Privacy Policy - Harefield Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Harefield Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Harefield Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including anyone who enquires about, books, receives, or pays for our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Harefield Carpet Cleaners is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used. We take our responsibilities seriously and aim to collect only the information necessary to provide our services safely and effectively.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal data when you contact us, request a quote, make a booking, or use our services:

Identity details such as your name.
Contact details such as telephone number and email address.
Address details where the cleaning service is to be carried out.
Service details including information about the carpets, rugs, upholstery, stains, property access, and any special cleaning requirements.
Payment information such as payment method, transaction status, and invoice records. We do not store full card details where payment is processed securely by a third-party provider.
Communication records including emails, messages, call notes, and service-related correspondence.
Technical data if you interact with digital systems, such as device information, IP address, or browser details, where applicable.
Feedback and complaint information if you choose to leave a review, make a complaint, or request follow-up support.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary for a specific reason and you choose to provide it. If such information is shared with us, we will only use it where permitted by law and only for the purpose for which it was provided.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotes and respond to enquiries.
To arrange appointments and deliver carpet cleaning services.
To manage customer accounts, records, and billing.
To communicate about bookings, changes, or service-related issues.
To process payments and issue receipts or invoices.
To maintain accurate records of our work and customer history.
To handle complaints, disputes, and after-service support.
To comply with legal and regulatory obligations.
To improve our services, processes, and customer experience.

We only use your data where we have a valid reason to do so and where the use is necessary and proportionate.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Harefield Carpet Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, arranging services, completing cleaning work, and managing payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process data when required to meet legal or tax obligations, such as keeping financial records or responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include keeping service records, preventing fraud, improving customer service, and managing business administration. Where we rely on this basis, we consider the impact on your privacy and only process data where it is reasonably necessary.

Consent

In some cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you choose to receive certain optional communications or where special category data is shared and a specific consent-based basis applies. You may withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share your data with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and provide our services. These parties act as processors or independent controllers, depending on the service provided.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

Payment processors that securely handle card or online payments.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that assist with invoicing, tax, and financial records.
IT and cloud storage providers that host emails, business records, or scheduling systems.
Communication service providers that support messaging, phone systems, or customer contact tools.
Customer management software providers used for booking and service administration.

Where we use processors, we ensure that appropriate data processing agreements are in place and that they only process data on our instructions, with suitable security measures. We do not sell your personal data.

We may also disclose data where necessary to:

Comply with the law or respond to legal claims.
Protect our rights, property, or safety.
Prevent or investigate suspected fraud or misuse.

6. International Transfers

If any of our processors store or access data outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to ensure your personal data is protected to UK GDPR standards. This may include using approved safeguards such as standard contractual clauses or relying on adequacy decisions where available.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including meeting legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for holding it.

In general:

Customer booking and service records may be kept for a reasonable period to manage follow-up, disputes, and service history.
Financial and tax records are usually kept for the period required by law.
Communication records may be retained while needed to deal with enquiries, complaints, or service issues.
Data held on the basis of consent is kept only until consent is withdrawn or the purpose ends.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it where appropriate.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal limits or exceptions, but we will always consider your request carefully.

Right of access – you can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – you can ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – you can ask for 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.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the time limits set by law and may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

9. Security of Your Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and careful management of records. While no system is completely secure, we work to reduce risks and respond appropriately if an incident occurs.

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 necessary in the context of a household service request and provided by an adult customer. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child without proper authorisation, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or operational needs. Any updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is used.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Harefield Carpet Cleaners is committed to treating customer data with care, respect, and transparency. We collect only the information needed to provide our services, use it for clear and lawful purposes, retain it for no longer than necessary, and protect it through appropriate safeguards. Your privacy matters to us, and we aim to ensure that all processing is fair, secure, and proportionate.