What do you get?

  • Elderly Bus Pass
  • Disabled Bus Pass*
Based on your age or disability you can check and apply if you are entitled to a free bus pass giving free off-peak travel. *Availability based on your local authority.

'Off-peak' is between 9.30am and 11pm Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on public holidays. Local authorities may offer further benefits to their residents, such as free travel outside off-peak times or reduced tram or rail travel. However, these will apply only for travel in the local area, not elsewhere in England.

If you are eligible by Age and your Local Authority subscribes to this e-registration service, you can register for a free bus pass directly from this site. Just enter your postcode and click "Next".

Am I Eligible?

Everyone who is eligible according to the guidelines set by the Department for Transport and Department for Work and Pensions is entitled to free off-peak local bus travel anywhere in England using a National Bus Pass.

Eligibility is no longer based on reaching the age of 60 years. The concession is now awarded in line with the pensionable age of woman, whether you are male or female.

You can check whether you are eligible by using the Direct Gov web site, simply click www.gov.uk.

If you are eligible by Age, just enter your postcode and click "Next".

Disabled Applications - Please note, not all Local Authorities use this online service. If you are not presented with an option to apply for a disabled persons bus pass after entering your postcode, please contact your Local Authority directly.

Apply online

To apply for your concession card, please input your postcode:

Unicard Limited Privacy Notice

Young person information

If you are under 16 and aren't sure on the meaning of any of the terms please ask your parent/guardian. We have included information marked <i> to help. We will need the consent of your parent or guardian where you are under 13 years of age to collect and use your personal data.

General statement

At Unicard Limited we take the protection of your personal data, including your sensitive data very seriously, (both terms are explained below in the section headed "The details"). In line with The General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act (2018) we believe in transparency and as such the following describes your personal data journey within the Unicard Limited environment.

Unicard act as a data processor on behalf of your local authority along with your specific local authority acting as the data controller to provide you with the ENCTS service. (English National Concessionary Travel Service).

It is important that you read this privacy notice when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your personal data.

<i> What is a Data Processor?

A data processor means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller. Processors act on behalf of the relevant controller and under their authority. In doing so, they serve the controller's interests rather than their own.

Although a processor may make its own day-to-day operational decisions, Article 29 says it should only process personal data in line with a controller's instructions, unless it is required to do otherwise by law.

If a processor acts without the controller's instructions in such a way that it determines the purpose and means of processing, including to comply with a statutory obligation, it will be a controller in respect of that processing and will have the same liability as a controller.

A processor can be a company or other legal entity (such as an incorporated partnership, incorporated association or public authority), or an individual, for example a consultant.

Controllers are the main decision-makers – they exercise overall control over the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.

If two or more controllers jointly determine the purposes and means of the processing of the same personal data, they are joint controllers. However, they are not joint controllers if they are processing the same data for different purposes.

The UK and EU GDPR, (our global standard of compliance) requires that a Controller must have a legal basis for processing Personal Data. More details are provided in the Schedule of Processing but, in most instances, our legal bases for processing your personal information are:

 (a) Your consent. You are able to withdraw your consent at any time. You can do this by
   contacting DPO@unicard-uk.com or your local authority you are applying with.
 (b) We have a contractual obligation.
 (c) We have a legal obligation.
 (d) We have a vital interest.
 (e) We need it to perform a public task.
 (f) We have a legitimate interest.

In some cases, we may process special category data. This is afforded some extra protection due to its sensitive nature, and therefore, under UK and EU GDPR we are required to provide a lawful basis for processing, and a secondary condition under Article 9. More details can be found within our Record of Processing Activities, but the conditions we may rely on are:

 (a) Explicit consent
 (b) Employment, social security and social protection (if authorised by law)
 (c) Vital interests
 (d) Not-for-profit bodies
 (e) Made public by the data subject
 (f) Legal claims or judicial acts
 (g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)
 (h) Health or social care (with a basis in law)
 (i) Public health (with a basis in law)
 (j) Archiving, research and statistics (with a basis in law).

Our contact details

Full name: Unicard Limited

Address:
Peartree Business Centre,
Cobham Road, Wimborne,
Dorset BH21 7PT

Our Data Protection Officer can be reached by calling 01202 850810 and asking for the DPO or by emailing  dpo@unicard-uk.com. Should you have any queries or wish to exercise any of your rights (which are explained below) please email and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you are contacting us in regards to your application process unfortunately we do not manage this directly and are unable to assist, you will need to contact your local authority directly.

The details

<i> What's personal/sensitive data and what's a data field?

Personal data is "any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person".

This means that if information can be used to identify you it is personal, this includes your name, your date of birth, but also IP addresses. Special category data (also known as Sensitive data) includes sexual orientation, religious beliefs, information about your health and biometric data. This data can be 'direct' or 'indirect' identification. This means if a work title could describe someone, e.g. The CEO of Sizzle Bank, it can be classed as Personal Data, if there is only one CEO of Sizzle Bank.

Any area where we ask you to enter information can be described as a data field.

data field

This is an example of a data field

How do we collect your personal data?

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

Direct interactions: By you filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you apply for our products or services, create an account with us, request marketing to be sent to you or give us some feedback.

Automated technologies or interactions: We may automatically collect technical data about your equipment and actions when you interact with us as part of our services, such as through an app or using any electronic card we have provided.

Where do we store this personal data?

All personal data is stored in secure data centres in the UK within a database unique to individual clients/authorities. Before being placed into this central database your personal data could be kept in other secure databases or files at the same location whilst we or your local authority check it is correct. Data will be backed up at additional UK data centres using secure replication technologies.

<i> What's a Data Centre and Replication?

A data centre is a collection of servers (computers) hosted in a secure site, replication means information is copied securely from one place to another via encrypted methods.

