Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Thistle School of Motoring ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects your personal information.

1. Who we are

Thistle School of Motoring
Contact email: john@thistlesom.co.uk
Contact phone: 07711 324 170

2. What data we collect

Contact details: name, email address, phone number.
Booking details: lesson dates and times, pick-up/drop-off location, lesson type, and payment status.
Learning details: lesson progress notes relevant to your training (for example, topics covered and areas to improve).
Website data: limited technical data such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited (only if analytics/cookies are used).

3. How we use your data

To respond to enquiries and communicate about lessons.
To arrange, deliver, and manage driving lessons and related services.
To process payments and maintain records for accounting.
To improve our services and, where used, understand website performance.

4. Lawful basis for processing

Contract: where data is needed to provide lessons you request.
Legitimate interests: running and improving our business, keeping basic records, and communicating with customers.
Legal obligation: where we must keep records for tax or other legal requirements.
Consent: where you have opted in to receive marketing (if applicable). You can withdraw consent at any time.

5. Sharing your data

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your data only where necessary to run our service, such as:

Payment providers (to take payments and prevent fraud).
Professional advisers (such as accountants) where needed for legitimate business purposes.
Authorities or regulators where legally required.

6. Data retention

We keep your data only as long as necessary. Typically, we retain booking and payment records for accounting and legal purposes, and lesson notes for a reasonable period to support your training. When no longer needed, data is securely deleted or anonymised.

7. Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you may have rights including access to your data, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, and data portability. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

8. Cookies

If we use cookies on this website, they help the site function and may help us understand how visitors use the site. Where required, we will ask for consent before placing non-essential cookies. You can manage cookies through your browser settings.

9. Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, or disclosure. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, but we work hard to safeguard your data.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.

Effective date: 28 January 2026