Finchley Carpet Cleaning Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Finchley Carpet Cleaning collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers in our service area. It also describes your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This policy applies to all Finchley Carpet Cleaning customers and individuals who make enquiries or bookings with us within our operating area, whether you contact us online, by phone, or in person.

Who We Are

Finchley Carpet Cleaning is a local carpet and upholstery cleaning business. For the purposes of data protection law, Finchley Carpet Cleaning is the data controller of the personal data that we collect and process about you in connection with providing our services.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the personal data that we reasonably need to deliver our services, manage our business, and comply with legal obligations. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details such as your name, address, property access information, and your chosen contact details for communication purposes.

Booking and service information such as appointment dates and times, service history, areas of the property to be cleaned, notes about any particular requirements, and related correspondence.

Payment and transaction information such as records of services purchased, payment method used, and amounts paid. We do not store full payment card details where payments are processed through a secure third-party provider.

Communication and enquiry details such as the content of messages you send to us, feedback or complaints, and responses we provide to you.

Technical and usage data where applicable, such as basic information about how you interact with our website, including date and time of visits and pages viewed, collected through standard website logs or similar technologies.

How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us, request a quote, make a booking, use our services, or communicate with us by phone, text, online forms, or other channels.

We may also generate data in the course of providing services, for example service notes or internal records relating to jobs carried out at your property.

In limited cases, we may receive your details from another person, such as when a family member, landlord, letting agent, or property manager books a service on your behalf. In such circumstances we will treat your data in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Lawful Bases for Processing

We process your personal data only when we have a lawful basis under data protection law. The main lawful bases we rely on are:

Contract: We process your personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example to provide cleaning services, manage appointments, take payment, and communicate with you about your booking.

Legitimate interests: We process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and these are not overridden by your rights and interests. This includes managing our business operations, maintaining records, improving our services, responding to enquiries, and protecting our legal rights.

Legal obligation: We may process data when necessary to comply with legal or regulatory requirements, such as tax, accounting, and record-keeping obligations.

Consent: In some limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of direct marketing or optional communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time using the contact methods you used to engage us.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our services, including confirming and carrying out bookings, accessing your property as agreed, and responding to your requests or instructions.

To communicate with you, for example to confirm appointments, send service updates, answer questions, and respond to feedback or complaints.

To manage our relationship with you, including maintaining customer records, understanding service history, and providing aftercare where appropriate.

To process payments and maintain financial and accounting records in line with legal and tax requirements.

To improve and develop our services, for example by analysing patterns in bookings or feedback in a way that does not inappropriately identify individuals.

To protect our business, staff, and customers, including dealing with disputes, preventing fraud, and asserting or defending legal claims.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the purposes set out in this policy, including:

Service providers and processors who support our business operations, such as providers of booking or scheduling tools, secure payment processors, accounting or bookkeeping services, document storage or email systems, and information technology support.

Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, or legal advisers, where reasonably required for the management and protection of our business.

Public authorities or law enforcement agencies where we are required to do so by law, or where this is necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety or that of others.

Where we engage a third-party processor, we require them to handle personal data securely and only in accordance with our instructions and applicable data protection laws.

International Transfers

If any of our service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that your personal data is protected. This may include using contracts that contain approved data protection clauses or ensuring that the recipient is subject to an adequacy decision or other recognised safeguards.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Customer and booking records are generally retained while we have an ongoing relationship with you and for a period of time afterwards to handle any queries, complaints, or potential legal claims. Financial records will usually be retained for a minimum period required by tax and accounting laws.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with you.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures include restricting access to personal data to those who have a business need to know it, using appropriate safeguards for electronic records, and ensuring that staff and processors who handle data are aware of their obligations.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may be subject to certain conditions and exemptions. Your rights include:

Right of access: You can request confirmation that we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data, together with certain information about how it is used.

Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct or complete personal data that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.

Right to erasure: In some circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and we have no other lawful basis.

Right to restriction: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your data in certain situations, such as while we are considering a request to rectify or erase it.

Right to object: You can object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and we will stop unless we have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests or we need to continue for legal reasons. You can also object at any time to the use of your data for direct marketing.

Right to data portability: Where we process your data on the basis of consent or contract and by automated means, you may request the transfer of that data to you or to another controller in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, you can contact us using the same methods by which you normally communicate with Finchley Carpet Cleaning. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

Complaints and Further Information

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us in the first instance so that we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority in the United Kingdom.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or how we process personal data. Any changes will be effective when the updated policy is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your data.