Sevenoaks Driving Lessons – Privacy Policy
Last updated: 11 October 2026
This policy explains how we collect and use personal information about people who visit our website, make an enquiry, take driving lessons with us, buy our book or related content, or act as a learner's parent or guardian. It also explains your rights and how to contact us.
1. Who we are
1.1 Sevenoaks Driving Lessons is run by Geoff Newman, a sole trader and DVSA Approved Driving Instructor ("we", "us", "our"). Geoff is the controller of your personal information, which means he decides how it is used and is responsible for protecting it.
1.2 You can contact us about anything in this policy by email at hello@sevenoaksdrivinglessons.co.uk, by phone on 01732 617 882, or by post at 46 High Street, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 1JG.
1.3 As a small business, we are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer. Geoff deals with all privacy matters personally.
2. What information we collect
2.1 If you visit our website: with your consent, information collected through cookies, such as the pages you visit, your device and browser, and your IP address. Our website host also keeps basic technical logs to keep the website running securely. See our Cookie Policy.
2.2 If you make an enquiry: the details you give us through our enquiry form, by phone, text, WhatsApp or email, such as your name, contact details, where you would like lessons to start from, and the type of lessons you are interested in.
2.3 If you book lessons: your name, contact details, address or pick-up location, lesson bookings, payment records and any messages between us. We also:
- check your driving licence and eyesight before your first lesson (we look at your licence but do not keep a copy);
- ask you to confirm on the booking form that you are fit to drive, and talk with you about any medical condition or medication that could affect your driving (we do not write this down; see section 4);
- keep short notes about your driving progress;
- record lessons using in-car cameras (see section 5).
2.4 If you are a learner's parent, guardian or accompanying driver: your name and contact details and, for parents or guardians, payment records. If you join a WhatsApp group with a learner, we also hold your WhatsApp name, phone number and the messages in the group.
2.5 If you buy our book or related content: we sell these through Payhip, an online sales platform. Payhip shares your name, email address and order details with us, and, if you buy a printed item, your delivery address. We do not receive your card or payment details.
2.6 Most information comes directly from you, or from Payhip if you buy from our shop. We do not buy personal information or collect it from other sources, and we do not book or manage driving tests for you, so we do not hold your DVSA test booking details.
3. How we use your information
3.1 The law requires us to have a lawful basis for each way we use your information. This table sets out what we do, and why.
| What we do | Information used | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry | Enquiry details | Taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, where you are asking about lessons. For any other enquiry, our legitimate interests in replying to messages sent to us |
| Book and give lessons, and take payment | Contact details, bookings, payment records, licence check, progress notes | Performing our contract with you |
| Check you are safe to drive | Your confirmation that you are fit to drive, eyesight check | Performing our contract with you. We do not keep written records of health information (see section 4) |
| Deal with a parent or guardian who pays for a learner under 18 | Parent or guardian's contact details and payment records | Performing our separate contract with the parent or guardian to pay for the learner's lessons. The learner's own information is used under our contract with the learner |
| Record lessons, mainly for insurance purposes and secondly as a training aid | In-car video and audio | Our legitimate interests in having reliable evidence for our insurer if there is an accident or claim, resolving incidents and disputes fairly, and improving the quality of our teaching |
| Publish footage, photographs or reviews | Images, recordings, your review and name | Your consent |
| Keep financial records | Payment records | Legal obligation (tax and accounting) |
| Deal with a complaint, insurance claim or legal claim that has actually arisen | Relevant records, saved recordings and, only where directly relevant, health information | Our legitimate interests in resolving or defending the matter. For health information, the additional condition that it is needed to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. We keep only what is directly relevant, and only until the matter is resolved |
| Measure website use (analytics) and, separately, measure and target our adverts (advertising) | Cookie information, such as pages visited, device, browser and IP address | Your consent, given separately for analytics cookies and advertising cookies through our cookie banner (see our Cookie Policy). Google and Meta also use advertising information for their own purposes (see section 6) |
| Keep the website running securely | Technical logs | Our legitimate interests in running a secure website |
3.2 Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether our interests are outweighed by your rights. You can object at any time (see section 11).
