Privacy Policy

Who we are

DriveInstruct is a trading name of Nimble Panda Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales ("we", "us", "our"). We operate the DriveInstruct platform at driveinstruct.co.uk and are committed to protecting your personal information and being transparent about how we use it.

For GDPR purposes, Nimble Panda Ltd (trading as DriveInstruct) is the Data Controller for the personal data of our instructors and account holders. For student data stored by instructors using our platform, the instructor is the Data Controller and DriveInstruct is the Data Processor.

Contact us at: support@driveinstruct.co.uk

What data we collect

Account holders (instructors):

• Name, email address, phone number
• Business name and details
• Payment information (processed by Stripe — we do not store card details)
• Usage data and activity logs

Student data (entered by instructors):

• Name, phone number, email address
• Home address and pickup location
• Driving test date and test centre
• Lesson history and skills progress
• Private notes made by the instructor

Directory listings (from public sources, no account yet):

• Business/trading name, town and postcode area
• Publicly listed business phone and email (not shown while unclaimed)
• Website address and Companies House number where applicable

See "Directory listings we build from public sources" below for how this works and how to opt out.

Directory listings we build from public sources

DriveInstruct runs a public directory of UK driving instructors. Some listings belong to instructors who have not yet created an account. We build those listings from information that is already publicly available, so we are giving you this notice under Article 14 of the UK GDPR (information collected from sources other than you).

Where we get the data: business listings on Google (via the Google Places API), instructors' own public websites, and the Companies House public register.

What we hold: business or trading name, town and postcode area, approximate location, a business phone number and business email address where publicly listed, website address, and a Companies House number where applicable. We do not publish the phone number or email address on the public listing while it is unclaimed.

Legal basis: our legitimate interests in running a useful, comprehensive directory and connecting learners with local instructors. We do not send marketing to these contact details without a lawful basis to do so.

Your choices: you can object to the listing and have it removed at any time, and you can ask us to erase the data we hold about you. Use the unsubscribe link in any email we send you, or contact us at support@driveinstruct.co.uk. We action removal and erasure requests promptly.

International data transfers

Some of our suppliers are based outside the UK. Where personal data is transferred to a country without a UK adequacy decision, we rely on appropriate safeguards, principally the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

How we use your data

• To provide the service — storing and displaying your data, sending automated reminders, processing payments
• To communicate with you — account notifications, support responses, service updates
• To improve the service — aggregated, anonymised usage analytics
• Legal compliance — where required by law

We do not sell your data. We do not use your data for advertising. We do not share your data with third parties except as described in this policy.

Legal basis for processing

• Contract — processing necessary to provide the service you've subscribed to
• Legitimate interests — operating the instructor directory, fraud prevention, security, service improvement (you can object at any time)
• Legal obligation — where required by law
• Consent — marketing communications (you can withdraw at any time)

Third parties we use

Data retention

• Active account data is retained for the duration of your subscription
• After account closure, data is retained for 30 days then permanently deleted
• Payment records are retained for 7 years for legal compliance
• Unclaimed directory listings are kept while the data remains publicly available and accurate, and are removed on request
• You can request immediate deletion by contacting us

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the data we hold about you
• Rectification — correct inaccurate data
• Erasure — request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format
• Restriction — limit how we process your data
• Objection — object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@driveinstruct.co.uk. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Cookies

We use essential cookies to keep you logged in and remember your preferences. See our Cookie Policy for full details.

Security

We use industry-standard security measures including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, and row-level database security. However, no system is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will notify you by email of any significant changes. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated.