
- Payment providers (your bank, for bank transfers)
- Technology providers that help me run the website and app: Drive My Way (the app I use to manage lessons, which handles your information only on my instructions), Supabase (database and sign-in), Vercel and GitHub (website hosting), Cloudflare (backups and videos), Resend and Zoho (emails), Apple and Google (the app stores and app notifications), Mapbox (maps, for showing when I'll arrive) and Google Analytics (website visits, only if you accept analytics cookies)
- The police or other authorities if required by law
Some of these technology providers may store data outside the UK. When this happens I make sure appropriate safeguards are in place.
6. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you can:
- Ask for a copy of the information I hold about you
- Ask me to correct anything that is wrong
- Ask me to delete your information (in certain situations)
- Object to or restrict how I use it
- Withdraw consent (for example for your pass photo) at any time
- Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk
To exercise any of these rights, email admin@dmwdrivingschool.co.uk.
7. How I look after your data
I use reasonable technical and organisational measures to keep your information secure, including regular automatic backups (see section 4) so information is not lost due to accidental deletion or a technical fault.
8. Children
My services are only for people aged 17 and over.
9. Cookies
Our website uses cookies (including Google Analytics). See our Cookie Notice for full details and how to manage your preferences.
10. Changes
I may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page.