3.3 WhatsApp: we often use WhatsApp to message learners about bookings and lessons, as part of performing our contract with you. We may also add you to the announcement group in our WhatsApp Community, which only we can post in, for example to share availability or updates. Other members of the Community cannot see your phone number. With the learner's agreement, we may also set up a partnership group with the learner, their parents or guardians, anyone who accompanies them for private practice, and us, so that we can work together on the learner's progress and sort out any issues. Anyone can leave a group at any time.
3.4 Please bear in mind that members of a partnership group can see each other's names and phone numbers, and can see, save or screenshot messages posted in the group. Leaving a group does not remove messages other members have already received. Although our messages are set to disappear, this does not remove copies, screenshots or backups other people may have made, or information WhatsApp itself keeps. We never share health information in a group.
3.5 Shop purchases: we use the information Payhip shares with us to deal with your order and any questions or problems with it, as part of performing our contract with you, and keep records for tax purposes, as a legal obligation. We only email you about your purchase, for example to send an updated edition you are entitled to. We do not use your details for marketing.
4. Health information
4.1 Information about your health, such as medical conditions or medication, is "special category" information, and the law gives it extra protection.
4.2 We do not keep written records of your health. On the booking form, we ask you to confirm that you are fit to drive and that you have told the DVLA about any condition you are legally required to report. If you tell us about a medical condition or medication that could affect your driving, we discuss it with you in person so that we can keep lessons safe, but we do not write it down or store it.
4.3 The only exception is if health information becomes directly relevant to an accident, incident or legal claim. In that case, we may need to record it. We do so only as far as needed to establish, exercise or defend the claim, keep it securely, and delete it once the matter is resolved.
5. In-car recordings, photographs and reviews
5.1 Our car has cameras that record video and audio, inside and outside the car, during lessons. We tell you about this before your first lesson, in our Learner Driver Terms and on the booking form, and there is also a notice in the car. We use recordings mainly for insurance purposes: if there is an accident, incident or claim, the footage gives our insurer evidence of what happened and helps resolve any complaint or dispute fairly. We also use recordings as a training aid, to review your progress with you and for our own instructor training.
5.2 The camera's memory card automatically records over older footage, so recordings are deleted after about seven days. We only keep a clip for longer if we need it for an incident, complaint or claim, or if you ask us to keep it to review your progress. Only Geoff can view recordings.
5.3 The cameras record continuously while the car is being used for lessons. We record audio because it helps us understand exactly what was said if there is an accident, incident or complaint, such as what instructions were given, and it helps us review lessons with you. You can ask us to switch off interior audio recording for your lessons at any time, and we will do so. You can also object to recording more generally (see section 11). We will consider any objection carefully, but because video recording is important for safety and for resolving incidents fairly, we may not be able to give lessons without it.
5.4 We switch off interior video and audio recording before a driving test, in line with DVSA rules.
5.5 We will only publish footage, photographs or reviews with your consent. If you are under 18, we will also ask for your parent or guardian's agreement. You can withdraw your consent at any time, and we will remove the material from our website and social media as soon as reasonably practicable.
6. Who we share information with
6.1 We never sell your personal information. We only share it with the following, and only as far as needed:
- Setmore, our online booking and scheduling system, which stores your contact details and lesson bookings on our behalf and only as we instruct (as our processor);
- Google, which provides our email through Google Workspace and, if you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics, on our behalf (as our processor). If you accept advertising or video cookies, Google also uses information from Google Ads and YouTube for its own purposes (as a separate controller). See Google's Privacy Policy (opens in a new tab);
- Meta, if you accept advertising cookies. We and Meta are jointly responsible for collecting and sending information from our website to Meta through the Meta Pixel. Meta then uses it for its own purposes (as a separate controller). See Meta's Privacy Policy (opens in a new tab);
- WhatsApp (part of Meta), which runs the messaging service we use, as a separate controller. See WhatsApp's Privacy Policy (opens in a new tab);
- Hostinger, which hosts our website and processes enquiry form submissions on our behalf (as our processor);
- Revolut, our bank, which receives payment details when you pay by bank transfer (as a separate controller);
- Payhip, which runs the online shop for our book and related content, including checkout and delivery (as a separate controller for its platform). Payments are processed by the payment provider you choose at checkout, such as Stripe or PayPal, under its own privacy policy;
- our accountant, to prepare our tax returns;
- our insurer, and anyone else involved, if there is an accident, incident or claim;
- the police, courts or other authorities, where the law requires it.
