Privacy Policy - St Johns Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how St Johns Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing cleaning services. It applies to all St Johns Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who enquires about our services. We are committed to handling personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to individuals who use, request, or receive services from St Johns Carpet Cleaners within our service area. It also applies to people who communicate with us about a booking, quotation, complaint, invoice, or service-related issue. If you provide us with personal information in connection with our services, this policy explains how that information is processed.

2. Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for legitimate business and service-related purposes. Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of information:

• Identity data such as your name or the name of the organisation you represent.
• Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
• Service information including details of the cleaning work requested, property access instructions, preferred dates, and notes relevant to the job.
• Billing and payment data such as invoicing details, payment status, and transaction records.
• Communication records including messages, booking notes, complaints, feedback, and correspondence relating to the services we provide.
• Technical information if you contact us electronically, such as basic device or system data contained in emails or form submissions.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you choose to provide it, and only where it is necessary and lawful to do so. Please avoid sharing sensitive personal information unless it is relevant to the service.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

• to provide quotations and manage bookings;
• to carry out cleaning services safely and effectively;
• to communicate about appointments, changes, or service-related queries;
• to issue invoices, process payments, and maintain business records;
• to respond to complaints or feedback;
• to meet legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations;
• to improve our services and manage customer relationships;
• to prevent fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access to our systems or records.

We will only use your personal data for purposes that are compatible with the reason it was collected.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each type of processing. St Johns 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 preparing quotations, confirming bookings, delivering cleaning services, and managing payments connected to those services.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain records where required by law, including tax, accounting, and business recordkeeping obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer records, improving service delivery, handling disputes, and protecting our business against fraud or misuse. We always consider whether our interests are proportionate and whether your privacy rights are affected.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you explicitly agree to receive certain types of non-essential communication. Where consent is used, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing Your Personal Data

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share it where necessary and appropriate with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These may include:

• Service processors who support administration, scheduling, communication, or record management;
• Payment providers or invoicing systems used to process transactions;
• Accounting or bookkeeping providers who assist with financial records and compliance;
• IT and storage providers who maintain secure systems for storing business data;
• Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary;
• Authorities or regulators where disclosure is required by law.

Where third parties process data on our behalf, they act as processors and are only permitted to use the data under our instructions. We require appropriate contractual safeguards and expect them to protect personal data in line with data protection law.

6. Data Processors

Processors are organisations or service providers that handle personal data for us, rather than for their own independent purposes. Typical processor activities may include secure data hosting, payment processing, bookkeeping support, email or administrative systems, and document storage. We select processors carefully and expect them to apply appropriate technical and organisational security measures. They must only process personal data to deliver the contracted service and must not use it for their own marketing or unrelated purposes.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy and to comply with legal obligations. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason it was collected.

• Customer and booking records are typically kept for a period that allows us to manage service history, customer support, and disputes.
• Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
• Correspondence and complaints may be kept for as long as needed to resolve the issue and maintain evidence of our handling.
• Marketing-related data, where applicable and based on consent, is kept until you withdraw consent or it is no longer needed.

When data is no longer required, we delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. We review retained information periodically to ensure it is not kept longer than necessary.

8. Security of Your Data

We take appropriate steps to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, limited staff access, and careful selection of service providers. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to protect your information using reasonable and proportionate safeguards.

9. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights are subject to certain conditions and exceptions under data protection law. They include:

• The right to be informed about how your data is collected and used.
• 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 in certain circumstances, such as when data is no longer needed.
• The right to restrict processing where the accuracy or use of data is disputed.
• The right to data portability for data you have provided to us in certain situations.
• The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
• Rights related to automated decision-making, although we do not use personal data for purely automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in line with applicable data protection law. We may need to confirm your identity before responding to your request.

10. Marketing Communications

We will only send marketing communications where permitted by law and, where required, with your consent. If you no longer wish to receive such communications, you can object or withdraw consent at any time. We will respect your preferences and update our records accordingly.

11. International Transfers

If any personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will only do so where appropriate safeguards are in place and where the transfer complies with data protection law. We take steps to ensure that the level of protection remains adequate.

12. 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 processing practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

13. Complaints

If you are concerned about how your personal data has been handled, you have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant data protection authority. We would also encourage you to raise any concerns with us first so that we may try to resolve the issue promptly and fairly.

St Johns Carpet Cleaners is committed to protecting privacy, keeping data secure, and processing personal information fairly and transparently. This policy is intended to make clear how we handle customer data and the choices and rights available to you.