Privacy Policy - Barnsbury Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Barnsbury Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Barnsbury Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and individuals who enquire about our services. We are committed to handling personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Barnsbury Carpet Cleaners provides professional carpet cleaning and related cleaning services. In the course of delivering our services, we may collect and process personal data about you. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and the rights you have in relation to your data.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the purposes described in this policy. Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of information:

Identity information such as your name and, where relevant, business name.
Contact information such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information such as property access details, cleaning preferences, booking notes, and service history.
Payment information such as billing details and payment confirmations. We do not intentionally store full card details unless required by a secure payment provider.
Communication records including emails, messages, call notes, feedback, and complaints.
Technical information where relevant, such as basic device or browser data if you interact with any digital booking or enquiry systems.
Special instructions that you may choose to provide, for example access arrangements or information needed to safely carry out a cleaning appointment.

We do not seek to collect unnecessary personal information. Where we do receive information that is not needed, we will limit its use and retention as far as possible.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We may collect your information directly from you when you:

make an enquiry;
request a quote or booking;
use our services;
communicate with us by phone, email, or message;
provide feedback or raise a concern.

We may also receive data from third parties where necessary for service delivery, such as payment providers, referring contractors, or property managers acting on your behalf.

4. Why We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for specific, legitimate purposes connected with our services. These include:

responding to enquiries and providing quotations;
arranging and delivering cleaning services;
managing bookings, cancellations, and changes;
processing payments and sending invoices;
keeping service records and handling follow-up requests;
dealing with complaints, disputes, and service issues;
meeting legal, accounting, and tax obligations;
protecting our business, staff, customers, and property;
improving service quality and customer experience.

We will only use your data for purposes that are compatible with the original reason it was collected, unless we obtain your permission or have another lawful basis to do so.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Barnsbury Carpet Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases where appropriate:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, carrying out services, communicating about appointments, and managing payments.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is reasonably necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. Examples include managing customer relationships, maintaining business records, preventing fraud, improving services, and resolving disputes. We always consider whether your interests or privacy rights require us to limit such processing.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information to comply with legal obligations, including tax rules, accounting requirements, insurance matters, and lawful requests from public authorities.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where consent is needed for a specific optional activity. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect processing already carried out lawfully before it was withdrawn.

6. Sharing Your Data with Processors and Other Parties

We may share personal data with trusted third parties that help us operate our business. These parties act as processors when they process data on our behalf and under our instructions. They are required to protect your information and use it only for permitted purposes.

Examples of processors may include:

IT and hosting providers that store or support our records and systems;
payment processors that handle secure transactions;
booking or scheduling tools used to manage appointments;
accounting and invoicing services used for financial administration;
communication service providers that support email or message delivery;
professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where needed.

We may also disclose data where required by law, court order, or regulatory obligation, or where necessary to protect our legal rights or the safety of others.

We do not sell your personal data. Any sharing is limited to what is necessary and proportionate for the relevant purpose.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, including for the purpose of satisfying legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason we hold it.

In general:

booking and service records are retained for a reasonable period to manage customer history and resolve issues;
financial and invoicing records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law;
complaints, dispute records, and insurance-related information may be retained longer where necessary;
unused enquiry data is deleted or anonymised after an appropriate period unless further contact is expected or required.

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

8. International Transfers

Where any processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the United Kingdom, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms recognised under data protection law.

9. Security of Your Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect 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. No system is completely secure, but we work hard to reduce risks and respond promptly if a security issue arises.

10. Your Rights Under Data Protection Law

You have rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exemptions, these may include:

the right of access to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
the right to rectification to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
the right to erasure in certain circumstances, sometimes called the right to be forgotten;
the right to restrict processing in certain situations;
the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
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;
the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to deal with such requests within the time limits set by law.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidental and necessary in connection with providing services to a household, and then only to the minimum extent required.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal obligations, or service arrangements. Any updated version will apply from the time it is published or otherwise communicated to customers. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how your data is handled.

13. Complaints and Further Information

If you are concerned about how your personal data has been handled, you have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority. We also encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve the issue quickly and fairly. We take privacy concerns seriously and will review any complaint carefully.

By using the services of Barnsbury Carpet Cleaners, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.