Privacy Policy - Gardeners East Dulwich

Effective for all Gardeners East Dulwich customers in the local area. This Privacy Policy explains how personal data is collected, used, stored, shared, and protected when you request or receive gardening services from Gardeners East Dulwich. It applies to all customers, prospective customers, and site visitors located in the East Dulwich area and nearby service locations where our gardening services are offered.

We are committed to handling personal information lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is written to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have in relation to your data.

1. Information We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for delivering our services, managing enquiries, maintaining records, and meeting legal or operational requirements. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity details: your name, title, and any preferences you provide when contacting us.
Contact details: telephone number, email address, service address, and billing address where applicable.
Service information: details of the gardening work requested or completed, appointment times, access instructions, and related service notes.
Payment and transaction records: records of invoices, payments received, payment status, and related accounting information.
Communication records: emails, messages, quotations, feedback, complaints, and service-related correspondence.
Site and property information: notes necessary to carry out gardening tasks safely and effectively, such as garden size, access requirements, or relevant hazards.
Technical data: limited information such as device or browser details if you submit an enquiry through digital channels, where required for security or performance purposes.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you choose to provide it. Special category data includes information about health, ethnicity, religion, political views, biometric data, or similar sensitive details. If such information is ever provided incidentally, we will treat it with extra care and only process it where lawful and necessary.

2. How We Use Your Data

Your personal data is used only for legitimate business purposes related to providing gardening services. These purposes include:

responding to enquiries and preparing quotations;
arranging appointments and carrying out work;
managing customer records and service history;
sending invoices, confirming payments, and maintaining financial records;
handling complaints, queries, or follow-up requests;
meeting legal, tax, and accounting obligations;
protecting our business, customers, and staff from fraud, misuse, or security risks;
improving the quality and reliability of our services.

We will not use your personal data for unrelated purposes unless we have a lawful basis to do so and the new use is compatible with the original reason for collection.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis before processing your personal data. Depending on the context, Gardeners East Dulwich may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, delivering services, issuing invoices, and communicating about work you have requested.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include managing service enquiries, keeping internal records, improving operations, and maintaining business security.

Legal Obligation

We process certain information to comply with legal requirements, including tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping obligations.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you choose to receive certain optional communications or provide information beyond what is required for the service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

Important: if you withdraw consent, this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Sharing and Processors

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to deliver our services, manage our business, or comply with the law. Any third party that processes data on our behalf acts as a processor and is required to handle your information securely and only according to our instructions.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

Accounting and bookkeeping providers used for financial administration and tax compliance;
IT and cloud storage providers used for secure data storage, email, and system support;
Payment service providers used to process card or electronic payments;
Customer management tools used to organise enquiries, bookings, and service notes;
Professional advisers such as legal or insurance advisers where needed;
Waste disposal or supplier partners where delivery of a service requires coordination.

We do not sell personal data. We only disclose information where it is necessary, proportionate, and supported by a lawful basis. If a public authority or regulator lawfully requests information, we may be required to share relevant data.

5. International Transfers

Where a processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the United Kingdom, we take appropriate steps to ensure that your personal information receives an adequate level of protection. This may include using approved safeguards and contractual protections.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected and to meet legal and business requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason for holding it. In general:

Customer and service records: kept for as long as needed to manage the relationship and service history.
Financial and tax records: kept for the period required by law and accounting practice.
Communication records: retained for a reasonable period to resolve queries, disputes, or future service continuity.
Inactive records: deleted or anonymised when no longer required.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices. Where records must be retained for legal reasons, we will restrict access to the minimum necessary.

7. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, and limiting access to authorised personnel only.

Although no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take data protection seriously and review our practices to help reduce risk.

8. Your Rights

You have several rights under UK data protection law in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis used for processing. They include:

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 situations.
Right to restriction: you can ask us to limit how your data is used in certain circumstances.
Right to object: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests in certain cases.
Right to data portability: you can ask for certain data to be provided in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

These rights are not absolute. In some situations, we may need to retain or continue processing data due to legal obligations, legitimate business needs, or the performance of a contract.

9. How We Respond to Rights Requests

If you exercise your rights, we will assess the request and respond within the time limits set by law, usually within one month. If a request is complex or involves multiple matters, we may extend the response period where permitted and will keep you informed. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request to protect your privacy and security.

10. Children’s Data

Gardeners East Dulwich services are not intended for children as independent customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a household service arrangement and handled appropriately by an adult customer or responsible person.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, service practices, or data handling procedures. Any updated version will apply from the date it becomes effective. We encourage customers to review the policy periodically so they remain informed about how their information is protected.

12. Summary of Our Approach

Gardeners East Dulwich uses personal data only where there is a clear lawful basis, limits access to trusted processors, and keeps information only as long as needed. We aim to process all customer data fairly, transparently, and securely, with respect for your rights and expectations.

By using our services in the East Dulwich area, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed in line with this Privacy Policy.