Privacy Policy - St Johns Wood Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how St Johns Wood Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all customers of St Johns Wood Carpet Cleaners in the St Johns Wood area and to anyone who uses our services, requests a quotation, makes an enquiry, or otherwise interacts with us. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this Privacy Policy. We aim to collect only the information necessary to deliver our services and to meet legal, accounting, and operational obligations.

1. Information We Collect

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

Identity details such as your name and, where needed, the name of the business or property owner.
Contact details such as telephone number, email address, and service address.
Booking and service information including appointment details, service preferences, notes about the work required, and records of completed services.
Payment information such as payment status, transaction references, and invoice details. We do not keep full card details unless required by a secure payment provider.
Communication records such as emails, messages, call notes, complaints, feedback, and service updates.
Technical information where relevant, including limited website or device data if you contact us through an online form or digital service.
Property and access information such as instructions for entry, parking notes, or details needed to complete the cleaning service safely.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it, or unless we are legally required to do so. If such information is shared with us, we will process it only where a lawful basis applies and appropriate safeguards are in place.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To manage bookings and deliver carpet cleaning and related services.
To communicate about appointments, changes, reminders, and service follow-up.
To process payments, prepare invoices, and maintain financial records.
To manage customer service issues, complaints, and warranty or satisfaction queries.
To maintain internal records and improve our operations and service quality.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations.
To protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or security incidents.

We do not sell personal data. We only use your information for legitimate business purposes connected with providing services to you and running our business responsibly.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a valid lawful basis for each processing activity. St Johns Wood Carpet Cleaners relies on the following bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes handling bookings, carrying out carpet cleaning services, issuing invoices, and managing customer requests related to the agreed service.

Legal obligation

We may process data where needed to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, consumer law, record-keeping, and regulatory requirements.

Legitimate interests

We may process data for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include improving our services, managing customer relationships, keeping service records, preventing fraud, and handling business administration. We always consider whether the processing is necessary and whether it is balanced against your privacy rights.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain optional marketing communications or where you provide information that requires explicit permission to process. Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time.

4. Sharing Your Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us deliver our services and run our business. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. They are only given access to the data necessary for their role and must handle it securely and in accordance with data protection law.

Examples of processors may include:

Payment providers that process transactions securely.
Accountants and bookkeeping services that support financial administration.
IT and cloud storage providers that host systems, email, or records.
Scheduling or customer management software providers.
Professional advisers, such as legal or insurance advisers, where necessary.
Subcontractors or service partners involved in carrying out the service you requested.

We may also disclose data where required by law, for example to HMRC, law enforcement, regulators, or courts. If we transfer data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as an adequacy decision or approved contractual protections.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, and to meet any legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Enquiry records may be kept for a limited period to respond to follow-up questions and manage future bookings.
Booking and service records are generally retained for business administration, warranty, dispute resolution, and service history purposes.
Invoice, payment, and tax records are kept for the period required by law.
Complaint or correspondence records may be retained until the issue is fully resolved and for a reasonable period afterward.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices. Retention is not indefinite; we aim to keep data only for the minimum period necessary.

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, limited staff access, password protection, and careful selection of processors. While no system can be completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the nature of the information we process.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK GDPR, you have important rights regarding your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and the basis on which we process the data.

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 request deletion of 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.
Right to data portability - in some cases, you can request your data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent - where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

If you exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We will respond within the time limits set by law unless an extension is permitted. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office if you are unhappy with how your data has been handled.

8. Marketing and Communications

We will only send marketing communications where permitted by law. If you receive marketing from us, you may opt out at any time. Service-related messages, such as appointment confirmations or important updates, are not marketing and may still be sent when needed to deliver the service you requested.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we become aware that a child’s data has been provided without appropriate authority, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

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 published. We encourage customers to review it periodically so they remain informed about how their personal data is used.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

At St Johns Wood Carpet Cleaners, we handle customer information with care, confidentiality, and respect. We only collect data that is needed to provide our services, maintain business records, and comply with the law. We use lawful bases under UK GDPR, retain information for appropriate periods, work with trusted processors where necessary, and support your rights over your personal data. This Privacy Policy applies to all St Johns Wood Carpet Cleaners customers in the area and is intended to give you clear, fair, and transparent information about how we process your data.