6.2 International transfers: Google, Meta, WhatsApp and Setmore may process information in the United States. Google is certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (the "UK-US Data Bridge"), which UK law recognises as providing adequate protection. Meta, including WhatsApp, protects information transferred from the UK using standard contractual clauses with the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, which are contract terms approved under UK law. [Setmore: confirm whether it is certified under the UK-US Data Bridge or uses the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.] Hostinger stores our website data in a data centre in the United Kingdom, so it is not transferred abroad. Payhip is a UK company. The payment provider you choose at Payhip's checkout may process payment information abroad under its own safeguards. You can ask us for more information about these safeguards, including a copy where one applies.
7. How long we keep information
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Enquiries that do not lead to lessons | Up to 12 months after our last contact |
| Contact details, bookings and payment records for learners and parents or guardians | Payment records: up to 6 years, as required for tax purposes. Contact details and booking records: up to 2 years after your last lesson, so we can answer any questions or complaints |
| Progress notes | Destroyed when you pass your test or stop having lessons, unless directly relevant to a complaint or claim that has already been raised |
| In-car recordings | About seven days, as the memory card records over them automatically |
| Saved recording clips | Until the incident, complaint or claim is resolved, or until we have finished reviewing your progress together |
| Published footage, photographs and reviews | Until you withdraw consent or we remove them. We keep a record of your consent for as long as the material is published |
| Website analytics | 14 months, as set in our Google Analytics account |
7.1 If information is relevant to a complaint, incident or legal claim that has actually arisen, we keep only the relevant records until the matter is finally resolved, and then delete them.
7.2 Our WhatsApp messages are set to disappear automatically after 3 months, unless we save a message to deal with a complaint or claim. When a learner finishes lessons, we remove everyone from their partnership group and delete the group from our phone.
7.3 We keep shop order records for up to 6 years for tax purposes. Payhip keeps its own records under its own privacy policy.
8. Keeping your information secure
8.1 We take proportionate steps to protect your information. We use reputable providers, protect our accounts and devices with strong passwords and two-step verification, keep any paper notes secure, and shred them when they are no longer needed. We never receive or store card details.
8.2 If you think your information has been misused or lost, please contact us straight away using the details in section 1.
9. Young learners and automated decisions
9.1 Some of our learners are under 18. For these learners, a parent or guardian also accepts our Learner Driver Terms and is responsible for payment, so we hold their contact details too. A learner's rights over their own information remain their own. A parent or guardian's role in paying for lessons does not, by itself, entitle them to the learner's progress notes, health information or recordings. We only discuss a young learner's driving progress with their parent or guardian if the learner agrees, and we ask for a parent or guardian's agreement before publishing any footage or photographs of a learner under 18.
9.2 We do not make decisions about you using automated processes or profiling.
10. Marketing
10.1 We do not send marketing emails, texts or calls. We will only contact you about your enquiry or your lessons, for example to confirm or change a booking.
10.2 If you accept advertising cookies on our website, Google and Meta may show you our adverts on other websites and apps. You can change this at any time using "Cookie Settings" at the bottom of our website.
11. Your rights
11.1 You have the right to:
- access your information: ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- rectification: ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
- erasure: ask us to delete your information, where we no longer have a good reason to keep it;
- restrict how we use your information in certain circumstances, for example while we check whether it is accurate;
- object to our use of your information where we rely on legitimate interests, including in-car recording;
- data portability: ask us to send information you gave us to you or another organisation in a commonly used electronic format. This right only applies where the legal conditions are met, namely where we use the information under a contract or with your consent, and by automated means;
- withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on your consent. This does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it.
11.2 To use any of these rights, contact us using the details in section 1. There is normally no charge. We will respond within one month, although we may extend this by up to two further months for complex requests and will tell you if we do. Some rights have legal limits, and if we cannot do what you ask, we will explain why.
12. Complaints
12.1 If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please contact us first using the details in section 1. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days and let you know the outcome without undue delay. This is separate from requests to use your rights under section 11, which we must answer within one month.
12.2 If you are still unhappy, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator: online at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint (opens in a new tab), by phone on 0303 123 1113, or by post to Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
13. Cookies and changes to this policy
13.1 Our Cookie Policy explains the cookies we use on our website and how to manage them.
13.2 We will update this policy when the way we use personal information changes, and the "last updated" date at the top will change. If we plan to use your information in a significantly new way, we will tell you before we start.