Privacy Policy - Plumstead Carpet Cleaners

Plumstead Carpet Cleaners is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information when you use our services. It applies to all Plumstead Carpet Cleaners customers in the Plumstead area, including anyone who contacts us, requests a quote, books a service, or otherwise engages with us.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, Plumstead Carpet Cleaners acts as the data controller for the personal information we collect and use in connection with our cleaning services.

This policy is designed to provide clear and transparent information about how your personal data is handled. We only process personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so and only for legitimate business purposes related to delivering our services.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity information such as your name and, where relevant, business name.
Contact details such as your phone number, email address, and service address.
Service information such as booking details, property access notes, cleaning preferences, and instructions.
Payment information such as payment status, billing records, and transaction references. We do not store full card details unless provided through a secure payment provider.
Communication records including messages, emails, call notes, complaint details, and customer feedback.
Technical information where applicable, such as IP address, device information, and cookies if you interact with digital services we use.
Special category data only where necessary and usually indirectly, for example information that may be shared with us about allergies, mobility needs, or health-related access requirements, solely to help us perform our services safely.

We aim to collect only the data that is necessary for the purposes described in this policy. We do not intentionally collect more information than we need.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data in several ways:

When you make an enquiry or request a quote.
When you book a service or provide instructions.
When you communicate with us by phone, email, message, or in writing.
When we carry out the service at your property or business premises.
When you submit feedback, a complaint, or a review-related response.
When third-party providers share information with us in order to complete a booking or payment.

In some cases, personal information may also be provided by a household member, landlord, letting agent, facilities manager, or another person authorised to arrange services on your behalf.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We only process personal data when we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, we 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 handling bookings, arranging appointments, confirming service details, and processing payments related to the cleaning service.

Legal Obligation

We may process certain information where we must comply with legal requirements, such as accounting, tax, record-keeping, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, improving our services, preventing fraud, maintaining internal records, and handling disputes.

Consent

Where required, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain optional communications or specific uses of information. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Vital Interests

In rare circumstances, we may process data to protect someone’s vital interests, such as in an emergency involving health or safety.

5. How We Use Your Data

We may use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide carpet cleaning and related services.
To manage bookings, cancellations, and rescheduling.
To communicate with you before, during, and after the service.
To prepare invoices and manage payments.
To record customer preferences and service history.
To resolve complaints and service issues.
To comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
To improve our operations, customer service, and service quality.

We will not use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected, unless we have a lawful basis to do so and you are informed where required.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These processors are only allowed to use your data in accordance with our instructions and applicable data protection law.

Typical processors may include:

Payment service providers that securely handle transactions.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that assist with invoicing, financial records, and tax compliance.
IT and cloud storage providers that support data hosting, security, and business administration.
Communication service providers used for email, messaging, or appointment notifications.
Scheduling or customer management software providers that help organise bookings and service records.

We may also disclose personal data to professional advisers, insurers, regulators, or law enforcement where necessary and lawful.

Plumstead Carpet Cleaners does not sell personal data. We only share information when needed for service delivery, legal compliance, business administration, or protection of our rights and customers.

7. 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 obligations.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason for processing. As a general approach:

Booking and service records may be retained for several years to manage repeat services, resolve disputes, and maintain business records.
Invoice and payment records may be retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Communication records may be retained for a reasonable period to support customer service and complaint handling.
Information no longer needed is securely deleted or anonymised.

When determining retention periods, we consider legal requirements, operational needs, and the amount and sensitivity of the data. We keep data no longer than is necessary.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, limited staff access, and use of reputable service providers.

While we take data security seriously, no system can be guaranteed as completely secure. We therefore encourage customers to share only the information necessary for service delivery.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing.

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 – in certain cases, you can ask us to delete your personal data.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to data portability – you can request that we provide certain information in a structured, commonly used format, where legally required.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed. Before doing so, we encourage you to raise your concerns with us so we can try to resolve the matter.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging domestic or commercial cleaning. We do not knowingly collect personal data directly from children. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected such information, we will take appropriate steps to delete it, unless we are legally required to keep it.

11. 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 or otherwise made available to customers.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically so you remain informed about how your data is used. By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

12. Summary of Key Points

We collect only the personal data needed to provide carpet cleaning services and manage our business.
We process data under lawful bases such as contract, legal obligation, legitimate interests, consent, and vital interests where relevant.
We may use processors for payment, accounting, IT, communication, and scheduling services.
We retain data only as long as necessary and delete or anonymise it when no longer needed.
You have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, object, port, and withdraw consent where applicable.

Plumstead Carpet Cleaners remains committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently in line with GDPR requirements.