Privacy Policy - Friern Barnet Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Friern Barnet Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing carpet cleaning and related services. It applies to all Friern Barnet Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including anyone who enquires about our services, receives a quotation, books an appointment, or uses our services. We are committed to handling personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Friern Barnet Carpet Cleaners is a carpet cleaning service provider operating for customers in Friern Barnet and the surrounding area. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and process in connection with our business activities.

We take privacy seriously and only collect and use personal data where it is necessary, lawful, and fair to do so.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity information such as your name and, where relevant, the name of your household or business.
Contact details such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
Service information such as details about the cleaning services requested, property access notes, cleaning requirements, and appointment preferences.
Payment information such as payment status, transaction references, and billing records. We do not store card details unless required by a secure payment provider.
Communication records including messages, enquiries, complaints, feedback, and notes relating to our dealings with you.
Technical information where you interact with our digital systems, such as device or usage information, if collected through standard service tools.
Special category data only where necessary and only if you voluntarily provide it, for example information about allergies or sensitivities that may affect service delivery. In such cases, we will apply additional safeguards and process this data only where permitted by law.

We do not seek to collect more personal data than we need.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data in several ways, including:

When you contact us to request information or a quotation.
When you book or receive a service.
When you communicate with us by phone, email, or other messaging methods.
When you make a payment or request a refund or invoice.
When you provide feedback, make a complaint, or otherwise interact with us.
When personal data is supplied by third parties acting on your behalf, such as a family member, landlord, property manager, or business representative.

4. 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 with you about appointments, service changes, and customer support.
To issue invoices, process payments, and keep financial records.
To handle complaints, disputes, or service issues.
To maintain business records and comply with legal obligations.
To improve our services, customer experience, and operational efficiency.
To prevent fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We only use personal data for specified and legitimate purposes.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

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

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as arranging and delivering carpet cleaning services, managing bookings, and taking payment.

Legal Obligation

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

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, improving services, securing our systems, and handling routine business administration.

Consent

Where required, we will rely on your consent. For example, if you voluntarily provide sensitive information that is not necessary for the service, we may ask for your permission to process it. You can withdraw consent at any time, but this will not affect any processing carried out before withdrawal.

6. Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for our business operations and service delivery. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We ensure appropriate contractual and security measures are in place before sharing personal data.

Typical processors and service providers may include:

Payment processors used to handle transactions securely.
IT and hosting providers that support our record-keeping, communications, or digital systems.
Accounting or bookkeeping providers used for financial administration.
Customer management or booking tools used to schedule services and maintain records.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary.

We may also disclose personal data if required to do so by law, by a court order, or to protect our rights, customers, staff, or property.

We do not sell your personal data.

7. 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 decision, standard contractual clauses, or another lawful transfer mechanism recognised by applicable data protection law.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The length of time may vary depending on the nature of the data and the reason for processing.

Customer and service records are usually retained for a period necessary to manage the service relationship and resolve any follow-up issues.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Communication records may be kept for a reasonable period to respond to queries, improve service, or evidence transactions.
Consent-based data is kept until consent is withdrawn or the data is no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer required, we will delete, anonymise, or securely destroy it.

9. Data Security

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

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to reduce risks and safeguard data as far as reasonably possible.

10. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply in different circumstances and may be subject to exemptions:

Right of access – you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – you can ask us to delete your personal data in certain situations.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability – you can request transfer of data you provided to us where legally applicable.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with applicable law and within the required timeframes.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging cleaning services for residential or commercial properties. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidentally provided by an adult customer and only where necessary for service delivery.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data processing practices. Any updates will take effect when published in the revised version. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically.

13. Complaints

If you have concerns about how your personal data is handled, you have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority. You may also contact us directly to discuss your concerns and allow us the opportunity to address them.

We aim to process personal data fairly, transparently, and securely for every customer in Friern Barnet and the surrounding area.