Privacy Policy - Camden Carpet Cleaners

Last updated: This Privacy Policy explains how Camden Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Camden Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who has interacted with our services.

1. Introduction

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy sets out what information we collect, why we collect it, the legal grounds we rely on, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and the rights you have over your personal data.

By using our services or providing information to us, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this Privacy Policy. We only collect information that is necessary for delivering our services, managing bookings, maintaining records, and meeting legal or operational obligations.

2. Data We Collect

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

• Identity details: your name, and where relevant, the name of a business or property contact.
• Contact details: address, email address, and telephone number.
• Service information: details about the carpet cleaning services requested, property access notes, cleaning preferences, and appointment history.
• Payment information: payment records, invoices, and transaction confirmations. We do not store more payment information than is necessary to complete and record a transaction.
• Communication records: correspondence by phone, email, or message relating to enquiries, bookings, complaints, quotations, or service updates.
• Technical and usage data: limited information that may be collected when you interact with digital systems used to manage our services, such as device identifiers or basic log data.
• Special category data: generally, we do not intentionally collect special category data. If you choose to share information that may reveal health conditions, access needs, or other sensitive details, we will only process it where necessary and lawful, and with appropriate safeguards.

We do not seek to collect unnecessary personal data. Where possible, we avoid storing information that is not needed for service delivery, administration, or compliance.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

• to provide quotes, arrange appointments, and deliver carpet cleaning services;
• to manage customer accounts and maintain service records;
• to respond to enquiries, feedback, and complaints;
• to process payments, issue invoices, and keep financial records;
• to improve our services, scheduling, and customer experience;
• to comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory requirements;
• to protect against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
• to keep accurate business and operational records.

We only use your personal data for the purpose for which it was collected unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another compatible purpose. If we need to use your data for an unrelated purpose, we will explain the legal basis for doing so where required.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. Depending on the context, Camden Carpet Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, confirming bookings, delivering services, and managing payments.

Legitimate interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This can include service administration, record keeping, quality control, customer communication, and fraud prevention.

Legal obligation

We may process personal data when required to comply with legal obligations, such as accounting, tax, insurance, or lawful requests from authorities.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example if we need to process optional information that is not necessary for a service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties that help us run our business. These third parties act as processors or independent data controllers depending on the service they provide.

Examples of processors may include:

• IT and hosting providers: for secure storage, email handling, and system maintenance;
• booking and administration tools: for managing appointments, customer records, and internal workflows;
• payment service providers: for processing card or online payments;
• accounting and invoicing services: for financial administration and statutory record keeping;
• customer communication tools: for sending service-related messages and confirmations;
• professional advisers: such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where needed.

We require our processors to protect personal data, use it only on our instructions, and apply appropriate security measures. We do not sell personal data. We may disclose information if required by law, to prevent fraud, or to protect our rights, property, customers, or staff.

6. International Transfers

If a processor stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will take steps to ensure that your data is protected to a standard that is comparable to UK data protection requirements. This may include using approved contractual safeguards or relying on adequacy decisions where applicable.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of record and the reason it is held.

• Customer service records: retained for a reasonable period after the last interaction to support administration, warranty handling, and dispute resolution.
• Financial records: retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
• Communication records: retained for as long as needed to manage the relevant query or complaint.
• Consent-based data: retained until consent is withdrawn or it is no longer needed.

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

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and limiting access to those who need it for legitimate business purposes. While we work hard to protect data, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to restriction: to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
• Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
• Right to data portability: to receive certain information in a structured, commonly used format where technically feasible.
• Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

These rights are not absolute and may only apply in specific circumstances. If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits set by law.

10. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant data protection authority. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue promptly and fairly. We will take all reasonable steps to investigate concerns and improve our data handling practices where needed.

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 published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Camden Carpet Cleaners is committed to processing personal data lawfully, securely, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and limited purposes, share it only with trusted processors or where legally required, and keep it only for as long as necessary. We respect your rights and aim to handle every customer’s information with care and accountability.

Privacy matters to us. Your trust is important, and we are committed to protecting it through responsible data practices and clear communication.