Privacy Policy - Norbiton Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Norbiton Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, shares, stores, and protects personal data. It applies to all Norbiton Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and individuals who have previously used our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This policy is designed to help you understand what happens to your personal information when you interact with us. By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy.

1. Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary to provide our cleaning services, manage customer relationships, and comply with legal obligations. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name.
Contact details such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
Service information such as details of the carpets, rugs, upholstery, or other items to be cleaned, preferred service dates, access instructions, and service notes.
Billing and payment information such as payment records, invoices, and transaction references.
Communications such as correspondence, complaint records, feedback, and booking-related messages.
Technical information if you interact with us electronically, such as basic device or browsing data used for security and service administration.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you have provided it yourself, for example where it is relevant to an accessibility request or an issue affecting service delivery. If we do collect such information, we will apply additional safeguards and only process it where a lawful condition under UK GDPR applies.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotes and confirm bookings;
to deliver carpet cleaning and related services;
to manage payments, refunds, and invoicing;
to communicate about appointments, service updates, and customer care;
to respond to questions, concerns, and complaints;
to maintain accurate records for business and legal purposes;
to improve service quality, staff training, and operational efficiency;
to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and insurance requirements;
to protect against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We do not use your personal data for unrelated purposes without first ensuring that we have a lawful basis to do so.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Depending on the situation, Norbiton Carpet Cleaners may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, arranging appointments, carrying out cleaning services, and processing payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data where required to meet legal obligations, such as keeping tax records, complying with accounting rules, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

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. Examples include managing bookings efficiently, maintaining service records, preventing fraud, resolving disputes, and improving our services.

Consent

In some limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where we need to process information that is not strictly necessary for a service request. When we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

We will always identify the most appropriate lawful basis before processing your data and will only collect what is necessary.

4. Sharing Your Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties known as processors, who act on our behalf and only in accordance with our instructions. These processors may include:

Payment processors to handle card or electronic payments securely;
Accounting and bookkeeping providers to help manage financial records and tax compliance;
IT and system providers to store and protect customer information;
Booking or scheduling service providers if used to organise appointments;
Professional advisers such as lawyers, insurers, or accountants where needed;
Regulators or public authorities where disclosure is required by law.

We require our processors to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information. They are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes.

We do not sell personal data. We only disclose information where necessary for service delivery, compliance, legitimate business operations, or legal reasons.

5. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for satisfying legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of record and the reason it is held. For example:

Customer service and booking records are normally kept for a reasonable period after the service is completed to allow for follow-up, complaints, or repeat bookings.
Financial and transaction records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Correspondence and complaint records may be kept longer where needed to resolve disputes or maintain evidence of service history.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or dispose of it in a safe manner. We regularly review the data we hold to ensure it is not kept longer than necessary.

6. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing. They include:

The right to be informed about how your data is used.
The right of access to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
The right to rectification to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
The right to erasure, also known as the right to be forgotten, in certain circumstances.
The right to restrict processing in certain situations.
The right to data portability for data you have provided to us, where applicable.
The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Rights related to automated decision-making, if such processing ever applies.

Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to deal with requests promptly and within the time limits required by law.

7. Security of Your Information

We take appropriate steps to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and limited access to records on a need-to-know basis. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the risk.

8. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it in line with data protection law. This may include using jurisdictions with an adequacy decision or relying on approved contractual safeguards.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, operational practice, or our services. 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.

10. Summary of Our Commitment

Norbiton Carpet Cleaners is committed to respecting your privacy and using your information responsibly. We collect only the data needed to provide and manage our services, process it under an appropriate lawful basis, retain it only for as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We also recognise and support your rights over your personal data.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Norbiton Carpet Cleaners customers in the area. If you continue to use our services, we will handle your personal data in accordance with this policy and applicable data protection law.