Privacy Policy - Stoke Newington Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Stoke Newington Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all customers of Stoke Newington Carpet Cleaners in the Stoke Newington area, including anyone who requests a quote, books a service, receives a service, or otherwise interacts with us in relation to carpet cleaning and related services.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is intended to help you understand what we do with your information and what rights you have over it.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Stoke Newington Carpet Cleaners is the data controller in respect of the personal data we collect and use for our own business purposes. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed when you engage our services.

We take privacy seriously and aim to ensure that any personal information we handle is limited to what is necessary for delivering our services and managing our business responsibly.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity information such as your name.
Contact information such as your address, phone number, and email address.
Service information such as details of the cleaning work requested, property access notes, preferred appointment times, and service history.
Payment information such as payment status, billing records, and transaction references. We do not usually store full card details where payment is processed securely by a payment provider.
Communication data such as emails, messages, call notes, and records of your enquiries or complaints.
Technical data such as basic website or device information if you contact us online, where applicable and permitted.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is absolutely necessary and you have provided it voluntarily or there is another lawful basis for processing. Special category data includes information about health, religion, ethnicity, political opinions, and similar sensitive data. We ask that you do not share such information unless it is relevant to your service and necessary.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide carpet cleaning and related services.
To arrange appointments and manage bookings.
To prepare quotes, estimates, and invoices.
To communicate with you about your service or enquiry.
To process payments and keep financial records.
To handle complaints, queries, and follow-up requests.
To maintain business records and improve our service quality.
To meet legal, accounting, and tax obligations.

We only use your data where we have a valid legal basis to do so. We do not sell personal data.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

Contract is used where processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, confirming appointments, delivering cleaning services, and managing payment.

Legal Obligation

We process certain data because we must comply with legal obligations, such as tax laws, accounting rules, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include managing customer relationships, handling operational administration, preventing fraud, improving services, and keeping appropriate business records. When relying on legitimate interests, we assess the impact on your privacy and ensure that processing is proportionate.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on consent, for example where you choose to receive certain types of marketing communication. If consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing Your Information and Processors

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These providers only process data according to our instructions and are required to keep it secure and confidential. Examples may include:

Payment service providers that process card or electronic payments securely.
Booking, scheduling, or customer management software providers.
IT, email, cloud storage, and system support providers.
Accountants or bookkeeping providers who help us manage financial records.
Waste disposal or operational partners if required to complete a service.

We may also share data with independent controllers where necessary, such as HM Revenue & Customs, insurers, legal advisers, or regulatory bodies. In such cases, those organisations are responsible for their own data handling.

We require third parties to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data. Where data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure suitable safeguards are in place in accordance with data protection law.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason we hold it.

Customer and service records: kept for a period necessary to manage the service relationship and respond to any follow-up queries or disputes.
Financial and tax records: kept for the period required by law, which is typically several years.
Communication records: kept for as long as needed to manage the customer relationship and resolve issues.
Marketing preferences: kept until you withdraw consent or object, where applicable.

When data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise disposed of in a safe manner.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions and exemptions, but we will always consider your request carefully.

Right of Access

You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how we use it.

Right to Rectification

You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.

Right to Erasure

In some cases, you can ask us to delete your personal data. This is not always possible where we must keep information for legal reasons.

Right to Restrict Processing

You can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.

Right to Object

You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. You also have the right to object to direct marketing at any time.

Right to Data Portability

Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.

Right to Withdraw Consent

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

To exercise your rights, you may make a request using the contact methods provided by us in our business records or service documents. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

8. Security of Your Data

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality practices, and careful management of third-party suppliers.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to reduce risks and respond appropriately if a data incident occurs.

9. Marketing

We may send marketing messages only where permitted by law. If we rely on consent, you can opt out at any time. If we send certain messages under the soft opt-in rules, you will always have the option to object.

You can stop marketing communications at any time, and we will respect your choice promptly.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are aimed at adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidentally provided as part of an adult customer’s service arrangements and only when necessary for service delivery. If we become aware that we have collected children’s data inappropriately, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or how we process personal data. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review the policy periodically.

12. Complaints

If you are concerned about how we handle your personal data, please raise the issue with us first so that we can try to resolve it. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

This Privacy Policy is intended to provide clear information about our data practices and your rights. By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood how Stoke Newington Carpet Cleaners handles personal data in line with applicable law.