Privacy Policy

Who We Are

DriveSidekick is operated by a sole developer based in the United Kingdom, trading as DriveSidekick. For the purposes of data protection law, DriveSidekick is the data controller for personal data collected through this website and the DriveSidekick mobile application.

If you have any questions about this policy or how your data is handled, please contact us at [email protected].

What This Policy Covers

This policy explains what personal data we collect when you use the DriveSidekick website (drivesidekick.co.uk) and mobile app, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

What Data We Collect

When you sign up via our website

• Your name and email address, submitted through our signup form (powered by Tally.so)
• Your role (learner driver or instructor) and any other details you choose to provide in the form

When you use the mobile app

• Location data (GPS): your route during a lesson session, including coordinates, speed, and direction
• Motion sensor data: accelerometer and gyroscope readings used to detect braking, acceleration, cornering, and general driving events
• Device information: device type, operating system version, and a unique device identifier, used for error reporting and analytics
• Usage data: how you interact with the app (screens visited, features used, session duration), collected via Mixpanel
• Crash and error data: technical logs captured automatically when the app encounters an error, collected via Sentry

Why We Collect It (Legal Basis)

Under UK GDPR, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Consent — for location and motion sensor data. You explicitly start a lesson session to enable tracking, and you can stop it at any time.
• Legitimate interests — for usage analytics (Mixpanel) and error monitoring (Sentry), to help us understand how the app is used and fix bugs. This processing is proportionate and you have the right to object (see Your Rights below).
• Contractual necessity — to provide the core features of the service you signed up for, including lesson tracking and progress reporting.

How We Use Your Data

• To record and analyse your driving lesson sessions and generate progress insights
• To send you access information, updates, and feedback requests related to the alpha programme
• To diagnose and fix technical issues using crash reports from Sentry
• To understand how users interact with the app and improve its features using Mixpanel analytics
• To communicate with you if you contact us

We do not use your data for advertising, and we do not sell your personal data to any third party.

Sharing Your Data

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We share data only with the following trusted third-party service providers, strictly as needed to operate the service:

• Tally.so — collects signup form submissions on our behalf
• Mixpanel — provides in-app usage analytics
• Sentry — provides crash and error reporting
• Cloudflare — hosts this website and the app download file

Each of these providers has their own privacy policy and data processing agreements in place. We take reasonable steps to ensure they handle data appropriately.

In a future version of DriveSidekick, driving session data may be visible to a learner's linked instructor. If and when this feature is introduced, we will update this policy and ask for your consent before sharing your data in this way.

Location and Sensor Data

Location and motion data are only collected while an active lesson session is running. The app will request permission to access your device's location and sensors — you may deny this, but the core lesson-tracking features will not function without it.

We process this data to generate driving metrics (speed, braking events, acceleration, cornering). Raw GPS coordinates are used to reconstruct your route but are not used to track your location outside of lesson sessions.

How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to provide the service and fulfil the purposes described in this policy. When data is no longer needed — for example, if you ask us to delete your account or after the conclusion of the alpha programme — we will securely delete or anonymise it.

Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access — you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification — you can ask us to correct inaccurate data
• Right to erasure — you can ask us to delete your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Right to restrict processing — you can ask us to limit how we use your data
• Right to data portability — you can request your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to object — you can object to processing based on legitimate interests (such as analytics)
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting prior processing

To exercise any of these rights, email us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK's supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), if you believe your data has been handled unlawfully.

Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. However, no transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of data sent to or from the app.

Children's Privacy

DriveSidekick is intended for learner drivers aged 17 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under the age of 17. If you believe a person under 17 has provided us with their data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we will notify alpha testers directly by email. Continued use of DriveSidekick after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests relating to this privacy policy or your personal data, please get in touch:

[email protected]