Privacy Policy - Cleaners Putney

This Privacy Policy explains how Cleaners Putney collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Cleaners Putney customers in the Putney area, including current, former, and prospective customers, as well as people who enquire about our services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Cleaners Putney acts as the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used. We only process personal data where we have a valid legal basis and only for specified purposes connected to our cleaning services, business operations, and legal obligations.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity data such as your name and, where needed, title.
Contact data such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service data such as property details, cleaning preferences, appointment dates, access instructions, and service history.
Payment data such as billing information and transaction records, where applicable.
Communication data such as messages, feedback, complaints, and correspondence.
Technical data such as basic device and usage information when you interact with our digital systems, if applicable.
Special instructions you provide about your property, cleaning priorities, or service requirements.

We generally do not seek to collect sensitive personal data. If such information is provided to us voluntarily, we will only process it where there is a lawful reason to do so and where appropriate safeguards are in place.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you make an enquiry, request a quote, book services, communicate with us, or provide feedback. We may also collect data from third parties where necessary to deliver our services, such as property managers, family members acting on your behalf, or payment service providers. In limited cases, we may receive data from public sources or business partners where this is necessary for legitimate business purposes.

4. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our cleaning services.
To respond to enquiries and offer quotations.
To schedule appointments and coordinate access to properties.
To process payments, invoices, and records of transactions.
To communicate service updates, confirmations, and customer support information.
To handle complaints, disputes, and requests.
To maintain business records and improve service quality.
To meet legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations.
To protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or security risks.

We only use your data in ways that are necessary and proportionate to the purpose for which it was collected.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. The main lawful bases we rely on are:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, delivering cleaning services, handling payments, and providing customer support.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided these interests do not override your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing our business efficiently, improving our services, maintaining customer records, preventing fraud, and ensuring service quality.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where it is needed to comply with legal duties, such as tax, accounting, insurance, or record-keeping requirements.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily provide optional information or agree to certain types of communication. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

6. Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties acting as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. Processors only handle data on our instructions and must protect it appropriately. Examples may include:

Payment processors that help manage payments and invoicing.
IT and hosting providers that support our systems, storage, and communication tools.
Scheduling or administration providers that help manage bookings and service logistics.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers.
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect rights and safety.

We require processors to apply appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data. We do not sell your personal data.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including meeting legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

For example, service records, invoices, and transaction information may be retained for several years to comply with tax and accounting obligations. General customer correspondence may be kept for a shorter period unless it is needed for ongoing service management, complaint handling, or legal purposes. When data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and limiting data access to those who need it for legitimate business purposes. While no system can be completely secure, we work to maintain a level of security suitable to the nature of the data we process.

9. International Transfers

If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place so that your information remains protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection law. Where required, this may include the use of approved contractual protections or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

10. Your Rights

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exceptions:

Right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to object – to 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.

These rights are not absolute, and we may need to retain or continue processing certain information where the law permits or requires it.

11. Automated Decision-Making

We do not use personal data to make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects. If this position changes, we will update this policy and provide appropriate information about your rights.

12. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you have the right to raise them with us and to seek further guidance from the UK data protection authority. We encourage you to contact us first so we can review and address any concerns promptly and fairly.

13. 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 published. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.

Cleaners Putney is committed to respecting your privacy and using personal data responsibly. We process information only where it is necessary, proportionate, and lawful, and we aim to maintain transparency in all our data handling practices.