St Margarets Carpet Cleaners Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how St Margarets Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores and shares personal data when providing carpet, upholstery and related cleaning services. It applies to all St Margarets Carpet Cleaners customers in our service area, including prospective customers who make enquiries and past customers whose details we still hold in accordance with applicable laws. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair and transparent way in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Who we are and scope of this policy
St Margarets Carpet Cleaners is a local carpet and upholstery cleaning business operating in the surrounding area of St Margarets. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data that we collect and use in connection with our services. This Privacy Policy covers personal data relating to private household customers, landlords, letting agents, commercial clients and any other individuals who contact us or use our services within our service area.
Personal data we collect
We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and which services you use. The categories of data we may collect include:
Contact and identity details such as your name, address, property access details, billing address, and any contact preferences you provide to us.
Communication details such as your enquiry information, booking details, messages you send us, feedback you provide, and notes relating to our conversations or visits to your property.
Service and contract information such as details of the services you request or receive, date and time of appointments, job history, quotes, invoices, and payment records. We may keep a record of the condition of carpets, rugs and upholstery before and after cleaning where relevant for service provision and quality assurance.
Technical and usage information related to how you interact with our website or online content, such as basic analytics data, pages visited, time and date of visits, and general location data derived from your IP address. This is collected in an aggregated or pseudonymous form where possible.
Other information you choose to provide such as additional access instructions, parking information, or special requests relating to your booking, as well as any reviews, testimonials or complaints.
How we collect personal data
We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, through online forms, by post, or in person. We also receive personal data when you request a quote, make a booking, or use our services at your property.
In some cases, we may receive your details from a third party, for example where a landlord, tenant, letting agent or property manager books a service on your behalf, or where our services are arranged through another business. Where appropriate, we ask those third parties to confirm that they have the necessary permission to share your personal data with us.
Technical data about your use of our website may be collected automatically through analytics tools and similar technologies which help us understand how our website is used and improve our services.
Lawful basis for processing
We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so. The main lawful bases we rely on are:
Contract: We process your personal data when it is necessary to provide our services, prepare quotes, manage bookings, carry out cleaning at your property, take payment, and handle any follow up work or queries.
Legal obligation: We process certain information to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including record keeping, tax and accounting obligations, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.
Legitimate interests: We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes managing our customer relationships, improving our services, ensuring property and staff safety, preventing fraud and misuse, and maintaining business records.
Consent: In some limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of direct marketing. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.
How we use your personal data
We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:
To provide cleaning services including assessing your requirements, arranging appointments, attending your property, and completing the agreed work.
To manage enquiries and customer relationships including responding to your questions, providing quotes, issuing invoices, and handling complaints or disputes.
To operate and improve our business including maintaining internal records, monitoring service quality, training staff, and developing new services.
To carry out marketing where permitted by law, such as sending you information about similar services you have previously used. You can opt out of marketing communications at any time.
To comply with legal and regulatory obligations including tax, accounting and audit requirements, and cooperating with competent authorities when required.
Data retention
We keep personal data only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and to comply with our legal obligations. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reasons for which we collected it.
Customer and contract records, including basic contact details, booking history, invoices and payment records, are typically retained for a period consistent with tax and accounting requirements, generally up to seven years after the end of our relationship with you.
Correspondence and enquiry records are kept for as long as needed to resolve your query or complaint and for a reasonable period thereafter to protect our legitimate interests.
Marketing records relating to consent and opt outs are kept so that we can respect your preferences in the future.
When personal data is no longer required, we delete it or anonymise it so that it no longer identifies you.
Data sharing and processors
We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with third parties only where necessary and in accordance with data protection law. This may include:
Service providers and processors who perform functions on our behalf, such as IT and website support providers, analytics providers, payment processing providers, and professional advisers. These third parties are required to handle your personal data securely and only according to our instructions.
Other parties involved in providing the service to you, for example a landlord or letting agent where they have arranged the service, or a sub contractor assisting with larger jobs. We share only the information that is necessary to carry out the work.
Public authorities, regulators or law enforcement agencies where we are legally required to do so or where sharing is necessary to protect our rights, property or safety, or that of our customers or others.
Where any of our processors or service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we take appropriate steps to ensure that your personal data is protected with suitable safeguards in line with data protection law.
Security of your personal data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. Measures include limiting access to personal data to staff and service providers who need it, using secure systems and passwords, and providing training and guidance on data protection responsibilities.
Although we take reasonable steps to secure your data, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You are responsible for keeping any information that you use to contact us safe and secure.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all St Margarets Carpet Cleaners customers in our service area, subject to certain legal limitations and exemptions. Your rights include:
The right of access to obtain confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to receive a copy of that data.
The right to rectification to have inaccurate or incomplete personal data corrected.
The right to erasure in certain circumstances, for example where the data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, or where you withdraw consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.
The right to restriction of processing in specific situations, such as where you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our processing and we are considering your request.
The right to data portability in some cases, allowing you to receive personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and to transmit it to another controller.
The right to object to processing carried out on the basis of our legitimate interests, including profiling based on those interests, and to object at any time to direct marketing.
Where we rely on consent as the lawful basis for processing, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
Complaints and contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, you can contact us using the details provided on our website or through our usual communication channels.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority in the United Kingdom if you are unhappy with how we have used your data. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns first.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or the services we offer. Any updated version will be made available through our usual channels, and the revised policy will apply from the date it is published. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.
