Privacy & cookies
If you need to contact the Privacy team or submit a request, please use the relevant form on our Access Your Data page or email DPO@tfl.gov.uk. There can sometimes be delays in receiving post.
Who we are and what we do
We sometimes need to collect your personal information so that we can provide you with the full range of our services, operate London's transport network effectively and carry out our statutory functions. Here, we outline our obligations and your rights under the data protection legislation, which regulates the use of personal information by all private and public sector organisations.
TfL is a statutory body created by the Greater London Authority (GLA) Act 1999. The GLA Act gives the Mayor of London a general duty to develop and apply policies to promote and encourage safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport facilities and services to, from and within London. This is known as the 'General Transport Duty'. The Mayor delegates this duty to TfL to carry out on their behalf, together with the implementation of the Mayor's Transport Strategy.
Why we handle personal information
Under data protection legislation, TfL is only allowed to use personal information if we have a proper reason or 'legal basis' to do so. In most cases, our handling of your personal information will be necessary for the delivery of the Mayor's Transport Strategy and the statutory functions described above.
Depending on the TfL product or service you use or sign up for, there may be another legal basis that makes the handling of your personal information lawful. You should refer to the menu of privacy pages on this page for more information.
TfL website
Our website privacy statement and Cookies page explain:
- What information we may collect about you online
- How we will use the information collected
- How we protect the information you give us
- The use of web beacons
- The use of cookies and how to manage them
TfL services
If you are asked to provide information when applying for, or using, specific TfL services (eg the Zip Oyster photocard or Santander Cycles schemes) these pages outline how we use and protect this information.
Service messages and marketing
If you are currently receiving service messages or marketing communications from TfL and no longer wish to do so, please let us know by emailing unsubscribe@tfl.gov.uk.
If you are receiving marketing emails as a business contact, we rely on the 'legitimate interests' processing condition to contact you based on our previous engagement, or consent if you have signed up via our registration form. If you would like to unsubscribe from these messages, please email CommercialMediaandPartnerships@tfl.gov.uk.
Please note on some occasions there are some service messages that we are obliged to send, regardless of your contact preferences. For example, these include emails regarding purchases or other financial transactions you've made and important account updates where you have created an online account or downloaded an app.
Sharing personal information
We do not sell your personal information to anyone. We don't share your personal information with any third parties unless they are providing services to us under contract or disclosure is permitted by, or required by, law. Please refer to the menu of privacy pages on this page for more information.
Third-party sites
Our website contains links to sites owned and operated by third parties. They have their own privacy policies, and we urge you to review them before browsing those sites. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of such third-party websites and your use of such websites is at your own risk.
Protecting your personal information
Your privacy is very important to TfL, and we take all necessary measures to ensure your personal information is properly protected and secured. This includes having appropriate technical and organisational arrangements to secure your information. TfL will never send an unsolicited message asking you to provide your password, financial details or other sensitive information by email or through a link.
Current projects
Google Street View
TfL are currently working with Google to deliver Street View in Stations. This project aims to provide TfL customers with additional journey planning support and digital wayfinding to improve the travel experience. More details on this work can be found in the press release.
From November 2023, Google will be filming at approximately thirty stations. TfL customers will be informed in advance, and on the day, that filming will be taking place. During filming, images of TfL customers may be captured by Google cameras as they map a station. Google will use its blurring technology on the imagery, which is designed to automatically blur identifiable faces before publication on Google's Street View. Google has a process where additional blurring can be requested.
Google is the data controller and is therefore responsible for the collection of the images when filming, and the blurring of identifiable faces before footage is made public. However, our decision to allow Google to film on the network was subject to a data protection impact assessment.
The TfL Privacy and Data Protection team considers and coordinates responses to requests and complaints from people whose personal data is processed by TfL and its subsidiary companies. If you have any requests and complaints relating to the footage that Google will collect during this filming please contact Google directly. For more information visit google.com/streetview
E-scooter trial
TfL are currently working with London Councils and some London boroughs to deliver a rental e-scooter trial for London. The trial began on 7 June 2021 and was originally set to run for at least 12 months, with three e-scooter operators taking part. The trial was initially extended for 6 months, up to November 2022. However, in line with the Department for Transport's move to allow e-scooter trials to extend until May 2024, TfL have extended the trial in London until May 2024, and have procured three operators to continue the trial from September 2023. More details can be found in the current press release.
Operators will be sharing data with us throughout the trial period. This will include data relating to the location of vehicles, trips taken, user and usage information (including surveys), safety and incident reporting, environment and sustainability metrics, and education and outreach activities. Information shared with us will be used to ensure we can safely manage the trial, and support research, monitoring and evaluation.
Some of the data shared with TfL will have originally been provided by e-scooter hirers during their use of the operator's services and when responding to surveys. To ensure our approach to the collection of this data is appropriate we have carried out privacy assessments and have taken steps to ensure any personal information collected is limited, for example ensuring data is aggregated and depersonalised where possible. TfL will not use any data shared with us to identify specific individuals.
Data collected will also be shared with London Councils and London boroughs, and TfL has a contract with a third-party service provider for the delivery of a data platform to store some of the data.
Under privacy and data protection legislation TfL is only allowed to use personal information if we have a proper reason or 'legal basis' to do so. Our 'legal basis' here is our statutory and public functions to undertake activities to promote and encourage safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport facilities and services, and to deliver the Mayor's Transport Strategy.
Data collected will not be held for longer than is necessary for the purposes we have obtained it for.
The TfL Privacy and Data Protection team considers and coordinate responses to requests and complaints from anyone whose personal data is processed by TfL. You can contact the Data Protection Officer by email at DPO@tfl.gov.uk. Find out more at Your information rights.