Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal information startLdrive collects when you use our website and platform, how we use and share it, and the choices and rights you have. We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

1. Who is responsible

startLdrive is the entity responsible for the personal information described here. Contact us about privacy through our contact form.

2. Information we collect

You give us

• Account details — name, email, phone number, password (stored hashed), and role (learner or instructor).
• Booking details — pick-up/drop-off address, lesson notes, target test date, and for instructors: qualifications, licence and background-check documents, vehicle details, coverage area, pricing and availability.
• Payment details — your card details are entered directly into Stripe, our payment processor, and never pass through our own servers. We receive confirmation of payment and limited transaction metadata (such as amount and date) from Stripe; we do not store your card number.
• Instructor bank details — the account name, BSB and account number an instructor gives us so we can pay them. The account number is stored encrypted, shown only as its last three digits, and used only to prepare payments to that instructor through our bank.
• Content — reviews, messages and support enquiries you send.

We collect automatically

• Usage data — pages viewed, searches (including the postcode/area you search), device and browser type, and approximate location derived from your IP address. Our visitor statistics run on our own server (Umami, self-hosted), set no cookies, are not shared with any advertising network, and don’t identify you.
• Cookies — a session cookie to keep you logged in, and functional preferences. On the Australian site that includes which state you’re viewing instructors for, worked out from your approximate location on your first visit using a lookup that runs on our own server against a local database; your IP address itself is not stored or shared. See our Cookie notice.

3. How we use it

• To create and run your account and show you relevant Instructors.
• To take bookings and payments, and to pass the details an Instructor needs to deliver your lesson (your name, contact number, pick-up address and lesson notes).
• To send booking confirmations, reminders, changes and other service messages.
• To publish reviews you choose to submit.
• To provide support, prevent fraud and misuse, keep the Platform secure, and meet legal obligations.
• To understand and improve how the Platform is used, in aggregate.

4. Why we are permitted to handle it

We collect, use and disclose personal information for the purposes above, which are related to providing the marketplace and the bookings you request, and for directly related purposes you would reasonably expect. We only use it for direct marketing where you would expect it or have agreed, and every marketing message includes an opt-out.

5. Who we share it with

• Instructors — the booking details they need for a lesson you book with them. Instructors must use that information only to deliver the lesson.
• Learners — an Instructor’s public profile (name, photo, area, ratings, price) is visible to anyone; their exact contact details are shared only once a booking is made.
• Service providers — hosting, database and email delivery under contracts that limit them to processing on our instructions, and Stripe for payment processing (Stripe acts as an independent controller/processor of your payment data under its own privacy policy, since it also uses it for fraud prevention across its network).
• Legal — where required by law, to enforce our Terms, or to protect the safety or rights of users.

We do not sell personal information.

6. Overseas disclosure

Our infrastructure is hosted in Australia. Some service providers (payment processing via Stripe, email delivery) process data on servers outside Australia as part of their global operations. Where that happens we rely on contractual protections and take reasonable steps to ensure an equivalent standard of protection.

7. How long we keep it

We keep account and booking records for as long as your account is active and then for a reasonable period afterwards to handle disputes, meet our own tax and accounting record-keeping obligations (generally 5 years, per the ATO's standard record-keeping period), and defend legal claims. We then delete or anonymise it. You can ask us to close your account and delete your data (see below).

8. Security

We use measures appropriate to the risk — encryption in transit, hashed passwords, encryption of instructors’ bank account numbers, access controls, and restricted internal access. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your data and creates a real risk to you, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as required.

9. Your rights

You can ask us to:

• give you access to the personal information we hold about you;
• correct information that is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete;
• close your account and delete information we are not required to keep.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle a privacy request or complaint, you can contact the OAIC (oaic.gov.au).

10. Children

Learners aged 16 or 17 use the Platform with a parent or guardian’s consent. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you believe we have, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes

We may update this policy. If a change is significant we will give notice by email or an on-site notice. The “last updated” date above always shows the current version.

12. Contact

Privacy questions or requests: send them through our contact form.