Privacy Policy - Haggerston Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Haggerston Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with the services we provide. It applies to all Haggerston Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who makes an enquiry or otherwise interacts with our business.

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. We aim to ensure that personal information is used only for legitimate business purposes and retained only for as long as necessary.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and the services you request. The information we collect may include:

Identity data such as your name and, where relevant, the name of a business or property manager.
Contact data such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
Service data such as details about the carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, stain treatment, or related services you request.
Property and access information such as entry instructions, parking details, floor access requirements, and relevant site notes.
Billing and payment data such as invoicing details and payment confirmations. We do not intend to store full payment card details unless explicitly necessary and securely processed through a payment provider.
Communication data such as messages, complaints, feedback, and records of enquiries.
Technical data in limited circumstances if you contact us electronically, such as device information or log data generated by our systems.

We generally collect personal data directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, confirm instructions, complete forms, or communicate with us. In some cases, we may receive your details from a third party, for example a landlord, letting agent, property manager, or another person arranging services on your behalf.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data only where permitted by law and only for purposes connected to our business operations. These purposes may include:

providing quotations and managing bookings;
delivering carpet cleaning and related services;
confirming access arrangements and service requirements;
processing invoices, payments, and accounting records;
handling complaints, queries, and customer support requests;
maintaining service history and records for quality control;
meeting legal, regulatory, tax, and insurance obligations;
protecting our business against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
improving our services, processes, and customer experience.

We do not use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reason it was collected. If we ever need to use data for a new purpose, we will ensure there is a lawful basis to do so and, where required, provide appropriate notice.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. Depending on the context, we may rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing a quotation at your request, arranging a cleaning appointment, carrying out the agreed service, and managing payments and invoices.

Legal Obligation

We may process certain information where required to comply with legal duties, including tax, accounting, record-keeping, consumer protection, and insurance obligations.

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, preventing fraud, improving service delivery, maintaining internal records, and defending legal claims. We assess such processing carefully to ensure it is proportionate and necessary.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you clearly agree to receive certain optional communications or where consent is needed for a specific use not covered by another lawful basis. You may withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties, but only where necessary for the operation of our business and only in accordance with data protection law. These third parties may act as processors or, in some cases, as independent controllers.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

IT and data storage providers that host our systems or backup data securely;
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that help us manage invoices and financial records;
Payment service providers that process payments securely on our behalf;
Customer communication tools used to manage correspondence and scheduling;
Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors where necessary;
Subcontractors or cleaning operatives where required to complete the requested service.

All processors are required to protect your data, act only on our instructions, and implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures. We do not sell your personal data.

We may also disclose information where required by law, court order, or lawful request from a public authority, or where disclosure is necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

5. Data Retention

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

In general:

customer and service records are retained for a period necessary to manage the business relationship and handle any follow-up issues;
financial and invoicing records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law;
complaints, correspondence, and service notes are retained for as long as needed to resolve the matter and support legitimate business record-keeping;
where data is no longer required, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or destroyed.

We periodically review our records to ensure data is not kept longer than necessary. If a longer retention period is required due to a legal claim, regulatory obligation, or insurance matter, we will keep the relevant information for that longer period only.

6. Data Security

We take appropriate steps to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or accidental disclosure. These steps may include access controls, secure storage, restricted permissions, staff awareness measures, and the use of reputable service providers with appropriate safeguards.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we strive to maintain a high standard of protection and to address risks promptly if they arise.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal limits, 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 cases.
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, where relevant.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

We will respond to valid requests in accordance with applicable law. Some rights may not apply in all situations, for example where we need to retain data to comply with a legal obligation or to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

You also have the right to raise concerns about how we handle your data. If you believe your data protection rights have been violated, you may contact the relevant supervisory authority.

8. Data Relating to Children

Our services are intended for adults and property-related customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is provided by an adult customer as part of a lawful service arrangement. If we become aware that we have collected child data without an appropriate basis, we will take reasonable steps to delete or protect it.

9. Automated Decision-Making

We do not normally use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects for customers. If this changes, we will provide appropriate information about the logic involved, the significance and consequences, and the safeguards available.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, operational, or service-related changes. The latest version will apply to your use of our services. Where changes are significant, we will take reasonable steps to bring them to your attention.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Haggerston Carpet Cleaners respects your privacy and is committed to protecting personal data. We collect only the information needed to provide our services, use it for lawful and limited purposes, share it only with appropriate processors or where required by law, and retain it only for as long as necessary. We also recognise and support your data protection rights.

This policy applies to all Haggerston Carpet Cleaners customers in the area. By using our services or contacting us, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed in line with this Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws.