Privacy Policy - Hackney Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Hackney Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Hackney Carpet Cleaners customers in area, including people who request a quote, book a service, receive a service, or otherwise interact with us. 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

Hackney Carpet Cleaners provides carpet cleaning and related cleaning services to residential and commercial customers in the area. For the purposes of data protection law, Hackney Carpet Cleaners is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used.

2. Personal data we collect

We collect only the information needed to provide our services effectively, manage customer relationships, and comply with legal requirements. Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of data:

Identity data: name, title, and any relevant business or household contact details.
Contact data: address, telephone number, email address, and preferred communication method.
Service data: information about the cleaning services requested, property access details, service preferences, and notes relating to stains, fabrics, flooring type, or other relevant cleaning requirements.
Payment data: limited payment-related information necessary to process transactions and maintain financial records. We do not intentionally store full card details where this is not required.
Correspondence data: emails, messages, service queries, complaints, and any feedback you provide.
Technical data: limited device or usage information if you communicate with us electronically, such as basic log data needed to maintain system security and performance.
Special category data: we do not normally seek to collect special category data. However, if you voluntarily provide information that reveals health-related issues, allergies, or access needs, we will handle it carefully and only where necessary.

We generally collect personal data directly from you, but we may also receive data from third parties such as landlords, property managers, business clients, or payment providers where this is necessary for service delivery or administration.

3. How we use your data

We use personal data only for specified, legitimate purposes. These include:

providing quotations and service information;
managing bookings and scheduling appointments;
carrying out cleaning services safely and efficiently;
processing payments and maintaining accounting records;
communicating with you about your booking, service updates, or queries;
responding to complaints, disputes, or service issues;
keeping records for business, insurance, and compliance purposes;
protecting against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
improving our service quality and customer experience.

We do not use your data for unrelated purposes and we do not sell your personal data.

4. Lawful basis for processing

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

Contract: we process your data to provide quotes, arrange services, and perform cleaning services you request.
Legal obligation: we process data where necessary to comply with tax, accounting, or other legal requirements.
Legitimate interests: we may process data to manage our business, improve services, prevent fraud, maintain security, and handle customer communications, provided our interests do not override your rights and freedoms.
Consent: where required, we will ask for your consent, for example for certain optional communications or for processing special category data that you choose to provide.

If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Data sharing and processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties only when necessary and only to the extent required for service delivery, administration, or legal compliance. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service they provide.

Typical processors may include:

Booking and scheduling providers: to manage appointments and operational planning.
Payment service providers: to process card or electronic payments securely.
IT and cloud storage providers: to store business records, emails, and customer data securely.
Accounting and invoicing systems: to manage records, tax compliance, and financial reporting.
Customer communication tools: to send service updates or respond to enquiries.
Professional advisers: such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors where needed.

All processors are required to protect your data, act only on our instructions, and implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures. Where a third party acts as an independent controller, they are responsible for their own privacy practices.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, court order, or a public authority, or where necessary to protect our rights, property, staff, customers, or the public.

6. International transfers

If any processor stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual clauses. We take reasonable steps to ensure that international transfers are handled securely and lawfully.

7. Data retention

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

Customer and booking records: kept for the period needed to manage services and resolve disputes.
Financial and tax records: kept for the period required by law.
Communications and service notes: kept for a reasonable period to support customer service and business administration.
Marketing preferences: kept until you withdraw consent or object, where applicable.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

8. Data security

We take the protection of personal data seriously and use appropriate security measures to prevent accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access to personal information. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we regularly review our safeguards and update them where appropriate.

9. Your rights under GDPR

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal limits and verification of identity, you may have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you;
Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data;
Erase your data in certain circumstances;
Restrict how we use your data in certain situations;
Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
Data portability for data you provided to us, where applicable;
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how we handle your data.

We aim to respond to rights requests promptly and within the time limits required by law. In some cases, we may need additional information to verify your identity or to understand your request properly.

10. Children’s data

Our services are intended for adults and business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidentally provided by an adult customer in connection with a service. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child without appropriate authority, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

11. Automated decision-making

We do not use fully automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects. Any operational decisions relating to your booking or service will involve human oversight where appropriate.

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 handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so you remain informed about how we protect your personal data.

13. Summary of our approach

Hackney Carpet Cleaners only collects personal data that is necessary, uses it for clear and lawful purposes, keeps it secure, and retains it only as long as needed. We work with trusted processors under data protection agreements and respect your rights to control your personal information. This policy applies to all customers in the area served by Hackney Carpet Cleaners.