Privacy Policy

Tailwind Driver Training Academy Pty Ltd.

Effective date: 20 August 2024

Last updated: 9 August 2026

Registered entity name: Tailwind Driver Training Academy Pty Ltd.

ABN: 74 680 099 674

Privacy at a glance: We collect only the information reasonably needed to provide and improve driving lessons, administer bookings and payments, communicate with customers, keep people and property safe, and meet legal obligations. Our training vehicle uses front-facing, rear-facing and in-cabin video recording. We do not sell personal information.

Who we are and scope

Tailwind Driver Training Academy Pty Ltd (ABN 74 680 099 674) (“Tailwind”, “we”, “us” or “our”) provides driver training and related services in New South Wales. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information when you use our website, make an enquiry or booking, attend a lesson or driving test, communicate with us, interact with our social media pages, or otherwise use our services.

We aim to handle personal information consistently with applicable Australian privacy, surveillance, marketing and record-keeping requirements. Even where the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) does not apply to a particular activity because of the small-business exemption, we intend to follow the practices described in this policy as a matter of good privacy practice.

Personal information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

Identity and contact information, such as your name, date of birth or age range, email address, telephone number and residential suburb.
Booking and service information, such as lesson dates and times, selected services or packages, pickup and drop-off locations, availability, booking history, cancellations and attendance.
Driver and training information, such as learner or driver licence details where reasonably required, licence type, driving experience, test date and location, training goals, lesson notes, progress, manoeuvres practised and instructor feedback.
Parent, guardian or emergency-contact details where relevant, including for a learner under 18 or where a safety contact is reasonably required.
Payment and transaction information, such as amounts paid, refunds, invoices, payment status and limited payment identifiers. Full card details are generally collected and processed by our payment provider rather than stored by Tailwind.
Communications and customer-service records, including emails, SMS, telephone notes, chat or WhatsApp messages, enquiries, feedback, complaints and survey responses.
Images, testimonials and social-media content that you submit or authorise us to use.
Dashcam and safety information, including front-road, rear-road and in-cabin video footage, time and date, and information connected with an incident. Audio is not intentionally recorded unless we separately notify affected people and recording is permitted by law.
Website and device information, such as IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, referring links, approximate location derived from an IP address, cookie identifiers and interaction data.
Any other information you choose to provide, including information about accessibility, anxiety, language or learning needs. Please provide only information that is relevant to your training and safety.

We generally do not need sensitive information. If you voluntarily provide health or other sensitive information relevant to safe instruction, we will handle it with additional care and use it only for the purpose for which it was provided or as otherwise permitted by law.

How we collect and hold information

We usually collect personal information directly from you through our website, booking forms, customer account, telephone, email, SMS, chat, WhatsApp, social media, payment process, lessons, driving tests, surveys and other interactions. We may also receive information from a parent or guardian, a person making a booking for you, an instructor, a referral partner, or a service provider involved in your booking or payment. If someone gives us information about another person, they should have authority to do so and should make this policy available to that person.

Information may be held in our website and booking system, customer communications, accounting and payment records, instructor records, secured devices, cloud services and recording storage. We take reasonable steps to restrict access to people who need the information for their work.

Why we collect, use and disclose information

We may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to:

respond to enquiries and create or manage customer accounts;
schedule, deliver, tailor and evaluate driving lessons and test-day services;
confirm identity or licence information where reasonably necessary;
manage pickup and drop-off arrangements and contact a learner, parent, guardian or emergency contact;
process payments, invoices, package credits, cancellations and refunds;
send booking confirmations, reminders, safety messages and other service communications;
maintain lesson, business, taxation, insurance, complaint and incident records;
protect the safety, security and legal rights of learners, instructors, passengers, road users and Tailwind;
investigate incidents, complaints, disputes, suspected fraud, damage or unlawful activity;
improve our website, services, training methods and customer experience;
request feedback and, with permission, publish testimonials, photographs or success stories;
send marketing where we have consent or are otherwise permitted to do so;
comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from regulators, police, courts, insurers or other authorised bodies; and
carry out a business sale, restructure or transfer, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal safeguards.

If we need to use personal information for a materially different purpose, we will seek consent where required or ensure another lawful basis applies.

Learners under 18

Many learner drivers are under 18. We collect only information reasonably needed to arrange and provide the service and to support safety. A parent or guardian may make a booking, pay, provide contact details or communicate with us on the learner’s behalf. We may communicate directly with a young learner about lessons and safety and may also communicate relevant booking, payment, safety, progress or incident information to the parent or guardian involved in the service.

We consider the learner’s age, maturity and circumstances when handling requests or consents. Where consent is required and the learner may not have capacity to provide it, we may seek consent from a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly use a young learner’s image, testimonial or dashcam footage for public marketing without specific permission appropriate to the circumstances, including parent or guardian permission where required.

Dashcam and vehicle recording

Our training vehicle is equipped with cameras that record the road in front of the vehicle, the area behind the vehicle and the vehicle cabin. Recording may occur during driving lessons, test-day services and other operation of the vehicle.

We use dashcam footage for legitimate safety and operational purposes, including:

promoting the safety and security of learners, instructors, passengers, road users and property;
reviewing and investigating collisions, near misses, complaints, disputes, allegations, damage, threats or other incidents;
supporting an insurance claim or responding to a lawful request;
instructor quality assurance or training, using only the minimum footage reasonably necessary; and
establishing, exercising or defending legal rights.

