Privacy Policy - South Kensington Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how South Kensington Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with the services we provide. It applies to all South Kensington Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals who request quotations, book services, receive services, or otherwise interact with us in relation to carpet cleaning and related cleaning services.

We are committed to handling 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. We only process personal data where we have a valid legal basis and only for the purposes described in this Policy.

1. Information We Collect

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

Identity details, such as your name and title.
Contact details, such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details, including the type of cleaning requested, booking times, access instructions, and any preferences you provide.
Payment-related information, such as billing records and payment confirmations. We do not intentionally store full card details unless this is necessary for a particular payment method and handled securely by the relevant payment provider.
Communication records, including enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence.
Technical and usage data if you interact with us electronically, such as limited device or browsing information where applicable.
Special category data only where you voluntarily provide it and it is necessary, for example information about access needs or health-related considerations that may affect service delivery. We do not seek this information unless it is relevant and required for the job.

We generally collect personal data directly from you. In some cases, data may also be provided by a person making a booking on your behalf, such as a landlord, tenant, property manager, or family member. We may also receive limited information from payment processors, subcontractors, or service partners where necessary to complete a booking or resolve a service matter.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide carpet cleaning and related services.
To manage quotations, bookings, and appointments.
To communicate with you about service arrangements, scheduling, and service updates.
To process payments, refunds, and related financial administration.
To respond to enquiries, complaints, and requests.
To keep accurate business and service records.
To improve our services, customer support, and operational efficiency.
To comply with legal, accounting, tax, and regulatory obligations.
To prevent fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We only use personal data when it is necessary and proportionate for a specific purpose. We will not use your data in a way that is incompatible with the original reason it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do so.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. Depending on the context, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. This includes handling quotations, bookings, service delivery, and payment arrangements.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where required to meet legal obligations, including tax, accounting, business recordkeeping, and compliance requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. These interests may include managing operations, improving services, maintaining records, handling customer communications, and protecting our business from fraud or misuse.

Consent

Where required by law, we will rely on your consent, for example for certain optional processing activities or where you provide special category data that we need to handle on the basis of consent. You may withdraw consent at any time, but this will not affect processing that has already taken place lawfully.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. These parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service they provide.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

Payment processors that handle secure payment transactions.
Booking or scheduling systems used to manage appointments and customer records.
IT and cloud service providers that store or maintain business data securely.
Communication service providers that support email, messaging, or administrative correspondence.
Subcontractors or technicians where needed to complete a service you have requested.
Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, insurers, or legal advisers, where appropriate.

We require processors to process personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure, and to use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it. We do not sell your personal data.

In limited circumstances, we may disclose data where required by law, regulation, court order, or other lawful request from a public authority.

5. International Transfers

Where any processor stores or accesses data outside the United Kingdom, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that your personal data is protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection law. This may include the use of approved safeguards, such as adequacy regulations or contractual protections.

6. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason for holding it.

Customer and booking records are generally retained for a period necessary to manage service history, handle queries, and support business records.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by applicable law.
Communication records may be retained for a reasonable period to manage complaints, disputes, or follow-up matters.
Service notes and access-related information are retained only for as long as needed to complete the relevant job and support future service arrangements where appropriate.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete it, anonymise it, or otherwise dispose of it in a safe manner.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to help protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and regular review of our data handling practices.

However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and applicable legal conditions:

Right of access – to request confirmation of whether we process your data and obtain a copy of it.
Right to rectification – to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain cases.
Right to restriction – to request limited processing in certain situations.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing where applicable.
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where legally applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the time limits required by law and may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request. In some cases, we may not be able to comply fully where retention or processing is required for legal or legitimate business reasons.

9. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle personal data, you have the right to raise the matter with us and, if necessary, with the relevant data protection supervisory authority. We encourage you to raise concerns promptly so they can be reviewed and addressed appropriately.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements, our services, or our data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We recommend reviewing this Policy periodically to stay informed.

11. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all South Kensington Carpet Cleaners customers in the area and to anyone whose personal data we process in connection with our services. By using our services, making an enquiry, or providing your information to us, you acknowledge that your data will be handled in accordance with this Policy and applicable data protection law.

We are committed to treating your personal data with care, transparency, and respect.