This notice explains how Gerry's Driving School ("GDS", "we", "us") collects and uses personal data relating to website enquiries, driving-lesson bookings, online and card payments, lesson delivery, customer communications, employees, trainees, contractors and instructors.
Third-party services: RoadReady and Stripe operate their own services and may also act as independent data controllers for some processing. Read their privacy information alongside this notice.
Contents
- 1. Who we are
- 2. Personal data we collect
- 3. How we obtain personal data
- 4. Why we use personal data and our legal bases
- 5. Online bookings and card payments
- 6. Cookies and advertising technologies
- 7. Who we share personal data with
- 8. International transfers
- 9. How long we keep personal data
- 10. Children and young learners
- 11. Security
- 12. Your data-protection rights
- 13. Automated decisions
- 14. External links and social media
- 15. Changes to this notice
- 16. Contact us
1. Who we are
Gerard Gartlan, trading as Gerry's Driving School, is the data controller for personal data handled directly by GDS. Gerry's Driving School provides RSA-approved driving instruction, EDT, pre-test preparation, manual and automatic lessons, Category BE training, vehicle hire for tests and related digital learning products across Dundalk and surrounding areas.
2. Personal data we collect
Learners, customers and enquirers
- Identity and contact details, including name, email address, telephone number, postal or pickup address and emergency contact information where appropriate.
- Booking information, including preferred lesson type, dates, times, pickup location, instructor, vehicle type, experience level and notes supplied with an enquiry or booking.
- Driving and training information, including learner-permit or driving-licence details, EDT progress, lesson attendance, instructor notes, test dates, test preparation and relevant learning needs.
- Payment and transaction information, including amounts, payment status, refunds, receipts and limited card-related information supplied by the payment provider. GDS does not receive or store your full card number or security code.
- Communications, including emails, calls, text messages, booking messages, complaints, feedback and requests.
- Photographs, videos, reviews or testimonials where you have agreed that we may use them.
- Website and device information, such as IP address, browser, device type, pages viewed, referring page and cookie identifiers, where collected by our website or permitted advertising tools.
Staff, trainees, contractors and instructors
- Contact details, date of birth, PPS number, bank details, tax and payroll information, working-time and attendance records.
- Recruitment records, CVs, references, qualifications, contracts, right-to-work information, training records and performance or disciplinary records.
- Instructor and compliance information, including RSA ADI number and status, licence and insurance details, vehicle information, availability, assigned learners and lesson records.
- Health, absence, accident or reasonable-adjustment information where necessary and lawful. This may be special-category personal data.
- Invoices, expenses, payment records and business correspondence for self-employed instructors or other contractors.
3. How we obtain personal data
We normally obtain information directly from you by telephone, text, email, website or booking forms, during lessons, through employment or contractor documentation, and when you pay us. We may also receive relevant information from a parent or guardian, an instructor, RoadReady, Stripe, the Road Safety Authority (RSA), Revenue, insurers, professional advisers, public authorities or another person arranging a lesson for you.
4. Why we use personal data and our legal bases
| Purpose | Examples | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries and bookings | Responding to enquiries; arranging, changing and confirming lessons; managing pickup locations. | Steps before a contract; performance of a contract; legitimate interests. |
| Lesson delivery and records | Providing instruction, managing learner progress, recording EDT where applicable, safety and quality assurance. | Contract; legal obligation; legitimate interests. |
| Payments and accounts | Taking deposits and payments, issuing receipts, processing refunds, bookkeeping, tax and fraud prevention. | Contract; legal obligation; legitimate interests. |
| Customer communications | Operational calls, texts and emails; reminders; handling complaints and service updates. | Contract; legitimate interests; legal obligation where applicable. |
| Marketing and testimonials | Promotional messages, advertising audiences, reviews, photographs and pass stories. | Consent where required; otherwise legitimate interests for limited business promotion. You may opt out at any time. |
| Website and cookies | Operating and securing the site, remembering preferences, measuring use and running permitted advertising. | Legitimate interests for strictly necessary functions; consent for advertising and other non-essential cookies. |
| Workforce management | Recruitment, contracts, payroll, scheduling, training, safety, performance, insurance and regulatory compliance. | Contract; legal obligation; legitimate interests; explicit consent or employment/social-protection law where required for special-category data. |
| Legal and safety matters | Insurance, accident or incident handling, legal claims, safeguarding, fraud prevention and responding to authorities. | Legal obligation; legitimate interests; establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; vital interests in an emergency. |
5. Online bookings and card payments
Online bookings and deposits are provided through RoadReady at getmeroadready.ie. Card payments are processed using Stripe. When you use these services, information such as your contact details, booking selections, pickup location, payment amount, transaction status and technical data may be processed by RoadReady and Stripe. Payment-card credentials are entered into the payment service and are not stored by GDS.
RoadReady and Stripe may process personal data under their own privacy notices, including for account administration, payment authentication, fraud prevention, security and legal compliance. Their systems may process data outside Ireland or the European Economic Area subject to the safeguards described in their own notices.
6. Cookies and advertising technologies
Cookies and similar technologies are small files or identifiers used to operate websites and remember or understand visitor activity. We may use:
- Strictly necessary cookies for security, network management, bookings, payments and other services requested by you.