Who do we share this personal data with?

Your personal data is shared with the Data Controllers specified above, Microsoft, (for email storage should you contact us) Euclid (production of physical card media), Experian, (used for identity verification) and NMI. (Network Merchants – our payment provider, if your local authority utilises payment for replacement cards).

We use secure data transfer protocols to pass data between systems including TLS (transport layer security) for emails. To comply with legal or government regulations we may send your personal data elsewhere, this could include government or anti-fraud agencies. However, this transfer will be encrypted and secured.

We are fully GDPR compliant and will only share your personal data with third parties who are necessary to the provision of the service and are held to the same high standards and legal requirements. We will not sell, transfer, or merge parts of your data with any business. In the event we seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy notice, subject to the same legal limitations.

Your Journey information will be logged in a separate system which is controlled and managed by your local authority. This is used for reimbursement from bus operators as part of the ENCTS scheme. (English National Concessionary Travel Service) This data will not contain any personal or sensitive information.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

Please see the link for your local authority’s own privacy statement below at the bottom of this page otherwise please visit your local authority’s website or contact them directly for more information.

What gives us the right to process this personal data?

We process this information to comply with our clients' (including local authorities) contractual obligations to you. We may also process the data if we have a legal or regulatory obligation to do so (for example if we are required to pass on your personal data to the police authorities) or we have a legitimate obligation to process your personal data and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. Generally, we do not rely on consent other than in relation to sending marketing communications to you. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us.

If you are under the age of 16 consent will be sought from the person(s) with parental responsibility for you.

<i> What does process data mean?

Process means any action we undertake with your personal data, including collecting, storing, transferring and recording this data.

How long will we hold on to your personal data?

Any personal data that we collect through our systems and has passed our verification checks will be held for 3 months in the verification databases before being added to the unique central database. Once the data has been added to the unique central database it will be deleted from the verification database.

Data held within the unique central database will be processed in accordance with the contract you have in place with the data controller listed above (and held for the time they have told you).

Data that does not pass our verification checks will be held for up to 6 months to allow us to carry out troubleshooting and for further checks. Should these additional checks fail it will be deleted and not be transferred into the central database. If the data passes the further checks then it will be transferred into the central database.

Data may be kept for a longer period than the time we have set out above if we are required to keep it for combatting fraud, it relates to a legal case or claim, we are under instruction from police authorities to keep hold of the data or we have any other legal or contractual obligation to keep hold of the data.

Why do we gather the following personal data and is it compulsory?

Any field that is marked as 'not required' is not compulsory and you can leave it unselected, however if you choose to select or enter a value this will be treated as freely given consent and we can process this information for you. Should you wish to change this later you will be permitted to do so.

Title

This data is gathered to personalise our communications with you.

Your Name (First, Last and Other)

This data is gathered to check your identity and personalise our communications with you.

Gender

This data is gathered to provide statistical analysis (legitimate interest) and for anti-fraud reasons. This is not related to your sexual orientation but how you identify yourself.

DOB (Date of Birth)

This data is gathered to check your identity, to ensure that we comply with our requirements in relation to children under the GDPR and to check your eligibility to use certain age restricted products.

Address (including Post Code)

This data is gathered to check your identity, to allow us to deliver certain products and to check your eligibility for certain location-based services and products.

Email Address

This data is gathered to check your identity, to personalise our communications with you and to allow us or the Data Controller listed above to contact you (this will be done when you have requested it or to provide the services you have requested from us to you, including allowing you access to the web-based platforms and for security).

National Insurance Number

This data is gathered to check your identity and for anti-fraud reasons. We have a legal requirement to collect and check this information when providing some of our services.

Home/Mobile Phone

This data is gathered to personalise our communications with you and to allow us to contact you to help troubleshoot any issues you might be having or (if you gave us your permission) for the Data Controller listed above to contact you to promote other products or services that they think might be of interest to you.

Ethnicity

This data is gathered as part of the National Fraud Initiative. This information is a legal requirement for councils in order to complete the National Fraud Initiative survey which is a requirement of UK law.

Type of Disability

This data is gathered to check your eligibility for certain products.

Secret Word/Question

This data is gathered to provide added security. It should not be something personal or sensitive. Please try to avoid using any details that might be easily guessed by other people.

Method of communication/Contact for marketing

This is where you can tell us if we or the Data Controller listed above can contact you and if so how we or they should do it.

Photograph

This data is gathered to check your identity, in order that we can provide the services you have requested and for anti-fraud reasons.

IP Address

Please see our cookies policy for further information.

How do we look after your personal data?

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to;

Authorised local authority employees - only employees under your specific local authority for the purpose of managing your application process.

Authorised Unicard employees - for direct technical support of system related issues or queries raised from your local authority.

All authorised parties will only process and or access your personal data for the use of providing this service, in doing so are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify the joint data controller, you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

Changes to your personal data

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep your local authority informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

Changes to the purpose for which we use your personal data

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collect it, as joint data controllers with your local authority we have a legal obligation to ensure that this data is not used for any other reason outside of this service. If for any reason you feel this is not being followed you will need to raise this with your local authority in the first instance.

If, however we have been instructed by your local authority to use your personal data for an alternate mandatory purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

Your legal rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. You have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
  • Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. We may need to check the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
  • Request the erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
  • Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.
  • Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios: (a) if you want us to establish the data's accuracy; (b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your personal data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
  • Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
  • Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us. The details are set out above in the section headed "Our Contact Details". If you are contacting us in regards to your application process unfortunately we do not manage this directly and are unable to assist, you will need to contact your local authority directly.

By continuing you agree for Unicard Ltd and any legal subsidiary to process your personal and or sensitive data in line with our Privacy Notice