Privacy Policy - New Eltham Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how New Eltham Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all New Eltham Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals who request quotations, book services, receive cleaning visits, make enquiries, or otherwise interact with us in connection with our carpet, upholstery, rug, 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 respect your privacy and aim to ensure that any information we hold about you is used only for legitimate business purposes and retained for no longer than necessary.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and the services you request. The information we collect may include:

Identity information such as your name and title.
Contact details such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
Service information such as details of the cleaning work requested, property access notes, special instructions, and appointment preferences.
Payment information such as payment status, transaction records, and billing details. We do not store full card details unless strictly necessary and then only through secure payment systems.
Communication records such as enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence with us.
Technical information such as basic website or device data if you submit an online enquiry, including IP address, browser type, and cookies where applicable.
Service-related notes such as stain types, fabric care instructions, and any specific cleaning considerations you ask us to take into account.

In some cases, you may provide information about another person, for example where you arrange a service at a different address. If so, you should ensure that you have permission to share that information with us.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data only where we have a valid lawful basis and a clear purpose for doing so. The main ways we use your information include:

To provide quotations and assess service requirements.
To schedule, deliver, and manage cleaning appointments.
To communicate with you about bookings, changes, reminders, and follow-up matters.
To process payments, refunds, or invoices where relevant.
To respond to complaints, queries, or requests for support.
To maintain our business records and service history.
To improve our services, customer experience, and operational efficiency.
To comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, and regulatory requirements.
To protect against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We do not use your personal data for unrelated purposes. Any new use of your data will be compatible with the original reason for collection or will require a new lawful basis.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following bases:

Performance of a contract

We process your data when it is necessary to provide a quotation, make a booking, perform cleaning services, or take steps at your request before entering into a contract.

Legitimate interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include managing customer records, improving services, preventing fraud, and handling routine communications. We always consider whether the impact on your privacy is proportionate.

Legal obligation

We may process and retain information where required to meet legal obligations, such as accounting rules, tax record keeping, insurance matters, or lawful requests from public authorities.

Consent

Where we rely on your consent, for example for certain optional marketing communications, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These processors only handle data under our instructions and are required to keep it secure and confidential. They may include:

Booking and scheduling service providers.
Payment processors and invoicing systems.
IT and cloud storage providers.
Communication tools used for email, messaging, or customer support.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers.

We may also disclose data where necessary to comply with legal obligations, enforce our rights, or protect the rights, property, or safety of our business, customers, staff, or others.

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

5. Data Retention

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

Customer service records may be retained for a reasonable period to manage repeat bookings, service history, and queries.
Financial and tax records are generally retained for the period required by law.
Complaint and correspondence records may be retained to resolve disputes and demonstrate compliance.
Technical and website-related records are kept only as long as needed for security, analytics, or operational purposes.

When information is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. Where we are legally required to retain data, we will do so only for the applicable period.

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures are designed to reflect the nature of the data we hold and the risks associated with processing it. Access is restricted to individuals and service providers who need it for legitimate business purposes.

Although we work to protect your information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will take appropriate action in line with legal requirements.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject, you have rights under data protection law. These rights may be subject to certain conditions or exceptions. They include the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you.
Rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Erasure of your data in certain circumstances.
Restriction of processing in certain situations.
Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Data portability where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
Withdraw consent at any time 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 rights have been infringed, you may lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter promptly.

8. Marketing Communications

If we send you optional marketing communications, we will only do so where permitted by law. You can object to or opt out of these communications at any time. We will respect your preferences and stop sending such communications where required.

No purchase or booking is conditional on receiving marketing messages. Service-related communications, such as appointment confirmations or important updates, are not marketing and may still be sent where necessary to perform the service.

9. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it in accordance with applicable data protection law. This may include using approved contractual protections or ensuring that the destination country provides an adequate level of protection.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal obligations, or service arrangements. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We encourage you to review it periodically so that you remain informed about how we use personal data.

11. Summary of Key Principles

In summary, New Eltham Carpet Cleaners only processes personal data where it is necessary, lawful, and proportionate. We collect the minimum information needed to provide and manage our services, we keep it only as long as necessary, and we share it only with trusted processors or where legally required. Your privacy matters to us, and we aim to handle your data responsibly at every stage.

This Privacy Policy applies to all New Eltham Carpet Cleaners customers in the area.