Active School Travel Survey: Privacy notice

In line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we need to let you know how your information will be processed. In this privacy notice, we explain the legal basis for data processing, who will have access to your personal data, how your data will be used, stored and deleted, how to withdraw from the survey, and whom you can contact with a query or a complaint.

About the survey

ATE has asked the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to carry out an independent survey to see how well different activities help school children walk, wheel and cycle more. Others in the Evaluation Team are Sheffield Hallam University, Mosodi and WPI Economics. The survey will run from May 2026 to August 2026. You can find out more about NatCen at natcen.ac.uk/ActiveSchoolTravel

What is the lawful basis for processing this data?

ATE is an executive agency of the Department for Transport (DfT). For the purposes of the UK GDPR, the Department for Transport is the Data Controller for this evaluation. This means that they are responsible for deciding the purpose and lawful basis for processing personal data from this survey. NatCen is the Data Processor. This means NatCen processes personal data on behalf of the Department for Transport and follows their instructions about how the data should be handled. The lawful basis for processing personal data from this survey is ‘public task’: Article 6 (1)(e) the processing is necessary for the Data Controller to perform a task in the public interest or for their official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.

What personal data will be processed?

Personal data processed in this evaluation will include:

  • Names and contact details of schools in England
  • Survey data collected from parents/carers by NatCen via online surveys
  • Survey participants can choose to provide their email addresses. These would be used only for the purpose of sharing the results of the survey or inviting you to take part in future research. We will not use email addresses for research purposes.

What personal data will not be processed?

  • Names of children  
  • Names of parents/carers 

Special category personal data  

Special category data is personal data that needs more protection because it is sensitive. In order to lawfully process special category data, the Data Controller must identify both a lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR and a separate condition for processing under Article 9. The special category data we will be processing in the course of this survey is (1) ethnic background and (2) health conditions or disabilities. The lawful basis for processing special category data on this project is public task, and the condition under Article 9 (g): reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law). Without collecting this data, we cannot look at whether the benefits of active travel are received by everyone.  Even though the lawful basis for processing special category data on this survey is public task, consent will be sought from parents/carers and pupils before any data collection from them takes place. In addition, participants will be able to skip any questions that they do not wish to answer. 

Who will have access to personal data?

Only the NatCen researchers listed in the project’s Data Security Plan will be allowed to access personal information from this evaluation.

How your personal data will be used, stored and deleted

Personal data collected as part of this evaluation will only be used for research purposes and processed in accordance with the UK GDPR. Data collected through the survey will be analysed by the research teams at NatCen and ATE.

No pupil, parent/carer, or school will be named or identified in any reports from this survey. Your school will not be able to see your answers.

If you provide your name or contact details, these will be removed and held separately from your survey responses and will not be used for research purposes. Data are combined before reporting to ensure no-one is identifiable.

The information you give will be treated as confidential as directed by the Code of Practice for Statistics. Data collected will be stored securely on NatCen's and ATE’s secure computer systems in line with UK GDPR and DPA 2018. 

NatCen will permanently delete any personal data within 12 months after the final stage of the evaluation project, which is expected to complete by December 2027.

ATE will retain the survey data for 5 years, to allow for comparison over time or follow up questions related to evaluating active school travel interventions. After that any personal data will be deleted. 

Withdrawing from the survey

You can stop taking part in the survey at any time. If you do, we will not collect any more information from you. If we can, we will also delete any personal details we have that haven’t already been made anonymous.

Your school will not know whether you have taken part. As a result, you may receive occasional reminder emails sent by your school.

If you wish to withdraw from the survey after taking part, please contact NatCen by telephone on 0808 168 1356 or via ASTSurvey@natcen.ac.uk.

Your data protection rights

Under GDPR, you have the right:

  • to ask ATE for access to information about you that we or they hold
  • to have your personal data rectified, if it is inaccurate or incomplete
  • to request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing
  • to restrict processing of your personal data (i.e. permitting its storage but no further processing) 

Whom to contact with a query or a complaint

If you would like to know more about the survey, please contact the NatCen Evaluation Team on 0808 168 1356 or via ASTSurvey@natcen.ac.uk

For more information about how ATE processes your personal data, how to complain, or how to contact the DfT Data Protection Officer, view our Personal Information Charter. Please include the name of this project (Active School Travel Survey) in your correspondence. 

Further information on the rights available to you is also available from the Information Commissioner’s Office - the independent body responsible for regulating data protection within the UK. They can also deal with any complaints you may have regarding our use of your data:

  • Tel: 0303 123 1113
  • Website: www.ico-org.uk
  • Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Last updated

We may need to update this privacy notice periodically, so we recommend that you revisit this information from time to time. This version was last updated in April 2026 and will be reviewed as necessary during the course of the evaluation but annually as a minimum.