Privacy Policy - Sands End Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Sands End Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Sands End Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including current, former, and prospective customers who request or receive our carpet cleaning and related 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 We Are

Sands End Carpet Cleaners provides domestic and commercial carpet cleaning services. In the course of delivering those services, we may process personal data relating to customers, property occupants, and other individuals connected with a booking or service visit. We act as a data controller for the personal data we determine the purposes and means of processing.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity data: name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact data: address, email address, telephone number, and preferred contact method.
Service data: details of requested cleaning services, property access notes, cleaning preferences, appointment history, and service outcomes.
Payment data: payment status, transaction references, and billing records. We do not store full card details where a secure payment provider is used.
Communication data: messages, enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence records.
Technical data: basic website or device information if you interact with our digital systems, such as IP address or browser type, where applicable.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you have provided it voluntarily, or it is incidentally included in correspondence. If such data is received, it is handled with additional care and only for a lawful and limited purpose.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotations, book appointments, and deliver cleaning services;
to communicate with customers about scheduling, service updates, and follow-up matters;
to process payments, issue invoices, and maintain accounting records;
to respond to enquiries, complaints, and requests;
to maintain service quality, training, and internal record-keeping;
to comply with tax, accounting, insurance, and other legal obligations;
to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims where necessary.

We only process personal data when we have a valid legal reason to do so and when the processing is fair, transparent, and proportionate.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. This includes handling bookings, service delivery, customer communications, invoicing, and payment administration.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided that your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. Examples include internal business administration, service improvement, fraud prevention, record management, and responding to customer issues. Where required, we balance our interests against any potential impact on you.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information to comply with legal obligations, such as tax rules, accounting requirements, health and safety duties, and record-keeping obligations under applicable law.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on consent, for example where you choose to provide optional information that is not required for service delivery. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this policy. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, separate controllers. We only share data when needed and only with parties that provide appropriate safeguards.

Examples of processors may include:

payment processing providers;
accounting and bookkeeping systems;
IT service providers, including secure data storage and email services;
booking or scheduling software providers;
customer communication tools used to send service-related messages;
professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary.

All processors are required to process personal data only on our instructions, keep it secure, and not use it for their own purposes. Where data is transferred outside the UK or the EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent legal protections.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, court order, regulatory authority, or to protect our rights, customers, or property.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of record and the purpose for which it is held.

In general:

Customer and service records: retained for a period necessary to manage service history, resolve disputes, and support business operations.
Financial records: retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Complaints and correspondence: retained long enough to address the issue and maintain appropriate evidence of handling.
Marketing-related data: retained until you withdraw consent or object, where applicable.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or destroy it.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include restricted access controls, secure storage, password protection, and staff confidentiality obligations.

Although no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, we take reasonable steps to keep personal data safe and to reduce risks to customers.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal conditions and exceptions.

Right of access: you may request confirmation of whether we process your data and obtain a copy of it.
Right to rectification: you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure: you may request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing: you may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to data portability: you may request certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
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 Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults or for arrangements made by adults on behalf of households or businesses. We do not knowingly collect children’s personal data unless it is incidentally provided in connection with a service booking or access arrangement. If we become aware that we hold unnecessary children’s data, we will take steps to delete it where appropriate.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

At Sands End Carpet Cleaners, we aim to handle personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, retain it for appropriate periods, and share it only with trusted processors or where the law requires it. We respect customer privacy and aim to uphold your rights in all processing activities connected with our services.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Sands End Carpet Cleaners customers in the area.