1. Who we are

Driveli ("we", "us") operates driveli.co.uk, a marketplace connecting learner drivers with independent driving instructors. We are the data controller for the personal data described here. You can contact us about privacy at info@driveli.co.uk.

2. What we collect

– Account details: name, email, phone, and (if you sign up with Google, Facebook or Apple) the basic profile info those services share with us.
– Location: your postal address or postcode and pickup location, so we can show you nearby instructors and tell them where to collect you.
– Booking & lesson details: lessons booked, cancelled or completed, your lesson scores and progress notes, and messages exchanged with your instructor or learner through Driveli.
– Payment information: processed entirely by Stripe — we never see or store your card number. We keep a record of the amount, date and what it was for.
– Instructor compliance documents: for instructors only — ADI certification, DBS check, and insurance documents, used solely to verify you're qualified to teach and shown to learners only as a verified "yes/no", never the document itself.
– Technical data: IP address and device/browser information, mainly for security (so we can spot suspicious account activity) and, only if you agree via our cookie banner, anonymised analytics about how the site is used.

3. Why we use it, and on what basis

– To create your account and let you book or deliver lessons — necessary to perform our contract with you.
– To process payments and payouts, and keep the accounting records HMRC requires — contract and legal obligation.
– To verify an instructor's qualifications before they appear in search — legal obligation and our legitimate interest in learner safety.
– To send booking, payment, account-security and no-show emails — contract, and these are never optional while you have an account, since they're how the service actually works.
– To send marketing or re-engagement emails (tips, reminders, news) — your consent, which you give at sign-up and can withdraw at any time from Privacy & My Data or the unsubscribe link in any such email.
– For analytics cookies (Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics) — your consent, given through the cookie banner, never pre-ticked.
– To detect fraud and keep the platform secure — our legitimate interest.

4. Who we share it with

We don't sell your data. We share it only with the people and services that need it to run Driveli:
– Your instructor or learner — the minimum needed to deliver a lesson (name, pickup location, contact details, lesson history between you).
– Stripe, for card payments and instructor payouts.
– Our email provider, to send the emails described above.
– Our hosting and file storage providers, to run the site and store uploaded photos/documents.
– Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics, only if you've consented to analytics cookies.
– Regulators, auditors or law enforcement, where we're legally required to.

5. International transfers

Some of the providers above may process data outside the UK/EEA. Where that happens, we rely on the UK's International Data Transfer Addendum, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or (for US-based providers) their certification under the UK-US Data Bridge / EU-US Data Privacy Framework, each designed to keep your data protected to UK standards wherever it's processed.

6. How long we keep it

We keep account data for as long as you have an account, and lesson/payment records for as long as accounting and tax law require (generally six years) — even after an account is deleted, since those records are then anonymised rather than removed (see section 8). Instructor compliance documents are kept for as long as the instructor is active on Driveli plus the same accounting period.

7. Cookies

We use a small number of strictly-necessary cookies to keep you signed in and let Stripe process payments — these need no consent and can't be switched off without breaking the site. Analytics cookies are off until you explicitly agree, and you can change your mind at any time from the cookie banner or Privacy & My Data.

8. Your rights, and how to use them

Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, object to, or port your personal data. Here's the fastest way to each one on Driveli:
– Access / portability — download everything we hold about you from Privacy & My Data, instantly, as a file you can keep or send elsewhere.
– Rectification — most profile details can be corrected yourself from your dashboard; anything else, email us.
– Erasure ("right to be forgotten") — request deletion from Privacy & My Data. We remove your personal details 14 days after your request (giving you a window to change your mind) — or, if you still have lessons booked, once the last of them has taken place. Your saved cards are deleted from our payment provider at the same time. Anonymised lesson and payment records are kept where the law requires it — see section 6.
– Restriction / objection — email us and we'll action it; this mainly applies to marketing, which you can also just switch off yourself.
– Withdraw consent — turn off marketing emails or analytics cookies any time, with no effect on your ability to use Driveli.

We don't charge for any of this unless a request is clearly excessive or repetitive. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to us at info@driveli.co.uk, or to the UK's regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office, at ico.org.uk.

9. Age

Driveli is for learner drivers old enough to hold a provisional driving licence and the instructors who teach them. We don't knowingly collect data from children outside that context.

10. Security

We use encryption in transit, access controls limiting who on our team can see your data, and never store card details ourselves — that stays with Stripe. No system is perfectly secure, but if something goes wrong we'll act quickly to contain it and tell you if you're affected.

11. Changes to this policy

We'll update this page when what we do with your data changes, and update the date below when we do. Significant changes will also be flagged in the app.