Privacy

LWM Digital - Scholar Ticketing

This Privacy Policy explains how LWM Digital collects, uses, stores and protects personal data when parents, guardians, passengers, schools, transport operators and authorised users use our school bus ticketing portal.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using the ticketing portal, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

1. Definitions

In this policy:

• “Account” means an account created by a parent, guardian, school, transport operator or authorised user.
• “Child Profile” means a profile created for a child or passenger who requires a school bus ticket or travel pass.
• “Parent” or “Guardian” means the person creating an account and managing a child profile or ticket purchase.
• “Passenger” means the child or person the ticket or pass is issued to.
• “Ticket” means a digital or printed school bus ticket, pass or entitlement.
• “Transport Operator” means the organisation operating the school bus or transport service.
• “We”, “Us” or “Our” means LWM Digital.

2. Information About Us

The ticketing portal is operated by LWM Digital.

Email: Contact@LWM.Digital

3. What This Policy Covers

This Privacy Policy applies to the LWM Digital - Scholar Ticketing and related ticketing services.

It covers personal data provided by parents, guardians, passengers, schools, transport operators and authorised users when creating accounts, managing child profiles, buying tickets, uploading photographs or using the portal.

4. What Personal Data Is

Personal data means information that can identify a person directly or indirectly. This may include names, contact details, photographs, online identifiers, ticket details and travel information.

5. Information We Collect

Depending on how the portal is used, we may collect the following information:

5.1 Parent or Guardian Account Information

• Name
• Email address
• Account login details
• Billing or payment-related information
• Support messages or correspondence

5.2 Child or Passenger Profile Information

• Child or passenger name
• School or education setting
• Year group or class information, where required
• Home area, boarding stop or selected bus stop
• Bus route, service or journey details
• Photograph for identification purposes
• Ticket, pass or entitlement details
• Any other information needed to provide the transport ticketing service

5.3 Ticket and Usage Information

• Tickets purchased or issued
• Ticket start and expiry dates
• Ticket status, such as active, expired, cancelled or refunded
• Ticket scan or validation records
• Date, time, location, route, vehicle or service information linked to ticket use, where applicable

5.4 Technical Information

• IP address
• Browser type and version
• Device and operating system information
• Pages visited
• Date and time of access
• Security, diagnostic and error logs

6. How We Collect Data

We collect data in the following ways:

• When a parent or guardian creates an account
• When a child or passenger profile is created or updated
• When a photograph is uploaded
• When a ticket is purchased, issued, renewed, cancelled or refunded
• When a ticket is scanned or checked
• When a user contacts us for support
• Automatically when the portal is accessed or used

7. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data to:

• Create and manage parent or guardian accounts
• Create and manage child or passenger profiles
• Issue, renew and manage school bus tickets or passes
• Verify passenger identity using uploaded photographs
• Allow tickets to be checked or scanned by authorised users
• Process ticket purchases, refunds and payment records
• Provide information about school transport services
• Contact users about tickets, service changes, renewals or support matters
• Prevent fraud, misuse or unauthorised access
• Maintain security and service reliability
• Comply with legal, tax, accounting and regulatory obligations

8. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for using personal data. The lawful bases we may rely on include:

• Contract – where processing is necessary to provide ticketing services requested by you.
• Legitimate interests – where processing is necessary to operate, secure and improve the portal, prevent misuse, manage tickets and support transport services.
• Legal obligation – where we must keep records or share information to comply with the law.
• Consent – where consent is required, such as optional communications or where a parent or guardian provides certain child information.

For children’s data, we take additional care and only process information that is necessary for school transport ticketing, identification, safeguarding, administration or service delivery.

9. Children’s Data

The portal is intended to be used by parents, guardians, schools, transport operators and authorised users. Children should not create accounts unless specifically permitted by the service and authorised by a parent, guardian or responsible organisation.

Parents and guardians are responsible for ensuring that information they provide about a child is accurate and that they have authority to provide it.

We do not knowingly collect children’s personal data directly from children without appropriate authority.

10. Photos and Identification

Photographs uploaded to the portal are used for identification, ticket checking, pass management, fraud prevention and safeguarding purposes.

Photos are not made publicly available. They may be visible only to authorised users who need access to provide, manage or check the ticketing service, such as transport operators, drivers, ticket inspectors, school administrators or support staff.

11. Payments

Where payments are made through the portal, payment processing may be handled by a third-party payment provider.

We may store transaction records, ticket purchase history, invoice records, payment status and refund information. We do not store full payment card details unless explicitly stated by the payment provider.

12. Who We Share Data With

We may share personal data with:

• Transport operators providing the school bus service
• Schools, colleges or authorised education providers where required
• Drivers, ticket inspectors or authorised staff who need to check tickets
• Payment processors
• Hosting, IT, support and maintenance providers
• Regulatory authorities, law enforcement or public bodies where required by law

We do not sell personal data.

13. Data Retention

We only keep personal data for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

Typical retention periods are:

• Parent or guardian account data: retained while the account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards for support, legal or audit purposes.
• Child profile and ticket data: retained while tickets are active and for a reasonable period after expiry for administration, safeguarding, dispute resolution or audit purposes.
• Ticket scan or validation records: retained for a limited period needed for service operation, fraud prevention, safeguarding and dispute handling.
• Payment and transaction records: retained as required for accounting, tax and legal purposes.
• Technical logs: retained for a limited period for security, diagnostics and fraud prevention.

Where data is deleted, it may remain in backups or archives for a limited period before being permanently removed.

14. How We Store and Protect Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including:

• Secure hosting and server controls
• Encrypted connections where available
• Password-protected accounts
• Access controls and user permissions
• Role-based access for authorised users
• Security logging and monitoring
• Procedures for dealing with suspected data breaches

No online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure.

15. International Transfers

Where possible, personal data is stored and processed within the United Kingdom or European Economic Area.

If personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place as required by data protection law.

16. Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have the following rights:

• The right to be informed about how your data is used
• The right to access personal data we hold about you
• The right to have inaccurate data corrected
• The right to request deletion of your data
• The right to restrict processing
• The right to object to processing
• The right to data portability
• The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
• Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling

We do not use personal data for automated decision-making or profiling that has legal or similarly significant effects.

17. Accessing Your Personal Data

You can ask us for a copy of the personal data we hold about you. This is known as a subject access request.

Requests should be made in writing using the contact details in this policy.

We will usually respond within one month. If a request is complex, we may take longer as permitted by law.

18. Marketing

We may contact users with important service messages relating to accounts, tickets, renewals, safety, transport changes or support matters.

We will only send direct marketing where permitted by law. Where consent is required, we will ask for consent and provide a way to opt out.

19. Cookies

The portal may use cookies or similar technologies to:

• Keep users signed in
• Maintain security
• Remember preferences
• Improve portal performance
• Understand how the portal is used

Some cookies are strictly necessary for the portal to work. You can control cookies through your browser settings, but disabling some cookies may prevent parts of the portal from working correctly.

20. Third-Party Links

The portal may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security or content of those websites.

21. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle personal data, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

22. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on the portal and will take effect when published.

Last updated: 5 May 2026

23. Contact Us

To contact us about this Privacy Policy, data protection, or to make a subject access request, please use:

Email: Contact@LWM.Digital