Privacy Policy - Carpet Cleaning Marylebone

This Privacy Policy explains how Carpet Cleaning Marylebone collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing services to customers in the Marylebone area. It applies to all Carpet Cleaning Marylebone customers in the area, including individuals, landlords, tenants, property managers, and business clients who arrange or receive our carpet cleaning services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect the personal data that is necessary to deliver our services, manage bookings, respond to enquiries, and maintain our records. Depending on the nature of your interaction with us, we may collect the following categories of data:

Identity information: full name, title, and, where relevant, company name.
Contact information: telephone number, email address, billing address, and service address.
Booking and service details: requested appointment times, service type, property access notes, cleaning preferences, and special instructions.
Payment-related information: payment confirmation, transaction reference, and limited billing details. We do not store full card details where payment is processed through secure third-party providers.
Communication records: emails, messages, notes from calls, complaint details, and service feedback.
Technical data: basic device and usage information if you interact with us through digital channels, such as IP address, browser type, and general log data used for security and performance.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is provided voluntarily and is genuinely necessary for service delivery, for example, where access arrangements require health or mobility-related notes. In such cases, we only process that information with care and only where a valid legal basis applies.

2. How We Collect Personal Data

We may collect data directly from you when you contact us, request a quote, book a service, pay an invoice, or communicate with us about your cleaning requirements. We may also receive data from third parties where necessary for service administration, such as landlords, letting agents, property managers, or family members arranging cleaning on behalf of a customer. In addition, some data may be collected automatically through secure systems used for website functionality, booking management, or message delivery.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

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

Contract: processing is necessary to provide a quote, confirm a booking, deliver carpet cleaning services, manage payments, and complete related customer support.
Legitimate interests: processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as improving service quality, handling enquiries, preventing fraud, managing customer relationships, and maintaining secure operations, provided these interests do not override your rights and freedoms.
Legal obligation: processing is required to comply with accounting, tax, consumer protection, recordkeeping, or regulatory obligations.
Consent: in limited situations, we may rely on your consent, particularly for optional marketing communications or where sensitive information is provided outside normal service requirements.

Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

4. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotations and confirm bookings;
to deliver carpet cleaning and related services safely and efficiently;
to communicate about appointment times, service changes, or access requirements;
to process payments and issue invoices or receipts;
to respond to complaints, queries, and service requests;
to maintain internal records and service history;
to improve our operations, training, and customer experience;
to comply with applicable laws and respond to lawful requests.

We process personal data only for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes. We do not use your data in ways that are incompatible with those purposes.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We ensure that any processor handling personal data does so under appropriate contractual safeguards and only on our instructions.

Examples of processors may include:

Booking and scheduling providers used to manage appointments and service records;
Payment processors used to handle secure payment transactions;
IT and cloud service providers used for secure data storage, email, and system maintenance;
Accounting or invoicing services used for financial administration;
Customer communication tools used to send service-related messages;
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary;
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law or to protect legal rights.

We do not sell personal data. We only disclose information where it is necessary for service delivery, legal compliance, or the protection of our legitimate interests. When data is transferred outside the UK, we take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and the reason for processing.

Booking and service records: generally retained for the period needed to manage the customer relationship and address any service queries.
Financial and tax records: retained for the period required by law.
Communication records: kept for a reasonable time to support customer support, dispute resolution, and quality assurance.
Marketing preferences: retained until you withdraw consent or opt out.

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

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access to data on a need-to-know basis. While we take reasonable steps to safeguard information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exemptions, these may include:

Right of access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure: request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to object: object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: request transfer of certain data to you or another provider where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will assess your request in line with applicable law and respond within the required timeframe. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are directed to adults arranging carpet cleaning for residential or commercial premises. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we become aware that we have received such data without appropriate justification, we will take steps to delete it where required.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, operational, or service-related changes. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We encourage customers in Marylebone to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their information is handled.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Carpet Cleaning Marylebone is committed to processing personal data responsibly, securely, and only for legitimate purposes. We aim to keep information accurate, confidential, and retained only as long as needed. By using our services, customers in the Marylebone area can be assured that their data is managed in accordance with GDPR principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity, and accountability.