Privacy Policy - Gipsy Hill Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Gipsy Hill Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Gipsy Hill Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about our services, request quotations, book appointments, or otherwise interact with us. 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.

1. Who We Are

Gipsy Hill Carpet Cleaners provides carpet cleaning and related household cleaning services to customers in and around Gipsy Hill. In the course of operating our business, we may process personal data about customers, prospective customers, suppliers, and other individuals connected with service delivery.

We only collect data that is necessary for the purposes described in this policy and ensure that access to personal information is restricted to people who need it for legitimate business reasons.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity data such as your name and, where relevant, the name of the person arranging services on your behalf.
Contact data such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
Service and booking data such as appointment details, service preferences, property access information, and notes about the work requested.
Payment data such as payment status, transaction references, and billing records. We do not intentionally store full card details unless this is necessary for a specific payment method and handled securely.
Communication data such as messages, complaints, feedback, and records of correspondence.
Technical data such as basic device, browser, or usage information if you interact with our online systems.
Special category data only where strictly necessary and with appropriate safeguards, for example where a customer voluntarily shares information relevant to access, vulnerability, or health-related needs so that a service can be delivered safely.

We do not seek to collect sensitive information unless it is needed for a legitimate service-related purpose and you choose to provide it.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quotation or make an enquiry;
book or reschedule a service;
communicate with us by phone, email, or other means;
provide feedback or make a complaint;
make a payment;
interact with our team during service delivery.

We may also receive data from third parties where necessary to carry out a service, such as a landlord, letting agent, property manager, or payment provider acting on your behalf.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, our lawful bases include:

Contract – processing is necessary to provide a quote, arrange an appointment, perform cleaning services, manage payments, and fulfil our agreement with you.
Legal obligation – processing is required to comply with tax, accounting, regulatory, or record-keeping requirements.
Legitimate interests – processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as managing our operations, preventing fraud, improving service quality, and responding to queries, provided your rights do not override those interests.
Consent – where required, for example if we need to use optional information or send certain types of marketing communications. You may withdraw consent at any time.

Where special category data is processed, we will only do so when an additional condition under UK GDPR applies, such as explicit consent or where it is necessary for substantial public interest or legal claims, together with suitable safeguards.

5. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotations and assess service requirements;
to manage bookings, arrivals, access arrangements, and service delivery;
to process payments and maintain financial records;
to communicate with you about appointments, changes, or follow-up matters;
to handle complaints, disputes, and customer service requests;
to maintain business records and comply with legal obligations;
to improve our services and operational efficiency;
to protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud or misuse.

We do not sell personal data and we do not use it for unrelated purposes without a lawful basis.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors or independent controllers, but only where necessary and subject to appropriate safeguards. These may include:

Payment processors that handle transactions securely;
IT and cloud service providers that store or support our systems and communications;
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that assist with financial administration;
Booking or scheduling software providers used to manage appointments;
Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, or legal advisers;
Regulators, law enforcement, or public authorities where required by law.

Where a third party acts as a processor, they are only allowed to process data on our instructions and must protect it using appropriate technical and organisational measures. If a third party acts as an independent controller, their own privacy notice will apply to their use of the data.

7. Retention of Personal Data

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, and reporting obligations. Retention periods depend on the type of information and the reason it is held.

Quotation and enquiry records are usually kept for a limited period unless they result in a booking or another lawful reason to retain them.
Customer and service records are generally kept for the duration of the business relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and tax records are retained in line with applicable legal requirements.
Complaint and correspondence records are kept as long as needed to resolve matters and demonstrate compliance.

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

8. Data Security

We use appropriate security measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and careful selection of service providers. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we aim to use robust safeguards that are proportionate to the nature of the data we hold.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may include:

Right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will assess your request in accordance with applicable law. Some rights may not apply in all situations, and we may need to retain certain records where required by law.

10. International Transfers

If any service provider stores or processes personal data outside the UK, we will take steps to ensure that adequate safeguards are in place. These may include approved contractual protections or other lawful transfer mechanisms required under data protection law.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we process personal data.

12. Summary of Our Approach

Our core principles

Lawfulness – we process personal data only where we have a valid legal basis.
Transparency – we explain clearly how information is used.
Data minimisation – we only collect what is needed.
Retention control – we keep data only as long as necessary.
Accountability – we take responsibility for protecting data and respecting user rights.

Gipsy Hill Carpet Cleaners is committed to maintaining trust and handling personal information responsibly. By using our services, making an enquiry, or otherwise engaging with us, you acknowledge that your data may be processed in line with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.