Barnet Carpet Cleaning Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Barnet Carpet Cleaning collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to its customers and prospective customers in the Barnet area. It is intended to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. By using our services or contacting us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Barnet Carpet Cleaning customers, former customers, and prospective customers located in the Barnet area who contact us, request a quote, or use any of our carpet, upholstery, or related cleaning services. It also applies to individuals who communicate with us on behalf of a business, landlord, tenant, or managing agent.

Types of Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the personal data that is necessary to provide our services, manage our business, and comply with legal obligations. The types of personal data we may collect include: name and title, home address or service address, billing address if different, contact details such as telephone number and other communication details you choose to provide, property access details that you volunteer, booking details including dates, times, and type of service requested, payment-related information such as confirmation of payment and basic transaction details, but we do not store full card details if you pay by card. We may also collect communication records, such as notes from phone calls and correspondence relevant to your booking or enquiry, and limited technical information generated when you interact with our website, such as your IP address and basic device information, for security and functionality purposes.

How We Collect Your Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, online form, or through any other communication channel to request a quote or make a booking, use our services at a residential or commercial address, or provide feedback, reviews, or complaints. We may collect personal data indirectly from third parties when a landlord, tenant, estate agent, or property manager provides your details for the purposes of arranging services at a property. We may also collect limited data automatically when you visit our website, via basic logs or similar technologies, to support security and service delivery.

Purposes and Lawful Bases for Processing

We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. The main purposes and corresponding lawful bases are: to provide our cleaning services to you, including processing bookings, managing appointments, and delivering the requested work, based on performance of a contract or steps taken at your request before entering a contract. To manage customer accounts, issue invoices, process payments, and maintain service and payment records, based on performance of a contract and our legitimate interests in running our business and maintaining accurate records. To handle enquiries, complaints, and service-related communication, based on performance of a contract, legitimate interests in providing quality customer service, and where relevant your consent, for example if you explicitly ask for ongoing updates.

We also process data to send limited service-related information, such as appointment confirmations and essential updates about booked services, based on performance of a contract and legitimate interests. We may send occasional marketing or promotional messages about our services where permitted by law and where we have your consent or a legitimate interest balanced against your rights; you can opt out at any time. We use data to improve our services, for example by reviewing anonymised or aggregated feedback, based on our legitimate interests. We may process personal data in order to comply with legal obligations, such as tax and accounting rules, and to cooperate with lawful requests from authorities where required by law. Where we rely on consent as the lawful basis, you are free to withdraw your consent at any time.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, or as required by law. Customer and booking records, including contact details, service details, and invoices, are typically retained for up to seven years after the end of the relevant financial year, to satisfy tax, accounting, and legal record-keeping obligations. Enquiries that do not lead to a booking may be held for up to two years for business analysis and to help respond to follow-up questions, after which they are securely deleted or anonymised.

Correspondence relating to complaints or disputes may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to resolve the matter and protect our legal rights, which may extend beyond standard retention periods where needed. Technical and website-related logs are usually retained for a shorter period, typically up to one year, unless required longer for security or legal reasons. When data is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with an identifiable individual.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We only share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to provide our services, operate our business, or comply with the law. These recipients may include payment service providers who process payments on our behalf, IT and hosting providers that support our website, booking systems, email, and data storage, communication service providers that facilitate customer communications and appointment confirmations, and professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers when necessary for compliance and business operations.

Where we use third parties to process personal data on our behalf, they act as data processors. We ensure that appropriate contracts and safeguards are in place so that your data is processed only on our instructions, kept secure, and not used for the processor’s own purposes. In some cases, data may be processed or accessed outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area. Where this occurs, we take steps to ensure that an adequate level of protection is in place, for example through standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards, in line with applicable data protection laws.

Security of Your Personal Data

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures may include secure storage, controlled access to systems and records, staff awareness of confidentiality requirements, and regular review of our data handling practices. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and you should take care when providing personal information, especially over open networks.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have certain rights in relation to your personal data. These rights include the right of access, meaning you can request confirmation of whether we hold personal data about you and obtain a copy of that data, the right to rectification, meaning you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data, the right to erasure, sometimes known as the right to be forgotten, meaning you can request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected.

You also have the right to restrict processing of your data in certain situations, for example while we are verifying the accuracy of data or considering an objection, the right to object to processing that is based on our legitimate interests or used for direct marketing, the right to data portability, allowing you to request certain personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and to have it transmitted to another controller where technically feasible, and the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, where that decision produces legal or similarly significant effects. Where processing is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Exercising Your Rights

If you would like to exercise any of your data protection rights or have questions about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the usual contact methods you use to reach Barnet Carpet Cleaning. We may need to verify your identity before responding, particularly where your request involves access to personal data or deletion of records. We aim to respond to all valid requests within one month, or within a longer period where permitted by law if the request is complex or numerous.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority for data protection if you are dissatisfied with how we handle your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve your concerns directly.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data protection practices. Any significant changes will be made available in an updated version of this document. We recommend reviewing this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we handle your personal data.