Privacy Policy - Belgravia Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Belgravia Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to customers, prospective customers, and other individuals who use our services or interact with us. It applies to all Belgravia Carpet Cleaners customers in the area where our services are provided. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Belgravia Carpet Cleaners provides carpet cleaning and related cleaning services to residential and commercial customers. In the course of delivering these services, we may process personal data about individuals such as property owners, tenants, managers, employees, and authorised representatives. We act as a data controller when we determine the purposes and means of processing personal data.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the purposes described in this policy. Depending on the nature of your interaction with us, we may collect the following categories of data:

• Identity information: name, title, and any details needed to identify you as a customer or authorised contact.
• Contact information: address, email address, telephone number, and service location details.
• Service information: details about the cleaning services requested, property access arrangements, appointment history, and service preferences.
• Billing and payment information: invoicing details, payment status, transaction records, and limited financial information necessary for processing payments.
• Communication records: emails, messages, notes of calls, complaints, feedback, and other correspondence.
• Technical information: limited information collected through our systems, such as device or usage data if applicable to our internal records or website tools.
• Special category data: we do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it, for example where a health-related access requirement affects service delivery. When such data is processed, we do so only where a lawful basis and, where required, an additional legal condition applies.

We do not collect more information than we need. If you provide data relating to another person, you must ensure you have the authority to do so and that the person is aware of this policy where appropriate.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for legitimate business and legal purposes, including:

• to provide and manage carpet cleaning services;
• to arrange appointments, confirm bookings, and manage access to premises;
• to issue invoices, process payments, and maintain accounting records;
• to respond to enquiries, complaints, and requests for support;
• to maintain internal records, service history, and quality control;
• to improve our services and customer experience;
• to comply with legal obligations, including tax and regulatory requirements;
• to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims where necessary;
• to send administrative communications related to our services.

Where required, we may also use data for marketing communications in compliance with applicable law and your communication preferences.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. Belgravia 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, such as providing a quote, confirming a booking, delivering services, and handling payment administration.

Legal Obligation

We may process information to comply with legal requirements, such as record-keeping, accounting, taxation, fraud prevention, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This includes managing our business, improving services, maintaining internal records, preventing misuse, and handling customer communications.

Consent

Where required by law, we rely on your consent, for example for certain types of marketing communication or processing of optional sensitive information. You may withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties when necessary for business operations, legal compliance, or service delivery. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the circumstances.

Processors may include:

• payment service providers;
• accounting and bookkeeping software providers;
• customer communication platforms;
• IT and cloud storage providers;
• appointment scheduling or administration tools;
• professional advisers such as accountants, legal advisers, or insurers;
• subcontractors or service partners assisting in service delivery, where needed.

We only use processors that provide sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data. We require them to process data only on our instructions, unless they are independently responsible for their own processing.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, court order, or regulatory authority, or to protect our rights, customers, staff, and property.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and reporting obligations. The retention period depends on the type of data and the purpose for which it is used.

• Customer and service records: retained for as long as needed to manage the relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards for follow-up, disputes, and operational purposes.
• Financial and tax records: retained for the period required by applicable law.
• Communication records: retained for a period appropriate to the nature of the communication and any ongoing issue.
• Marketing preference data: retained until you withdraw consent or object, where applicable.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in accordance with our retention practices. We do not keep personal data indefinitely.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, password protection, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access based on role. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to maintain safeguards that are proportionate to the risks involved.

8. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place as required by data protection law. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations or contractual protections designed to protect your information.

9. Your Rights

Subject to certain conditions and exemptions under data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• 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 data;
• Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances;
• Right to restriction: to request that we limit processing in certain situations;
• Right to data portability: to receive data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used format where applicable;
• Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing;
• Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time;
• Right to complain: to raise concerns with the supervisory authority if you believe your data has been handled unlawfully.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a rights request. We aim to respond within the time limits required by law.

10. How We Handle Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children in the ordinary course of our services. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected such data without appropriate authorisation, we will take steps to delete it where required.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements, business operations, or data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how their personal data is used.

12. Contacting Us About Privacy

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to exercise your rights, you may contact us using the appropriate service channels provided by Belgravia Carpet Cleaners. We will handle privacy-related requests in a fair, lawful, and timely manner.

In summary: Belgravia Carpet Cleaners processes personal data only where it is necessary, proportionate, and lawful, and we are committed to protecting the privacy of every customer in the area we serve.