- Preference or functional cookies that remember choices and improve site features.
- Advertising or social-media technologies that help measure campaigns, limit repeated advertising or create audiences, but only after consent where the law requires it.
Our website currently sets no cookies of its own, and the only cookies used in the linked booking and payment flow are strictly necessary ones — so no consent banner is currently required. Our Cookie Policy lists every cookie currently in use, including each cookie's provider, purpose and duration.
If non-essential cookies are ever introduced, they will not be set before you have made a choice, and you will be able to accept, reject or change your choices through cookie controls on the site as well as by removing cookies in your browser. Rejecting non-essential cookies will not prevent access to the main website, although some optional features may work differently.
7. Who we share personal data with
We share only the information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose. Recipients may include:
- RoadReady and Stripe for bookings and payment processing.
- Assigned employees, trainees, contractors and driving instructors who need the information to arrange or deliver lessons.
- The RSA and its systems where required for EDT, instructor approval or other regulatory purposes.
- IT, website hosting, email, telecommunications, data-storage, accounting and professional-service providers acting under appropriate arrangements.
- Revenue, insurers, banks, auditors, legal advisers, An Garda Síochána, courts or other public bodies where required by law or reasonably necessary to protect rights and safety.
- A buyer, seller or adviser in connection with a genuine business reorganisation, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data-protection safeguards.
We do not sell personal data.
GDS keeps its material service-provider arrangements under review, including the personal data processed, each provider's role and processing location, and the contractual and transfer safeguards that apply.
8. International transfers
Some service providers may store or access personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA). If GDS determines or authorises a transfer, we will use a lawful transfer mechanism and appropriate safeguards. These may include an adequacy decision, approved standard contractual clauses and any additional safeguards required. An independent data controller explains its own transfer arrangements in its privacy notice. You may contact us for information about safeguards applying to transfers for which GDS is responsible.
9. How long we keep personal data
We retain personal data only for as long as needed for the purpose collected, including legal, tax, insurance, regulatory and claims requirements. Our normal guide is:
- Unsuccessful or inactive enquiries: normally up to 12 months after the last contact, unless needed for a complaint or legal matter.
- Customer, booking, lesson and financial transaction records: normally for the service period and up to 6 years afterwards where needed for tax, accounting, contract or legal-claim purposes.
- EDT and regulated training records: for the period required by the RSA or other applicable rules and for any related complaint or claim period.
- Marketing records: until consent is withdrawn or you opt out; suppression records may be retained so we can respect the opt-out.
- Recruitment records for applicants who are not hired: normally 12 months after the recruitment process, unless a different period is agreed or required.
- Employment, payroll, contractor and instructor records: for the engagement and normally up to 6 years afterwards, with certain health, pension, insurance, accident, safeguarding or legal records retained longer where required.
- Cookie information: for the duration shown in the Cookie Policy or until you delete the cookie, withdraw consent or it expires.
These periods are guidelines. A record may be deleted earlier if no longer needed or retained longer where a legal hold, complaint, insurance matter or statutory duty applies.
10. Children and young learners
Driving lessons may be provided to learners under 18. We use clear language and collect only information needed to arrange and deliver training safely and lawfully. Where appropriate, we may involve a parent or guardian in bookings, payments or communications, while recognising that a young person has their own data-protection rights. We do not knowingly use children's personal data for behavioural advertising without valid consent where consent is legally required.
11. Security
We use reasonable organisational and technical measures to protect personal data, including access controls, staff confidentiality, secure payment processing, device and account security, backups where appropriate, and procedures for handling incidents. No system is completely secure, but we review risks and limit access to those who need the information.
12. Your data-protection rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
- ask for access to your personal data and receive a copy;
- ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
- ask for deletion or restriction of processing;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing;
- receive certain information in a portable format;
- withdraw consent at any time, without affecting earlier lawful processing; and
- complain to the Data Protection Commission (DPC).
These rights are not absolute, and legal exemptions may apply. We may request information to verify your identity. To make a request, email Gerard.gartlan@hotmail.com or call 087 275 9482.
Data Protection Commission: www.dataprotection.ie · 6 Pembroke Row, Dublin 2, D02 X963, Ireland · 01 765 0100
13. Automated decisions
GDS does not make decisions about customers, learners, staff or instructors based solely on automated processing where the decision would have legal or similarly significant effects.
14. External links and social media
Our website links to RoadReady and social-media services such as Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. Those services control their own websites and privacy practices. Clicking a link or interacting with an external platform may allow that provider to collect data under its own privacy notice. A link does not mean that GDS controls the provider's processing.
15. Changes to this notice
This notice is available at www.gerrysdrivingschool.net with its effective date. We may update it when our services, suppliers or legal obligations change, and we will communicate material changes where appropriate.
16. Contact us
Privacy contact: Gerard Gartlan, Gerry's Driving School
Email: Gerard.gartlan@hotmail.com
Telephone: 087 275 9482
Location: Unit 6, Beagans, Newry Road, Dundalk, Co. Louth, A91N882
Website: www.gerrysdrivingschool.net
See also our Cookie Policy and Booking Terms, Cancellation & Refund Policy.