Privacy Policy - Gunnersbury Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Gunnersbury Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when we provide carpet cleaning and related services. It applies to all Gunnersbury Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, existing customers, and individuals who contact us about our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way, in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Gunnersbury Carpet Cleaners provides carpet cleaning and associated domestic and commercial cleaning services. In the course of offering these services, we may collect and process personal data about customers, property occupiers, payment contacts, and other individuals connected with a booking or service enquiry.

We only process personal data where we have a valid legal reason to do so and only for legitimate business purposes related to our services.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal data depending on the nature of the enquiry or service:

• Identity details such as name and title;
• Contact details such as address, phone number, and email address;
• Service details including booking information, property access notes, cleaning preferences, and service history;
• Payment information such as billing records and transaction details, where applicable;
• Communication records such as messages, complaint details, feedback, and correspondence;
• Technical data such as basic website or device information if you interact with our online systems;
• Special category data only where strictly necessary and usually not intentionally collected, for example if a customer voluntarily provides information relevant to an allergy, health condition, or access requirement.

We do not intentionally collect more personal data than is necessary for the purpose of delivering our services, managing accounts, and meeting legal obligations.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

• to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
• to arrange, deliver, and manage carpet cleaning services;
• to communicate about appointments, changes, or service updates;
• to process payments and maintain business records;
• to handle complaints, disputes, and customer support matters;
• to improve our service quality, training, and business operations;
• to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and insurance requirements;
• to protect against fraud, misuse, or security incidents.

We will not use personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected unless required or permitted by law.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on one or more of the following lawful bases under UK GDPR:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging appointments, delivering services, taking payment, and managing related customer administration.

Legal Obligation

We process data where necessary to comply with laws and regulations, including tax, accounting, consumer protection, and record-keeping obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include business administration, service quality monitoring, internal record keeping, and responding to enquiries or complaints.

Consent

Where consent is required, for example for certain optional communications or for processing any special category data provided voluntarily and specifically for a particular purpose, we will ask for your clear consent. You may withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing Personal Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties when necessary to operate our business and provide services. These may include processors who act on our instructions and are contractually required to protect data appropriately.

• Payment processors for handling card or electronic payments;
• Booking and administration providers used to organise appointments and manage customer records;
• IT and cloud service providers that support data storage, email, security, or business systems;
• Accountants and professional advisers for financial, legal, or compliance support;
• Insurance providers or claims handlers where needed for risk management or dispute resolution;
• Public authorities or regulators where disclosure is required by law.

We do not sell your personal data. Any processor we use is chosen carefully and is expected to process personal data only on our documented instructions, with appropriate technical and organisational safeguards.

6. International Transfers

If any processor stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as an adequacy regulation, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms recognised under UK GDPR.

7. Data Retention

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

• Customer and booking records are generally retained for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards;
• Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by applicable law;
• Complaints, dispute, or claim records may be retained longer where needed to defend legal claims or meet insurance requirements;
• Enquiry data that does not lead to a booking may be retained only for a limited period unless further retention is justified.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in accordance with our retention practices.

8. Security of Personal Data

We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and limiting access to data on a need-to-know basis.

No system is completely secure, but we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the sensitivity of the information we process.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions or exemptions depending on the circumstances.

• Right of access – you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• Right to rectification – you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
• Right to erasure – you may request deletion of data in certain situations;
• Right to restriction – you may ask us to limit processing in certain cases;
• Right to object – you may object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• Right to data portability – you may request certain data in a structured, commonly used format;
• Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time;
• Right to complain – you may raise a concern with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed.

If you exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to handle requests within the time limits required by law.

10. Automated Decision-Making

We do not normally use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects for customers. If this position changes, we will update this policy and explain the logic, significance, and consequences of the processing.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not intended to be directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is provided incidentally in connection with a household booking or service arrangement and only where appropriate and necessary.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or how we process personal data. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review the policy periodically.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

Gunnersbury Carpet Cleaners is committed to protecting your privacy and using personal data responsibly. We collect only what we need, use it only for clear and lawful purposes, retain it for no longer than necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or others where lawfully permitted. Your privacy matters to us, and we aim to process your information in a transparent and respectful way.

This policy applies to all Gunnersbury Carpet Cleaners customers in the area.