Privacy Policy - Finchley Carpet Cleaners

Effective for all Finchley Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, this Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data when we provide carpet cleaning and related services. We are committed to handling personal information lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This policy applies to all customers, including prospective customers, existing customers, and individuals who enquire about or receive services from Finchley Carpet Cleaners in the area we serve.

1. Who We Are

Finchley Carpet Cleaners is a carpet cleaning service provider operating in the Finchley area and surrounding locations. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller in relation to the personal data we collect and use for our own business purposes. This means we decide why and how your personal data is processed.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing our services, managing customer relationships, maintaining records, and meeting legal obligations. The categories of information we may collect include:

Identity data such as your name, title, and any preferred form of address.
Contact data such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service data such as details of the cleaning services requested, property access notes, appointment dates, job history, and service preferences.
Payment and billing data such as records of payments made, invoices, and transaction references. We do not intentionally store full card details unless required by a secure payment provider.
Communication data such as messages, feedback, complaints, and notes relating to your enquiry or booking.
Technical data that may be collected when you interact with our digital systems, such as basic device or usage information used for security, fraud prevention, and system performance.
Special category data only where strictly necessary and generally not intended to be collected. If you voluntarily provide information that could reveal sensitive personal details, we will handle it with extra care and only where a lawful basis applies.

We do not intentionally collect more personal data than is needed for legitimate business and service purposes. Where possible, we limit data collection to the minimum necessary.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote or make an enquiry;
book a service;
communicate with us by phone, email, or message;
provide access details or instructions related to a booking;
pay for services or request an invoice;
leave feedback or raise a complaint.

We may also receive personal data from third parties where necessary to deliver our services, for example from a landlord, letting agent, property manager, or another person arranging a booking on your behalf. In such cases, we expect the third party to have the legal right to share your information with us.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Finchley Carpet Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, providing cleaning services, taking payments, issuing invoices, and dealing with service-related communications.

Legitimate Interests

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

Legal Obligation

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

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is the most appropriate basis for a specific type of optional communication. If we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

Important: where we rely on legitimate interests or contract, we only use personal data for purposes that are reasonable, relevant, and proportionate to our services.

5. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to arrange, manage, and deliver cleaning services;
to keep appointment records and service notes;
to process payments and maintain financial records;
to communicate with you about your booking or service updates;
to handle complaints, disputes, or aftercare matters;
to comply with legal and accounting obligations;
to protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We will not use your personal data for unrelated purposes without informing you or ensuring that a lawful basis exists.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These processors are only allowed to process data according to our instructions and must protect it appropriately. Examples of processors may include:

booking and scheduling system providers;
secure payment service providers;
accounting and invoicing software providers;
IT support and cloud storage providers;
customer communication and email service providers;
professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers, where necessary.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims, or where needed to protect our rights, property, staff, or customers.

When we use processors, we take reasonable steps to ensure they provide sufficient guarantees regarding security, confidentiality, and compliance with data protection law.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to fulfil our contractual obligations, resolve disputes, comply with legal obligations, and maintain business records.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the purpose of processing. In general:

customer and service records are kept for a period necessary to manage ongoing business and aftercare;
financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law;
communications and complaints may be kept for a reasonable period to support service quality and dispute resolution;
data no longer needed is securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise disposed of.

We review retained information periodically to ensure it is not kept longer than necessary. Where data is no longer required, we take steps to remove it safely.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, disclosure, or alteration. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and careful management of third-party access.

While we work hard to protect your information, no system is completely secure. If we become aware of a personal data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will respond in accordance with legal requirements.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have certain rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing. Your rights may include:

The right of access - to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
The right to rectification - to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
The right to erasure - to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
The right to restriction - to request limited processing in certain situations.
The right to object - to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
The right to data portability - to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
The right to withdraw consent - where processing is based on consent.

You also have the right to raise concerns with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you believe your data protection rights have not been respected. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any concern promptly and fairly.

10. Marketing Preferences

If we ever send marketing communications, we will do so only where permitted by law. You may opt out of marketing at any time. We will respect your preferences and stop sending non-essential communications when requested, subject to any legal obligations or essential service notices.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging cleaning services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children in the ordinary course of business. If we become aware that we have collected such data without a valid reason, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our business practices, or the services we provide. Any revised version will apply from the effective date stated in the updated policy. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how your data is handled.

13. Summary of Key Points

This policy applies to all Finchley Carpet Cleaners customers in the area.
We collect only the personal data needed to provide and manage our services.
Our lawful bases include contract, legitimate interests, legal obligation, and, in some cases, consent.
We share data only with trusted processors and where legally required.
We keep data only as long as necessary and securely delete it when no longer needed.
You have rights over your personal data, including access, correction, deletion, objection, and restriction.

By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.