Privacy Policy - Collierswood Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Collierswood Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing carpet cleaning and related services. It applies to all Collierswood Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including current, former, and prospective customers, and to anyone who contacts us for a quotation, booking, or service enquiry. We are committed to processing 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.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the personal data needed to manage enquiries, deliver services, and meet legal and business obligations. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name, title, and any business or household name you provide.
Contact information such as your phone number, email address, and service address.
Service information including details about the rooms, carpets, rugs, upholstery, or other items to be cleaned, along with your service preferences.
Payment information such as billing details and transaction records. We do not intentionally store full card details where payment is handled by a secure third-party payment provider.
Communication records such as messages, call notes, complaints, feedback, and booking correspondence.
Technical information where relevant, such as basic device or browser data if you interact with us through online systems used for quotations, bookings, or administration.
Property and access information that may be necessary to complete a cleaning service safely and efficiently, such as parking notes, entry instructions, or relevant access arrangements.

We do not seek to collect special category personal data unless you voluntarily provide it and it is necessary for the specific service arrangement. If such information is ever provided, it will be handled with additional care and only where a lawful basis applies.

2. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To arrange and manage bookings and deliver carpet cleaning services.
To communicate with you about appointments, service updates, and aftercare.
To process payments, invoices, refunds, and accounting records.
To handle complaints, queries, and customer service requests.
To maintain business records and service histories.
To meet legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
To improve our services, manage quality, and prevent fraud or misuse.

We only use your personal data where it is relevant and necessary for a legitimate business purpose or where the law requires or permits us to do so. We do not sell your personal data.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only when we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, the lawful bases we rely on may include:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes handling quotations, bookings, service delivery, payment processing, and post-service administration.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as record keeping, tax requirements, accounting rules, and responses to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, improving our services, keeping business records, preventing fraud, and ensuring safe operational practices.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for a particular type of communication or optional service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who support our business operations. These parties act as data processors or, in some cases, independent data controllers. We only share data where necessary and where appropriate safeguards are in place.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

Payment processors that handle secure card or online transactions.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that support invoicing, tax compliance, and financial administration.
IT, cloud storage, and software providers that help manage customer records, scheduling, communications, and secure data storage.
Email and communications providers used to send confirmations, reminders, and service updates.
Insurance, legal, or professional advisers where disclosure is necessary to obtain advice or manage claims.

We require processors to act only on our instructions, to use personal data securely, and to keep it confidential. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or standard contractual protections.

5. Retention of Personal Data

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

Customer booking and service records may be retained for a reasonable period after the service is completed to manage follow-up queries, complaints, or warranty-related issues.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Communication records may be kept for as long as needed to maintain accurate business history and resolve disputes.
Data held on the basis of consent will be kept only until consent is withdrawn or the information is no longer needed.

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

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality duties, and limiting data access to those who need it for business purposes.

Although no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to keep your information protected and to review our safeguards regularly. In the event of a personal data breach that presents a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will act in accordance with legal requirements.

7. Your Rights Under Data Protection Law

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions or exceptions under the law. They include:

The right to be informed about how your data is used.
The right of access to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
The right to rectification to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
The right to erasure in certain circumstances, also known as the right to be forgotten.
The right to restrict processing in certain situations.
The right to data portability where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to object at any time to direct marketing where applicable.
Rights related to automated decision-making, where such processing occurs.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the time limits required by law. We may ask for information to verify your identity before responding to a request. There is no charge for making a request unless it is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

8. Marketing Communications

We will only send marketing communications where permitted by law. If you receive marketing from us and no longer wish to do so, you can opt out at any time. We will continue to send non-marketing messages that are necessary to deliver services, respond to enquiries, or meet legal obligations.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adult customers and property-related service arrangements. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidental and necessary in a household booking context, and only where appropriate safeguards are in place.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their personal data is used.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Collierswood Carpet Cleaners is committed to handling personal data responsibly and securely. We only collect data that is necessary, use it for clear and lawful purposes, share it only with trusted processors where needed, and retain it for no longer than required. We respect your data protection rights and aim to process all information fairly, transparently, and in line with applicable privacy laws.