Privacy Policy - Locks Bottom Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Locks Bottom Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing services to customers in the Locks Bottom area and surrounding area. It applies to all customers, prospective customers, and individuals who interact with us in connection with our carpet cleaning and related cleaning services in the area. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner and to respecting the rights of every individual whose data we process.

1. Who We Are

Locks Bottom Carpet Cleaners is a service provider operating in the local area. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as a data controller when we decide why and how personal data is processed. This means we are responsible for ensuring that personal data is collected and used in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We take privacy seriously and aim to process only the information necessary to provide our services, manage our business, and meet our legal obligations.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity details such as your name.
Contact details such as your address, email address, and phone number.
Service information such as booking details, requested services, property access notes, cleaning preferences, and job history.
Payment-related information such as billing records and transaction details, where applicable.
Communication records including emails, messages, complaints, feedback, and call notes.
Technical information if you interact with us digitally, such as basic device or usage details, where relevant to security or service improvement.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you have provided it, or unless we are required or permitted to do so by law. Special category data includes information relating to health, religion, political views, biometric data, or other sensitive personal information.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote or make a booking;
communicate with us by phone, email, message, or in person;
provide instructions for a cleaning service;
make a payment or request an invoice;
submit a complaint, enquiry, or feedback.

We may also receive data from third parties where necessary to deliver our services, such as property managers, landlords, tenants, or referral sources, provided they have authority to share the information with us.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We will only process personal data where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract – processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform a contract with you.
Legitimate interests – processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as managing customer relationships, improving services, preventing fraud, and maintaining security, provided your rights do not override those interests.
Legal obligation – processing is necessary to comply with tax, accounting, regulatory, or other legal requirements.
Consent – where required, for example for specific optional communications or particular data uses. You may withdraw consent at any time where consent is the lawful basis.

We carefully assess each situation to ensure the chosen lawful basis is appropriate and limited to the purpose for which the data is used.

5. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotes and schedule services;
to deliver carpet cleaning and related services;
to manage bookings, cancellations, and follow-up work;
to communicate with customers about service details or changes;
to issue invoices, process payments, and keep financial records;
to handle enquiries, complaints, and feedback;
to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
to maintain records and improve our services;
to protect our business, staff, and customers from misuse or fraud.

We will not use personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reason it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do so and, where necessary, we notify you.

6. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to run our business and deliver our services. These third parties may act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers.

Examples of processors we may use include:

payment processors who handle card or electronic payments;
accounting and bookkeeping providers who assist with financial records and tax compliance;
IT and cloud service providers who store data securely and support our systems;
communications providers who help manage emails, messages, or telephone systems;
business administration support where needed for bookings or record keeping.

Where we use processors, we require them to protect personal data and only process it on our instructions. We do not allow them to use your data for their own purposes.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, regulation, court order, or lawful request from public authorities, or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, customers, staff, or property.

7. International Transfers

If any processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. This may include relying on approved data transfer mechanisms and making sure data is protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection law.

8. 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 depend on the type of information and the reason it is held.

In general:

customer booking and service records are retained for a reasonable period to manage enquiries, repeat services, and disputes;
financial and tax-related records are retained for the period required by law;
correspondence and complaint records are retained long enough to resolve issues and demonstrate compliance;
data no longer needed is securely deleted, anonymised, or destroyed.

We apply storage limitation principles so that personal data is not kept indefinitely without a valid reason.

9. Data Security

We use 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 confidentiality obligations, and regular review of our handling practices. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work hard to reduce risks and protect your information.

10. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions and exemptions, but we will always assess requests carefully and respond appropriately.

Right of access – you can request 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 request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to data portability – you can ask for certain data to be provided in a structured, commonly used format where the law allows.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise concerns with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have not been respected. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve any issue directly and promptly.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and household or business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a service and provided by an adult with authority to do so. If we become aware that we have collected data inappropriately, 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 our data handling practices. Any updates will apply from the date they are posted or communicated. We encourage customers in the area to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how we use personal data.

13. Scope of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all customers of Locks Bottom Carpet Cleaners in the area, including residential and commercial customers, prospective customers, and anyone whose personal data is processed in connection with our services. By using our services or contacting us about our services, you acknowledge that your personal data will be handled in accordance with this policy and applicable data protection law.

Summary: Privacy Policy for Locks Bottom Carpet Cleaners covering data use, lawful basis, retention, processors, security, and user rights for all area customers.