Privacy Policy - Carpet Cleaning Catford

Last updated: This Privacy Policy explains how Carpet Cleaning Catford collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data belonging to customers and prospective customers in the Catford area. It applies to all Carpet Cleaning Catford customers in the area, including anyone who requests a quotation, books a service, communicates with us, or uses our cleaning services.

1. Introduction

We are committed to respecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way. This policy is designed to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and what rights you have under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

By engaging with our services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We take data protection seriously and only process information that is necessary for providing our cleaning services, managing customer relationships, fulfilling legal duties, and improving service quality.

2. Information We Collect

We collect only the information that is relevant and necessary for operating Carpet Cleaning Catford effectively. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact details such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details such as the type of carpet cleaning requested, property access notes, appointment times, and service preferences.
Payment information where required to process transactions, issue refunds, or maintain accounting records.
Communication records including messages, queries, complaints, feedback, and notes from phone calls or written correspondence.
Technical information such as basic website or device data, if you submit a form or interact electronically with us.
Service history including previous appointments, quotations, invoices, and cleaning outcomes.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you have chosen to provide it, or it is required for a specific lawful reason. If you share information that is not needed for our services, we will only use it where lawful and appropriate.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data to deliver and manage our services in a reliable and professional manner. Typical purposes include:

Providing quotes and confirming bookings.
Carrying out carpet cleaning and related services.
Managing customer accounts, scheduling, and reminders.
Processing payments and handling refunds where applicable.
Responding to enquiries, feedback, or complaints.
Maintaining records for accounting, auditing, and legal compliance.
Improving our services, operations, and customer experience.
Preventing fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We will never sell your personal data. Any sharing of information is limited, controlled, and carried out only when necessary for service delivery, legal compliance, or legitimate business operations.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. We rely on the following bases depending on the situation:

Contract

We process data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotations, arranging appointments, completing cleaning services, and managing invoices or payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data where necessary to comply with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting, fraud prevention, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process information where it is in our legitimate interests to do so and where those interests are not overridden by your rights. Examples include improving service quality, managing customer relationships, protecting our business from misuse, and maintaining internal records.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you have agreed to receive optional marketing communications. You may withdraw consent at any time, and doing so will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing and Processors

We may share your data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These processors only handle data under our instructions and are required to protect it appropriately. Examples of processors may include:

Booking and scheduling service providers.
Payment processing providers.
Accounting and invoicing software providers.
Email, communication, and document storage services.
IT support or data backup providers.

We may also share data with independent controllers where required by law, such as tax authorities, regulators, law enforcement, or insurers. If a business transfer, restructuring, or merger occurs, customer data may be transferred as part of that process, but only subject to appropriate safeguards.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that any third party we use maintains proper security measures and processes data only for agreed purposes. Confidentiality and data protection remain central to our supplier selection.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, and no longer than required by law. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Customer service records are usually retained for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Invoices and financial records are retained in line with tax and accounting obligations.
Communication records may be retained to help us respond to queries, resolve disputes, and manage future service requests.
Consent-based marketing data is kept until you withdraw consent or it is no longer needed.

When data is no longer required, we will delete, anonymise, or securely archive it in a manner consistent with our retention practices. We do not keep information indefinitely without a lawful reason.

7. Data Security

We use 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, password protection, staff confidentiality obligations, and regular review of data handling practices.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and ensure that data is handled responsibly. If a data breach occurs that is likely to pose a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will act in line with legal requirements.

8. Your Rights

As a data subject under the UK GDPR, you have rights relating to your personal data. Subject to legal restrictions and verification of identity, these rights may include:

The right to be informed about how your data is collected and used.
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, also known as the right to be forgotten.
The right to restrict processing where conditions are met.
The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
The right to data portability in certain cases where processing is based on consent or contract.
Rights relating to automated decision-making where applicable.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need information to verify your identity and locate your records. We will respond within the timeframes required by law.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults or for those acting on behalf of a household or property. We do not knowingly collect data from children in the ordinary course of business. If we become aware that we have collected information from a child without appropriate consent or legal basis, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

10. International Transfers

Where personal data is processed outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it in accordance with data protection law. Such safeguards may include approved contractual clauses or use of service providers that meet required standards.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or the way we process data. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain aware of how their information is handled.

12. Summary of Our Approach

At Carpet Cleaning Catford, we aim to keep personal data handling simple, lawful, and secure. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, share it only with carefully selected processors or legal authorities when required, and keep it only for as long as necessary. Your privacy matters to us, and we work to ensure that all Carpet Cleaning Catford customers in the area are treated fairly and transparently.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with any service terms or related notices that may apply to your booking or interaction with us.