Privacy Policy - South Hornchurch Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how South Hornchurch Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to its customers. It applies to all South Hornchurch Carpet Cleaners customers in the South Hornchurch area, including private households, landlords, tenants, and business customers who use our carpet cleaning and related services. We are committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

South Hornchurch Carpet Cleaners provides carpet cleaning and associated cleaning services. In the course of delivering these services, we may need to collect and process personal data about customers, property occupants, and sometimes third parties such as building managers or payment account holders. We only process personal data where there is a valid reason to do so and only for purposes connected with our services, legal obligations, or legitimate business needs.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the information that is necessary for us to provide our services, manage bookings, communicate with customers, and comply with the law. Depending on the situation, we may collect the following categories of data:

Identity details such as name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details such as property access notes, booking preferences, type of cleaning required, and job instructions.
Payment information such as payment status, invoice details, and transaction records.
Communication records such as emails, text messages, call notes, and complaint correspondence.
Technical information if you interact with our digital systems, such as IP address or basic device data, where applicable.
Special category data only in rare circumstances, and only where strictly necessary and lawfully permitted, for example if you voluntarily provide information relevant to access needs or health-related requirements affecting service delivery.

We do not intentionally collect data that is unnecessary for our services. We ask customers not to share sensitive personal data unless it is needed for a specific service issue or legal reason.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to arrange and deliver carpet cleaning services;
to confirm bookings, access arrangements, and service instructions;
to issue invoices, process payments, and keep accounting records;
to respond to enquiries, complaints, and service-related questions;
to maintain customer records and service history;
to improve our services and customer experience;
to comply with tax, legal, and regulatory requirements;
to protect our business from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We will only use your data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably consider that another compatible purpose applies and we have a lawful basis to do so.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. South Hornchurch Carpet Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases, depending on the purpose of processing:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, carrying out cleaning services, sending invoices, and managing customer service communications.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data where necessary to comply with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting, record-keeping, and other statutory requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include managing our business efficiently, improving our services, handling routine communication, preventing fraud, and maintaining internal records.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you ask us to use optional communication methods or where special category data is provided voluntarily and a consent-based approach is appropriate. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These third parties act as processors when they handle data on our behalf, or as independent controllers when they determine their own purposes for processing. We only share the minimum data needed and require appropriate safeguards.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

booking and scheduling software providers;
payment processing providers;
accounting and invoicing systems;
IT support and data storage providers;
customer communication tools, such as email or messaging systems;
professional advisers, including accountants or legal advisers, where necessary.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, court order, or to protect our legal rights, the rights of others, or public safety. We do not sell personal data.

6. International Transfers

If any of our processors store or access personal data outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the data is protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection law. This may include the use of approved contractual safeguards and assessment of the receiving country’s data protection standards.

7. Data Retention

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

Customer service records are generally kept for the duration of our relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Invoice and payment records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Communication records may be retained for complaint handling, service history, and business protection.
Data collected with consent is kept only until consent is withdrawn or the purpose no longer applies.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

8. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and careful management of third-party systems. While no system is completely secure, we take data protection seriously and review our practices regularly.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply in full or in part depending on the circumstances and any legal exemptions.

Right of access - you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification - you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure - you may request deletion of your data where there is no good reason for us to keep it.
Right to restriction - you may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to object - you may object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to data portability - you may ask for certain data to be provided in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent - where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

These rights are not absolute, and we may need to retain or process data where required by law or where we have another lawful basis to do so.

10. How to Exercise Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please make a request using the details provided through our usual customer communication channels. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. We aim to respond within one month, though complex requests may take longer in accordance with data protection law.

11. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you should contact us so that we can try to resolve the matter. You also have the right to complain to the UK data protection regulator if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed. We encourage you to raise any issues promptly so we can address them fairly and transparently.

12. Changes to This Privacy 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 so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

South Hornchurch Carpet Cleaners is committed to using personal data responsibly, securely, and only where there is a lawful reason to do so. We collect only what we need, keep it only as long as necessary, use trusted processors with appropriate safeguards, and respect your rights under data protection law. Our aim is to provide a reliable service while maintaining a high standard of privacy and transparency for every customer in the South Hornchurch area.