Privacy Policy - Chelsea Carpet Cleaners

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Chelsea Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Chelsea Carpet Cleaners customers in area, including current, former, and prospective customers who request or receive cleaning services, obtain quotes, make enquiries, or otherwise interact with us. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We respect your privacy and take data protection seriously. This policy is intended to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who we may share it with, and what rights you have in relation to your personal data.

1. Data We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us. This may include:

• Identity data such as your name and title.
• Contact data such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
• Service information such as details of the cleaning services requested, property access information, preferred appointment times, and service notes.
• Payment data such as billing details and transaction records. We do not usually store full card details where payments are processed securely by third-party payment providers.
• Communication data such as messages, enquiries, complaints, feedback, and any records of correspondence.
• Technical data where applicable, such as limited information about how you access our digital services, including IP address or device-related information.
• Special category data only if you voluntarily provide it and only where necessary, for example if it is relevant to access arrangements or health-related instructions. We aim to avoid collecting such data unless there is a clear need and a lawful basis to do so.

We collect most personal data directly from you when you request a quote, book a service, communicate with us, or provide feedback. We may also receive information from third parties where necessary for service delivery, such as property managers, letting agents, or payment processors.

2. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data only where we have a valid lawful basis and for specific, limited purposes. These purposes include:

• providing carpet cleaning and related services;
• managing bookings, quotes, and customer enquiries;
• processing payments and issuing invoices;
• communicating with you about your appointment or service;
• recording preferences, instructions, and service history;
• handling complaints, disputes, or claims;
• meeting legal, regulatory, accounting, and tax obligations;
• improving our services, processes, and customer experience;
• preventing fraud, misuse, and security incidents.

We will not use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with those described in this policy unless we are required or permitted to do so by law.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must identify a lawful basis for each processing activity. Depending on the circumstance, we may rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging quotes, booking services, carrying out cleaning work, managing payments, and providing customer support related to your service.

Legal Obligation

We may process data to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, business record-keeping, consumer protection, and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided that those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Our legitimate interests may include improving services, maintaining records, managing communications, preventing fraud, and protecting our business and customers.

Consent

Where required, we will rely on your consent. For example, if we need to process optional information or send certain types of marketing communications, we will only do so with your consent. You may withdraw consent at any time, where applicable.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this policy. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We only share the minimum amount of data required and only under appropriate safeguards.

Processors may include:

• Payment service providers who securely process transactions.
• IT and hosting providers who support our systems, storage, and communications.
• Scheduling or administrative service providers who help manage appointments and records.
• Accounting and bookkeeping providers who assist with financial administration.
• Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors where necessary.
• Service partners or subcontractors who assist in delivering requested services.

All processors are required to handle personal data securely, use it only on our instructions, and comply with data protection obligations. We do not sell your personal data.

We may also disclose personal data if required to do so by law, court order, regulatory request, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Chelsea Carpet Cleaners, our customers, staff, or others.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purpose of satisfying legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason we hold it.

In general:

• Customer and service records are usually retained for a reasonable period after the service ends so that we can manage queries, disputes, warranties, or repeat services.
• Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
• Complaint or claims-related records may be retained longer where necessary to defend or establish legal rights.
• Communication records may be kept for a period appropriate to the nature of the conversation and business relationship.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in accordance with our retention practices.

6. Security of Your Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures are designed to reflect the nature of the data and the risks involved. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to maintain appropriate safeguards and review them regularly.

7. Your Rights

Depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing, you have rights under data protection law. These rights may include:

• Right of access - you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification - you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Right to erasure - you can ask us to delete personal data in certain situations.
• Right to restrict processing - you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
• Right to object - you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
• Right to data portability - you can request certain data in a structured, commonly used format, where applicable.
• Right to withdraw consent - if we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Please note that these rights are not absolute. In some cases, we may not be able to comply fully where we have a lawful basis to continue processing or where legal obligations require us to keep certain records.

If you wish to exercise your rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits required by law.

8. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it. This may include using countries with adequate data protection standards or implementing approved contractual protections.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or operational needs. Any updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we use personal data.

10. Summary of Our Commitment

Chelsea Carpet Cleaners is committed to processing personal data responsibly, transparently, and only when necessary. We collect only the information needed to provide services, communicate effectively, comply with legal obligations, and improve our customer experience. We use appropriate safeguards, retain data only for necessary periods, and respect your rights under data protection law.

All Chelsea Carpet Cleaners customers in area are covered by this policy, and we aim to ensure that every stage of our data handling reflects the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity, and confidentiality.