Privacy Policy - Tottenham Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Tottenham Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing carpet cleaning and related services. It applies to all Tottenham Carpet Cleaners customers in area, including individuals who request quotes, make bookings, receive services, or otherwise interact with us in connection with our work.

We are committed to handling personal data in a fair, lawful, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is intended to help you understand what data we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the personal data that is necessary to operate our business, deliver our services, and meet legal or contractual obligations. The information we may collect includes:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the name of your business or property manager.
Contact details such as your phone number, email address, and service address.
Booking and service details such as appointment dates, property access notes, cleaning preferences, and information needed to complete the job.
Payment and billing information such as invoice records, transaction references, and payment status. We do not store more payment information than is necessary for accounting and record-keeping purposes.
Communication records including emails, messages, call notes, complaints, and customer feedback.
Technical data such as basic website or device information if you contact us through digital channels, where applicable.

We do not intentionally collect special category personal data unless it is provided by you and is strictly necessary for a service request or legal reason. Special category data includes information about health, religion, political opinions, or other sensitive matters. If such information is disclosed to us incidentally, we will treat it with appropriate care and only use it where permitted by law.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data to provide our services efficiently and responsibly. Typical uses include:

responding to enquiries and preparing quotes;
booking and managing cleaning appointments;
delivering carpet cleaning and related services at your property;
sending service updates, invoices, and payment confirmations;
handling complaints, queries, or follow-up requests;
maintaining business records and service history;
meeting accounting, tax, and legal obligations;
protecting against fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access;
improving our service quality and customer experience.

We only use your personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably determine that we need to use it for a compatible lawful purpose. We do not sell personal data.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for every processing activity. Depending on the context, Tottenham Carpet Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, carrying out the cleaning service, issuing invoices, and managing payment-related administration.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain data where required by law, including tax records, accounting records, and other information needed to comply with regulatory duties.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, maintaining internal records, preventing fraud, improving services, and defending legal claims. We always consider whether our interests are proportionate and relevant before relying on this basis.

Consent

Where consent is required, we will ask for it clearly and separately. For example, this may apply to optional marketing communications. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing that took place before withdrawal.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties when necessary to provide our services, manage our business, or comply with legal duties. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the nature of their role.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

accounting and bookkeeping providers;
cloud storage and IT service providers;
email and communication platform providers;
payment processing or invoicing services;
customer management and scheduling systems;
professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where necessary.

When we use a processor, we require them to protect your data through appropriate contractual terms and security measures. They may only process data on our instructions and for agreed purposes. We take reasonable steps to ensure that processors handle data securely and lawfully.

We may also disclose personal data to law enforcement, regulators, insurers, courts, or other authorities where we are legally required or permitted to do so.

5. International Transfers

Where any service provider processes data outside the UK, we will take appropriate safeguards to ensure your information remains protected. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other legally recognised transfer mechanisms. We aim to use service providers with strong privacy and security standards.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, and in line with applicable legal requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and our legal obligations.

Customer service records are generally kept for the period needed to manage the relationship and resolve any follow-up issues.
Invoice and accounting records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Communication records are kept for a reasonable time to deal with queries, complaints, or disputes.
Marketing consent records are kept until you withdraw consent or we no longer need the record.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it where appropriate. Retention decisions are reviewed periodically to ensure data is not kept longer than necessary.

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, limited staff access, and careful selection of service providers. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection that is reasonable and proportionate to the nature of the data we process.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you may 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 ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
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 receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise concerns about how your data is handled. If you believe your data protection rights have been infringed, you may complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter promptly.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidental to a service arrangement and necessary for safety or access reasons. If you believe we have collected a child’s data in error, it should be reported so that we can review and, where appropriate, remove it.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or operational practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.

In summary: Tottenham Carpet Cleaners processes personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently, uses it only for legitimate service and business purposes, keeps it only as long as needed, and respects your rights under data protection law.