Privacy Policy - Walthamstow Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Walthamstow Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Walthamstow Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals who request quotations, book services, receive cleaning work, or communicate with us in connection with our services.

We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent way 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 data we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have over your information.

1. Information We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing our cleaning services, managing customer relationships, complying with legal obligations, and improving our operations. The type of information we collect may include:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact information such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
Service details such as the type of carpet cleaning requested, property access notes, preferred appointment times, and service history.
Payment information such as billing details and transaction records. We do not store full card details unless required by a secure payment processor.
Communication records such as messages, complaints, enquiries, quotations, and feedback.
Technical information if you interact with digital tools used to manage bookings or communications, including basic device or usage data where relevant.

We normally collect data directly from you when you ask for a quote, make a booking, confirm an appointment, or contact us by phone, email, or other means. In some cases, we may also receive information from third parties acting on your behalf, such as letting agents, landlords, property managers, or tenants arranging cleaning services.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data only where we have a valid reason to do so. Our main purposes for using your information include:

responding to enquiries and providing quotations;
managing bookings and delivering cleaning services;
confirming appointment details and service instructions;
processing payments and maintaining financial records;
handling complaints, disputes, and customer support requests;
keeping appropriate records for business administration;
meeting legal, tax, accounting, and insurance requirements;
improving service quality, operational planning, and customer experience;
protecting our business, staff, and customers from fraud or misuse.

We do not use your personal data for unrelated purposes. If we ever need to use it in a way that is materially different from this policy, we will update this notice or seek your permission where required by law.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the situation, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to provide a quote, accept a booking, carry out carpet cleaning services, or manage related arrangements. This includes using your name, address, and service preferences to fulfil our agreement with you.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information to meet legal or regulatory obligations, including tax compliance, accounting requirements, dispute handling, insurance obligations, and record-keeping duties.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing customer records, improving service delivery, preventing fraud, maintaining internal administration, and protecting the security of our operations. We always consider whether the processing is proportionate and whether your privacy rights are respected.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for specific optional communications or non-essential processing. When consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for business operations, legal compliance, or service delivery. These organisations act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service they provide.

Typical processors or service providers may include:

Booking and scheduling providers that help manage appointments and service records.
Payment processors that handle card and transaction processing securely.
IT and cloud storage providers that support data hosting, file management, and communications.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that assist with invoicing, tax, and financial reporting.
Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors where required.

We require processors to handle personal data securely, to use it only on our instructions, and to comply with applicable data protection law. We do not sell personal data. We also do not disclose information to third parties for their own marketing purposes without lawful permission.

In rare circumstances, we may need to share information with public authorities, law enforcement, regulators, or courts where disclosure is legally required or necessary to protect our rights, staff, or customers.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and business needs. The length of time may vary depending on the nature of the record and the reason it was created.

As a general approach:

Customer service and booking records are kept for as long as needed to manage the service relationship and resolve any follow-up issues.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law, typically to satisfy accounting and tax obligations.
Complaints and dispute records may be kept longer where needed to defend legal claims or manage ongoing issues.
Inactive customer records are deleted or anonymised when they are no longer needed for business or legal reasons.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in a way that prevents unauthorised access. Retention periods are reviewed regularly to ensure information is not kept longer than necessary.

6. Your Rights

If you are a customer or data subject within the scope of this policy, you have a number of rights under data protection law. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and any legal exemptions that may exist.

Right of access - you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification - you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure - you may ask us to delete your data where there is no lawful reason to keep it.
Right to restriction - you can request that we limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object - you may object to processing based on legitimate interests, and in some cases direct marketing if applicable.
Right to data portability - you may request a copy of certain data in a structured, commonly used format where technically feasible.
Right to withdraw consent - where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise concerns about how your data is handled. If you believe your privacy rights have been breached, you may complain to the relevant data protection authority. We encourage you to raise any concerns directly so that we can review and address them promptly.

7. Security of Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include secure password practices, controlled access, data minimisation, staff awareness, and careful selection of processors.

While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection that is appropriate to the nature of the data and the risks involved. We also review our procedures periodically and improve them where needed.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, operational, or service changes. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

9. Scope of This Policy

This policy applies to all Walthamstow Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including household customers, landlords, tenants, letting agents, and other individuals or organisations that use our services or communicate with us about our services. By engaging with us, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this notice and in line with applicable law.

We are committed to keeping your information secure, relevant, and used only for legitimate purposes. If you have concerns about the accuracy of your personal data or how it is processed, you should keep your details up to date and review this policy whenever you use our services.