Privacy Policy - Totteridge Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Totteridge Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing carpet cleaning and related services. It applies to all Totteridge Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and former customers who have used our services. We are committed to handling personal information 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

Totteridge Carpet Cleaners provides professional carpet cleaning and associated household and commercial cleaning services. In the course of delivering our services, we may process personal data about customers, service users, and people who contact us to request information or a quotation. This Privacy Policy sets out the categories of data we collect, the reasons we collect it, the lawful bases we rely on, the parties we may share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights available to individuals.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for our operations. The data we collect may include:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, business name.
Contact details such as postal address, email address, and phone number.
Service information such as service type, property details, access instructions, preferred dates, and cleaning requirements.
Payment information such as records of payments made, invoices issued, and payment status. We do not intentionally store full card details unless this is required by our payment provider.
Communication records such as correspondence, enquiries, complaints, and feedback.
Technical data if you interact with our digital systems, such as basic device or browser information, where collected for security or performance purposes.

We do not seek to collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it, for example if you volunteer information that affects access arrangements or service delivery. If such data is provided, we will treat it with heightened care and only process it where a lawful basis exists.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotations and respond to enquiries;
to schedule, deliver, and manage cleaning services;
to process payments and maintain accurate accounting records;
to communicate service updates, appointment changes, and customer support messages;
to handle complaints, disputes, and insurance-related matters;
to improve our services, administration, and customer experience;
to meet legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
to prevent fraud, abuse, or misuse of our services;
to maintain internal records and service history for quality assurance.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes described above or for purposes that are compatible with them.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Totteridge Carpet Cleaners relies on the following bases:

Contract

We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotations at your request, managing appointments, delivering cleaning services, and processing payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain data to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include improving our services, maintaining internal records, handling customer enquiries, preventing fraud, and managing business operations. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the impact on your privacy and ensure the processing is proportionate.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, particularly where the law requires it. If we ask for consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect processing that took place before consent was withdrawn.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where this is necessary to operate our business and deliver services. These third parties act as either processors or independent controllers depending on the nature of the relationship.

Processors may include:

payment service providers that process transactions on our behalf;
accounting or bookkeeping service providers;
IT, hosting, cloud storage, and software providers;
customer management or scheduling system providers;
email and communication service providers;
professional advisers acting under confidentiality obligations;
delivery, subcontracting, or operational partners where needed to complete a service.

We require our processors to protect personal data, use it only for specified purposes, and handle it in compliance with data protection law. We do not sell your personal data.

We may also disclose information where necessary to comply with a legal obligation, to enforce our rights, to protect the safety of our staff or customers, or in connection with insurance claims or legal proceedings.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet legal or operational requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the context in which it was collected.

Customer service records are generally retained for a reasonable period after completion of the service to assist with follow-up, warranty-type queries, or dispute resolution.
Financial and invoicing records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Complaint and correspondence records may be retained for a period needed to defend legal claims or resolve disputes.
Enquiry records from people who do not become customers may be kept for a shorter period unless they are needed for ongoing communications or legal purposes.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or otherwise dispose of it.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, staff confidentiality obligations, and restricted access to sensitive information. While no system is completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the risks involved.

8. International Transfers

If any service provider stores or processes personal data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information. Such safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights regarding your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exemptions, these rights include:

The right to access your personal data and receive a copy of it.
The right to rectification if your data is inaccurate or incomplete.
The right to erasure, also known as the right to be forgotten, in certain circumstances.
The right to restrict processing in certain situations.
The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
The right to data portability where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
The right to withdraw consent where consent is the basis for processing.

You also have the right to raise concerns about how your data is handled. If you believe your data protection rights have been infringed, you may lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue promptly and fairly.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults arranging carpet cleaning in homes or businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children in a manner that would require separate consent. If we become aware that we have collected data relating to a child without appropriate justification, we will take appropriate steps to delete it or secure it as required by law.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or business operations. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we process personal data.

12. Contacting Us About Privacy

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise any of your rights, you may contact us using the communication details provided through our usual customer service channels. We will respond to legitimate requests in accordance with applicable data protection law.

Summary: Totteridge Carpet Cleaners explains what data it collects, why it processes it, how long it keeps it, who may process it, and the rights available to all customers in the area.