Privacy Policy - Strawberry Hill Carpet Cleaners

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This Privacy Policy explains how Strawberry Hill Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Strawberry Hill Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about, book, receive, or pay for our carpet cleaning and related services. We are committed to handling personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Strawberry Hill Carpet Cleaners provides professional carpet cleaning and related cleaning services for residential and commercial customers in the Strawberry Hill area and surrounding local locations. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the data controller for the personal data we collect and use in connection with our services.

This means we decide why and how personal data is processed, and we are responsible for making sure it is handled lawfully, fairly, and transparently.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the provision, management, and improvement of our services. The categories of information we may collect include:

Identity details: name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact details: address, email address, telephone number, and other communication details.
Service information: details of the cleaning services requested, property access information, appointment preferences, and notes relevant to delivering the service.
Billing and payment data: payment status, transaction references, and limited billing details necessary to process payments or issue receipts.
Communication records: messages, complaints, feedback, and service-related correspondence.
Technical data: basic information such as IP address or device information if you interact with us through digital channels, where applicable.

We do not seek to collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you choose to provide it. Special category data includes information about health, religion, political opinions, or similar sensitive matters. If such information is ever provided to us accidentally, we will handle it with additional care and only retain it where there is a lawful reason to do so.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to schedule, deliver, and manage carpet cleaning services;
to communicate with customers about bookings, changes, or service updates;
to process payments and maintain business records;
to handle complaints, disputes, and claims;
to improve our services, customer experience, and operational efficiency;
to meet legal, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
to protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or security incidents.

We will only use your data for the purposes explained in this policy or for compatible purposes that you would reasonably expect.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. Depending on the context, 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. This includes taking bookings, delivering services, processing payments, and communicating about the services you have requested.

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. Examples include managing customer relationships, improving service quality, preventing fraud, maintaining records, and protecting our business operations.

Legal Obligation

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

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily agree to receive certain marketing communications or where you provide optional information that is not otherwise necessary for the service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We only share data where necessary and under appropriate safeguards.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

payment providers used to process transactions securely;
accounting or bookkeeping providers that help with financial records;
IT, hosting, and cloud service providers that support data storage and communication;
customer management or scheduling tools used to organise bookings and service delivery;
professional advisers such as insurers, auditors, or legal advisers where necessary;
subcontractors or operational partners assisting with service delivery, if required.

All processors are required to handle personal data securely and only in accordance with our instructions. They must not use your information for their own purposes unless they are separately acting as a controller and have a lawful basis to do so.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, to enforce our terms, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our customers, staff, or business.

6. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms designed to protect your information to a standard consistent with UK data protection requirements.

7. Data Retention

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

In general:

customer enquiry records may be kept for a limited period to respond to follow-up questions or repeat service requests;
booking and service records may be retained for business administration, warranty handling, and dispute resolution;
financial and transaction records are typically retained for the period required by tax and accounting law;
communication records may be retained where needed to demonstrate agreements, resolve complaints, or manage service quality.

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

8. 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 restricted access, secure storage, password protection, staff training, and careful selection of service providers.

Although we take data security seriously, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to pose a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will follow our legal obligations in relation to reporting and notification.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exceptions, 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 our processing in certain situations;
object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
data portability for information you have provided to us, where applicable;
withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with legal requirements. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you believe your personal data has been handled unlawfully. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

10. Marketing Communications

We may send limited marketing communications where permitted by law, such as information about our services or seasonal offers. You can opt out of marketing at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in the message or by contacting us through the usual customer service channels.

We will not use your personal data for marketing in a way that is unfair, intrusive, or inconsistent with your preferences.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is provided by an adult customer as part of a legitimate service arrangement. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child without appropriate consent or lawful basis, we will take steps to delete it where required.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or the way we process personal data. Any updated version will take effect when published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their information is handled.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

Strawberry Hill Carpet Cleaners is committed to processing personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We only collect the information needed to provide our services, we rely on an appropriate lawful basis for each processing activity, we limit retention to what is necessary, we work only with trusted processors, and we respect the rights of our customers. This policy applies to all Strawberry Hill Carpet Cleaners customers in the area.