Privacy Policy - New Barnet Carpet Cleaners

New Barnet Carpet Cleaners is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data relating to our customers, prospective customers, and other individuals whose data we may process in connection with our services. It applies to all New Barnet Carpet Cleaners customers in the area and should be read alongside any service terms or booking information we provide.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, New Barnet Carpet Cleaners is the data controller of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed. We are responsible for ensuring that your data is handled in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We process personal data only when we have a valid legal reason to do so and only for the purposes set out in this policy. Our approach is based on data minimisation, meaning we only collect information that is necessary for legitimate business and service-related purposes.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity information such as your name and title.
Contact information such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Booking and service details including the services requested, appointment date and time, property access notes, and service preferences.
Payment-related information such as payment status, invoices, and transaction references. We do not ordinarily store full payment card details where a secure third-party payment provider is used.
Communication records including emails, messages, call notes, complaints, and feedback.
Technical and usage information if you interact with our digital systems, such as device data, IP address, and browser information, where applicable.
Special category data only where you voluntarily provide it and where it is necessary for service delivery or safeguarding. For example, we may need information about accessibility requirements if this affects how a service is carried out. We will always treat such data with additional care.

We generally collect personal data directly from you when you make an enquiry, request a quote, book a service, communicate with us, or give feedback. In some cases, we may receive data from third parties such as property managers, landlords, insurers, or referral partners where this is lawful and relevant to a booking.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To arrange and deliver carpet cleaning and related services.
To manage appointments, access arrangements, and customer service communications.
To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain accounting records.
To handle complaints, disputes, and aftercare requests.
To improve our services, training, and internal processes.
To comply with legal and regulatory obligations.
To maintain business records and defend legal claims where necessary.

We do not sell personal data. We also do not use personal data for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing your booking, delivering the requested service, and handling payment and service follow-up.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where we must comply with legal requirements, such as tax, accounting, consumer protection, or record-keeping obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include improving our services, managing our customer relationships, preventing fraud, and maintaining business records. When we rely on this basis, we consider whether the processing is proportionate and necessary.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you choose to provide optional information or agree to certain types of communication. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing Your Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary and lawful. These may include:

Service providers and processors who support our business operations, such as booking systems, IT support, secure data storage, payment processing, accounting services, and communication tools.
Subcontractors or field staff who assist in delivering services where required.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, legal advisers, and auditors.
Public authorities where required by law or to protect our rights, property, or safety.

When we use processors, they are only allowed to process personal data on our instructions and must implement appropriate technical and organisational safeguards. We ensure that written contracts are in place with processors where required by law.

If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure suitable safeguards are in place so that your information remains protected in line with data protection law.

6. Data Retention

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

As a general approach:

Booking and service records are retained for a period necessary to manage repeat services, resolve queries, and maintain business records.
Financial and accounting records are retained for the period required by law.
Correspondence and complaints may be retained for a reasonable period to evidence communications and resolve disputes.
Information collected with consent is retained until consent is withdrawn or the data is no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in accordance with our retention procedures. We do not keep data indefinitely without a valid reason.

7. Security of Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, staff training, and data minimisation practices.

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

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and exemptions. They include:

Right of access – you may request confirmation of whether we process your data and obtain a copy of it.
Right to rectification – you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – in some circumstances, you may ask us to delete your data.
Right to restrict processing – you may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to data portability – you may request certain data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
Right to object – you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you believe your data has been handled unlawfully. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any concerns promptly and fairly.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a service request and is provided by an adult with appropriate authority. If we become aware that we have collected data unlawfully from a child, we will take steps to delete it where appropriate.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal obligations, or operational requirements. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated to you. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how your data is used.

11. How We Keep This Policy Fair and Transparent

We aim to process personal data in a way that is lawful, fair, and transparent. This means we will only collect data for clear purposes, avoid excessive processing, and respect your rights. We also strive to ensure that any information we provide is easy to understand and not hidden in unnecessarily complex wording.

If you engage our services, you acknowledge that we may process your personal data as described in this policy for the purpose of providing those services. By using New Barnet Carpet Cleaners, customers in the area agree that their information may be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.