Privacy Policy - Kensington Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Kensington Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to all customers in the Kensington area. It applies to all Kensington Carpet Cleaners customers in area, including prospective customers, existing customers, and anyone who interacts with our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Kensington Carpet Cleaners provides carpet cleaning and related cleaning services to customers in the local area. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal information we collect and use about our customers, suppliers, and website or service users where applicable. This means we determine why and how personal data is processed.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the personal data necessary to provide our services, manage our business, and meet legal obligations. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identity data: name, title, and any information you provide when making an enquiry or booking a service.
Contact data: address, email address, telephone number, and service location details.
Service data: information about the cleaning services requested, property access requirements, preferred appointment times, and service history.
Payment data: payment status, billing records, and transaction details where required for accounting and administration.
Communication data: messages, enquiries, complaints, feedback, and notes from telephone calls, emails, or other correspondence.
Technical data: limited information collected through digital systems such as IP address, browser type, or device information, if relevant to security and service operation.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you choose to provide it and it is necessary for a specific request, for example where access or health-related considerations affect service delivery. In such cases, we handle this information with extra care and only where permitted by law.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote or book a service;
contact us by phone, email, text, or other communication method;
provide details during a visit or service appointment;
submit feedback, a complaint, or a query;
make a payment or request an invoice.

We may also receive data from third parties where necessary, such as property managers, landlords, letting agents, or payment providers, but only when they are authorised to share that information with us.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We only process personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, our lawful bases may include:

Contract: to provide a quote, manage a booking, perform cleaning services, and fulfil our obligations to you.
Legal obligation: to comply with tax, accounting, consumer, and record-keeping requirements.
Legitimate interests: to operate and improve our business, respond to enquiries, prevent fraud, maintain service records, and manage customer relationships, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
Consent: where we rely on your clear permission, for example for optional marketing communications or the processing of certain sensitive information that you have chosen to share.

Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to schedule, deliver, and manage cleaning services;
to communicate appointment updates, service issues, and service confirmations;
to process payments and maintain financial records;
to handle complaints, disputes, or customer support matters;
to keep internal records and improve service quality;
to meet legal, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
to protect our business, staff, and customers from misuse, fraud, or security risks.

We do not sell your personal data.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third-party service providers who act as processors on our behalf. These processors only process data according to our instructions and are required to protect it appropriately. Examples may include:

IT and data storage providers;
communication and email service providers;
accounting and invoicing software providers;
payment processing providers;
customer management or scheduling systems;
professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where required.

We may also share data with public authorities, courts, insurers, or law enforcement where required by law or necessary to protect legal rights. If we use processors, we make sure appropriate data processing agreements are in place and that personal data is safeguarded.

7. International Transfers

Where any service provider stores or processes data outside the UK, we will take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. This may include using countries with an adequacy decision or contracts approved for data protection purposes. We remain responsible for ensuring your personal data is treated securely and lawfully.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, tax, and reporting obligations. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the nature of our relationship with you.

Customer and service records: kept for the period needed to manage services and resolve any issues.
Financial and tax records: kept for the period required by applicable law.
Communications and complaints: retained for a reasonable period to support service management and legal protection.

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

9. Data Security

We take 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, password protection, and internal procedures designed to limit access to personal information on a need-to-know basis. While no method of transmission or storage is completely risk-free, we work to maintain a level of security appropriate to the risk.

10. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions and exemptions, but we will always consider your request carefully. Your rights include:

Right of access: you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: in certain circumstances, you may request deletion of your data.
Right to restrict processing: you may ask us to limit how we use your data in some situations.
Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: in certain cases, you may ask for your data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with applicable law.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not intended for children acting on their own behalf. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is provided by an adult customer in connection with a service request and is necessary for that purpose.

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 business operations. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

Kensington Carpet Cleaners is committed to processing personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear purposes, retain it for appropriate periods, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We also respect your rights and aim to respond appropriately to any request concerning your personal data.

Key Principles

Minimisation: we collect only necessary data.
Purpose limitation: we use data only for legitimate service and business purposes.
Security: we protect data with suitable safeguards.
Accountability: we take responsibility for our handling of personal data.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Kensington Carpet Cleaners customers in area.