Dashcam footage is not routinely reviewed and is not used for public advertising, social media or learner success stories without separate, specific consent. We restrict access to authorised people and disclose footage only where reasonably necessary—for example, to the learner or their authorised representative, an insurer, legal adviser, police, regulator, court, emergency service or relevant service provider—or where required or permitted by law. Requests for footage are assessed case by case, taking into account the privacy and safety of other people shown in the recording.

Recordings may be overwritten automatically in the ordinary course. We retain an incident-related clip only for as long as reasonably required for the incident, claim, complaint, legal matter, safety review or applicable record-keeping obligation, then securely delete it when it is no longer needed. You should tell us promptly if you believe footage relating to an incident should be preserved.

Important recording choice: If Tailwind enables cabin audio now or later, obtain specific NSW legal advice and update this policy, vehicle notice and booking consent before recording conversations. Audio creates additional listening-device obligations beyond video recording.

Service communications and marketing

We may contact you by email, telephone, SMS, chat or WhatsApp about an enquiry, booking, payment, cancellation, safety matter or another aspect of the service. These operational messages are not marketing and may still be sent where needed to provide the service.

We will send promotional email or SMS messages only where we have consent or are otherwise permitted by law. Marketing messages will identify Tailwind and provide a clear way to unsubscribe. You may opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe facility or contacting us. We will action electronic-marketing unsubscribe requests within the period required by law. Opting out of marketing does not prevent essential service communications.

When we share personal information

We do not sell personal information. We may disclose personal information to:

instructors, employees and contractors who need it to provide or administer the service;
website hosting, booking, customer-management, communications, cloud-storage, analytics and IT providers;
payment processors, banks, accounting platforms, accountants and professional advisers;
a parent, guardian, authorised representative, emergency contact or person who made the booking, where appropriate;
insurers, roadside or emergency services, lawyers, regulators, law-enforcement agencies, courts and dispute-resolution bodies;
referral or replacement instructors, but only with the learner’s agreement and only to the extent needed to arrange the service; and
a prospective purchaser or successor if the business is restructured, sold or transferred, subject to appropriate safeguards.

Our current service environment may include Wix for the website, bookings and customer communications; payment providers such as Square or payment options made available through Wix; Intuit QuickBooks for accounting; and messaging or marketing providers such as Omnisend. Providers and features may change. Each provider handles information under its own terms and privacy practices as well as its agreement with Tailwind.

Overseas processing and storage

Some technology, payment, communications, analytics and cloud providers may store or process personal information outside Australia. Depending on the provider and service configuration, overseas locations may include the United States, countries in the European Economic Area and other locations used by the provider or its subcontractors. Because provider infrastructure can change, it may not always be practicable to identify every country.

Where applicable, we take reasonable steps appropriate to the circumstances when selecting and using service providers. By using our services, you acknowledge that overseas processing may occur; however, this acknowledgement does not limit any rights you have under applicable law.

Cookies, analytics and third-party links

Our website may use essential, functional, analytics and marketing cookies or similar technologies. These technologies help operate the site, remember preferences, understand performance and improve our services. You can control many cookies through browser settings and any cookie controls presented on the site, although disabling essential cookies may affect site functionality.

Our website may link to third-party websites or services. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, and we are not responsible for how they handle information outside our services.

Security, retention and deletion

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information. These may include access controls, account security, reputable service providers, secure payment processing, device protection, restricted recording access and secure disposal. No internet transmission or storage system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably needed for the purposes described in this policy, including to provide services, maintain business and taxation records, handle complaints or claims, protect legal rights and meet insurance or other legal requirements. Retention periods vary by record type. When information is no longer reasonably required, we take reasonable steps to delete, destroy or de-identify it, subject to backup cycles and legal holds.

Access and correction

You may ask to access personal information we hold about you or request that inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading information be corrected. Contact us using the details below and describe the information concerned. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

We will respond within a reasonable period. In some circumstances permitted by law, we may refuse access or limit what we provide—for example, where disclosure would unreasonably affect another person’s privacy or prejudice an investigation. If we refuse a request, we will explain the reason where required and available review or complaint options. We generally do not charge for making a request, but may charge a reasonable cost where permitted and notified in advance.

Privacy complaints and data breaches

If you have a privacy question or complaint, contact us and provide enough detail for us to understand the issue. We will acknowledge the complaint as soon as reasonably practicable, investigate it fairly and aim to provide an outcome within 30 days. If more time is needed, we will explain why and provide an updated timeframe.

If you are not satisfied with our response and the Privacy Act applies, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au. Other regulators or dispute-resolution options may also be available depending on the issue.

If we suspect a data breach, we will take reasonable steps to contain it, assess the risks and reduce potential harm. Where the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme or another notification requirement applies, we will notify affected people and the relevant regulator as required.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when our services, systems, providers or legal obligations change. The current version will be published on our website with its effective date and last-updated date. Material changes may also be communicated through an appropriate additional notice.

Contact details

Privacy Officer
Tailwind Driver Training Academy Pty Ltd
Email: info@tailwinddriving.com.au
Phone: 0411 449 797
Website: www.tailwinddriving.com.au