Privacy Policy - Dollis Hill Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Dollis Hill Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Dollis Hill Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals who request quotations, book services, communicate with us, or otherwise use our cleaning services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Dollis Hill Carpet Cleaners provides carpet cleaning and related cleaning services to customers in the local area. For the purpose of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and use in connection with our services. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the data necessary to provide our services, manage our relationship with customers, and meet our legal obligations. The personal data we may collect includes:

Identity data such as your name and, where relevant, title.
Contact data such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service data such as details of the cleaning service requested, property access notes, and appointment information.
Payment data such as payment status, billing records, and transaction references. We do not store card details unless necessary and only where permitted by our payment provider.
Communication data such as messages, feedback, complaints, and service-related correspondence.
Technical data such as limited information generated when you communicate with us digitally, if applicable, including device or browser-related details used for security and administration.

We do not intentionally collect special category personal data unless it is provided by you and is necessary for a legitimate reason, such as accessibility or safety instructions. Where such information is provided, we will only use it with appropriate care and safeguards.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotations and arrange bookings.
To deliver cleaning services and manage appointments.
To contact you about your booking, service changes, or customer support matters.
To process payments, issue invoices, and maintain accounting records.
To handle complaints, disputes, and service follow-up.
To maintain internal records and improve our operations.
To comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
To protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or security risks.

We only use your personal data where we have a valid lawful basis to do so.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. We rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing your booking, delivering services, and handling payment-related administration.

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. Examples include managing customer records, improving our services, preventing fraud, and maintaining business security.

Legal Obligation

We process certain information where necessary to comply with legal requirements, including tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping obligations.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily provide sensitive information that we do not otherwise need to carry out the service. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing Your Personal Data

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it only when necessary and subject to appropriate safeguards with the following categories of processors and service providers:

Payment processors who handle secure payment transactions.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who support invoicing and tax compliance.
IT and system providers who support storage, security, and business administration.
Communication service providers used for email, telephone, or messaging functionality.
Professional advisers such as insurers, auditors, or legal advisers where necessary.
Public authorities or law enforcement where disclosure is required by law.

These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service they provide. Where they act as processors, they may only process your data under our instructions and must protect it appropriately.

6. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, and in line with legal and operational requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the nature of the data and the service provided. In general:

Customer booking and service records are kept for a reasonable period to manage queries, disputes, and repeat services.
Financial and accounting records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Correspondence and complaints may be retained for as long as needed to resolve the matter and evidence service history.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it where appropriate. Retention is reviewed regularly to ensure we do not keep data longer than necessary.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access to customer records. While we take data security seriously, no system can be guaranteed completely secure.

8. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have several rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exemptions. These rights include:

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 – you can ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances.
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 in some cases.
Right to data portability – you can request transfer of certain data you have provided to us.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

9. Automated Decision-Making

We do not use automated decision-making or profiling in a way that produces legal or similarly significant effects for customers. If this changes, we will update this policy and provide appropriate information about your rights.

10. International Transfers

Where any service provider processes personal data outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect that data in line with applicable data protection rules. Such safeguards may include adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults arranging cleaning services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidental and necessary for a service-related reason. If we learn that we have collected data unlawfully, we will take steps to delete it where appropriate.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, business practice, or the way we process personal data. Any updates will apply from the date they are issued. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their information is handled.

13. Contacting Us About Data Protection

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, your rights, or how your personal data is used, you may raise a data protection concern through our usual customer communication channels. We will aim to deal with any matter promptly and fairly.

Summary statement: Dollis Hill Carpet Cleaners processes customer data lawfully, securely, and only as needed to provide services, comply with law, and respect customer rights.