Privacy Policy - Kensington Carpet Cleaners

Effective date: This Privacy Policy applies to all Kensington Carpet Cleaners customers in the area. It explains how we collect, use, share, store, and protect personal data in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Kensington Carpet Cleaners provides professional carpet, upholstery, and related cleaning services to residential and commercial customers in the area. For the purposes of data protection law, Kensington Carpet Cleaners is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. This means we decide why and how your personal data is processed.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity details such as your name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact details such as your phone number, email address, and service address.
Service information including booking details, cleaning preferences, access instructions, and notes about the work requested.
Payment information such as billing records and payment status. We do not store full card details if a third-party payment provider processes your payment.
Communication records including enquiries, feedback, complaints, and service-related correspondence.
Technical data if you interact with us online, such as limited device or usage information collected through standard website or email systems.
Special category data only where it is unavoidable and you have made it relevant to our service, for example if access needs or health-related issues affect how we deliver services. We handle such data with extra care and only when strictly necessary.

We do not intentionally collect more information than we need. Where possible, we will keep data collection to a minimum and use only the information necessary to complete the job, support your booking, and maintain accurate records.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To arrange bookings and provide carpet cleaning and related services.
To confirm appointments, provide updates, and manage service delivery.
To prepare quotes, invoices, and receipts.
To handle customer queries, feedback, and complaints.
To maintain internal records and service history.
To improve our operations, quality, and customer service.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations.
To protect our business from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We will only use your personal data in a way that is fair, transparent, and necessary for the service you expect from us. We do not sell personal data.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Kensington Carpet Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, delivering cleaning services, issuing invoices, and managing related communications.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your rights do not override those interests. Examples include responding to enquiries, managing service records, preventing fraud, and improving service quality. We always consider whether our interests are balanced against your privacy rights.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information to comply with legal obligations, such as tax law, accounting rules, insurance requirements, or lawful requests from public authorities.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example if you provide optional information that is not required for our service. Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us run our business. These service providers act as processors and only process personal data on our instructions. They are required to protect your data and use it only for the agreed purpose.

Our processors may include:

Payment processors that handle secure card or online payments.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that support invoicing, tax reporting, and financial record keeping.
IT and software providers that host systems, email services, scheduling tools, or data storage.
Customer communication tools used for booking confirmations, reminders, or service updates.
Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors, where necessary.

We may also disclose data if required by law, regulation, court order, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Kensington Carpet Cleaners, our staff, customers, or others. If we transfer data outside the UK, we will ensure suitable safeguards are in place to protect it.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. Retention periods depend on the type of data, the reason we hold it, and legal requirements.

Customer and service records are typically retained for the period needed to manage the service and after that for a reasonable time to handle follow-up queries or disputes.
Financial and accounting records are kept for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Communication records may be kept for a shorter or longer period depending on whether they are needed for service management or legal protection.
Consent-based data is kept only until consent is withdrawn or the data is no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in accordance with our retention practices. We aim to ensure that information is not held longer than necessary. Retention is reviewed regularly to make sure we are only keeping what we genuinely need.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and the use of trusted systems and suppliers.

Although no method of transmission or storage is completely risk-free, we take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of data incidents and to respond appropriately if they occur.

8. Your Rights

As a customer, you have a number of rights under data protection law. These rights apply subject to certain conditions and legal exceptions:

Right of access – you can ask for 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 ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing where applicable.
Right to data portability – you may request certain data in a portable format where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in line with applicable data protection law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. In some cases, we may not be able to comply fully where the law allows us to keep or use the data for a valid reason.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adult customers and business contacts. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidental to a service request and provided by an adult customer. If we become aware that we have collected a child’s data without appropriate authorisation, we will take steps to delete it where required.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. When we make important changes, we will take reasonable steps to make customers aware of them. The latest version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated.

11. Summary of Your Privacy

Kensington Carpet Cleaners respects your privacy and processes personal data only when necessary and lawful. We collect limited customer information to provide services, manage bookings, process payments, maintain records, and meet legal obligations. We rely mainly on contract, legitimate interests, legal obligation, and, in limited cases, consent. We share data only with trusted processors or where the law requires it, keep data only as long as needed, and provide you with clear rights to access, correct, delete, or object to certain processing.

By using Kensington Carpet Cleaners services in the area, you acknowledge that your personal data will be handled in accordance with this Privacy Policy and the applicable data protection laws.