Privacy Policy - Carpet Cleaners Streatham

This Privacy Policy explains how Carpet Cleaners Streatham collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Carpet Cleaners Streatham customers in the area, including residential and commercial clients who request carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, stain treatment, odour removal, or related services. 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.

1. Who this policy applies to

This policy applies to every customer, prospective customer, visitor, and service user who interacts with Carpet Cleaners Streatham in the course of obtaining quotes, making bookings, receiving services, or communicating with us. It also applies to personal data collected when customers make enquiries on behalf of another person, such as a landlord, tenant, property manager, or business representative.

We aim to use only the data necessary to deliver our cleaning services and operate our business responsibly. We respect your privacy and keep data handling limited to legitimate business purposes.

2. Personal data we collect

We may collect the following categories of information:

• Identity details such as your name or the name of your business or organisation.
• Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
• Service details such as property access instructions, cleaning requirements, stain or fabric information, preferred appointment times, and service history.
• Billing and payment details such as invoice information, payment status, and records needed for accounting.
• Communication records such as emails, messages, booking notes, complaints, feedback, and service-related correspondence.
• Technical data if you interact with our digital systems, including basic device or usage information where relevant for security and service administration.

We do not seek to collect unnecessary personal data. In general, we do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is provided by you and is strictly necessary for a specific purpose, such as access arrangements related to a vulnerability, disability, or similar support need. Where such information is provided, we handle it with additional care and only when there is a lawful basis to do so.

3. How we collect your data

We collect personal information directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, confirm service details, pay for services, or contact us with a question or complaint. We may also receive data from third parties acting on your behalf, such as property managers, landlords, tenants, agents, or company representatives.

In some cases, we may generate data ourselves during service delivery, for example by recording the date of the visit, items cleaned, products used, or any follow-up actions required. This helps us maintain quality and keep accurate business records.

4. Lawful basis for processing

We process personal data only when we have a valid legal basis under UK GDPR. Depending on the situation, the lawful basis may be one or more of the following:

• Contract — to provide cleaning services, manage bookings, prepare quotes, and fulfil our agreement with you.
• Legitimate interests — to run our business efficiently, respond to enquiries, improve service quality, prevent fraud, and keep secure records, provided these interests do not override your rights and freedoms.
• Legal obligation — to meet tax, accounting, record-keeping, and regulatory requirements.
• Consent — where we rely on your explicit permission, such as for certain optional communications or where sensitive information is provided and consent is appropriate.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. How we use personal data

We may use your information for the following purposes:

• to provide carpet cleaning and related services;
• to arrange quotations, bookings, rescheduling, and cancellations;
• to communicate with you about appointments and service updates;
• to issue invoices and manage payments;
• to maintain business, tax, and accounting records;
• to respond to queries, complaints, or requests;
• to monitor and improve our service standards;
• to protect against misuse, unlawful activity, or unauthorised access;
• to meet legal and regulatory requirements.

We only use personal data for purposes that are compatible with the reason it was collected. If we need to use it for a new purpose, we will ensure there is a valid legal basis and provide information where required.

6. Data sharing and processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties, but only when necessary and only to the extent needed for the service or business function involved. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the context.

Examples of processors may include:

• IT and cloud storage providers;
• booking and scheduling system providers;
• accounting or invoicing software providers;
• payment processing providers;
• customer communication tools;
• professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers.

We require processors to process personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure, and to use it only for the agreed purpose. Where a third party acts as an independent controller, such as a tax authority or bank, that organisation will be responsible for its own privacy practices.

We do not sell personal data. We also do not share information for unrelated marketing purposes unless you have clearly agreed to such use or we are otherwise permitted to do so by law.

7. International transfers

If any service provider stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will take appropriate safeguards to protect your information. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other legally approved transfer measures. We ensure that any transfer is consistent with applicable data protection law.

8. 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, and reporting obligations. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason it was collected.

In general:

• Customer and service records are retained for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
• Financial and tax records are kept for the period required by law.
• Communications and complaints may be retained for a shorter or longer period depending on whether they are needed to resolve an issue or defend a legal claim.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

9. Data security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and limiting data access to people who need it for legitimate business reasons.

Although no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and respond appropriately if a data issue arises.

10. Your rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions or exemptions:

• Right of access — to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Right to erasure — to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to restriction — to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
• Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
• Right to data portability — to request transfer of certain data to you or another provider where applicable.
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the time limits required by law. We may need to verify your identity before actioning a request. In some cases, we may not be able to comply fully if we have a lawful reason to retain the data.

Complaints and further rights

If you are unhappy with how your personal data has been handled, you have the right to raise a complaint with the UK data protection authority. We would appreciate the chance to address your concerns first, and we will try to resolve issues in a fair and prompt manner.

11. Children’s data

Our services are not aimed at children, and we do not intentionally collect children’s personal data unless it is incidentally provided by an adult customer in connection with a service request. Where this occurs, we only process the data where necessary and appropriate.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements, operational practices, or service arrangements. The revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review the policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

By using Carpet Cleaners Streatham services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this policy. We are committed to keeping your information secure, relevant, and used only for legitimate purposes. This policy is designed to be clear, lawful, and proportionate to the services we provide across the Streatham area.