Privacy Policy - Westkensington Cleaners

Westkensington Cleaners is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, store, and protect personal information when you use our cleaning services. It applies to all Westkensington Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who has contacted us about our services.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Westkensington Cleaners is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. This means we decide why and how your personal data is used. We process personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Information We Collect

We collect only the personal data that is necessary to provide our services, manage our relationship with you, and meet legal or operational obligations. The type of information we may collect includes:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact details such as phone number, postal address, and email address.
Service details such as cleaning preferences, appointment times, property access instructions, and special service requests.
Payment information such as billing details and payment status. Where payment is processed by a third-party provider, we may not store full card information ourselves.
Communication records including emails, notes from calls, complaints, feedback, and service-related correspondence.
Technical information where relevant, such as device or browser data if you interact with us electronically.
Legal or safety information where needed to carry out services securely, such as access instructions or health and safety notes related to a property.

We do not intentionally collect more data than is required for legitimate cleaning service purposes. We also do not seek to collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you have provided it voluntarily or there is another lawful basis to do so.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to deliver services efficiently and responsibly. This may include:

Providing cleaning services and managing bookings.
Confirming appointments, changes, and service instructions.
Processing payments, invoices, and refunds where applicable.
Responding to enquiries, complaints, and feedback.
Maintaining accurate records of services provided.
Ensuring the safety of our staff, customers, and premises.
Meeting legal, accounting, and insurance obligations.
Improving our services and customer experience.

We use personal data only for specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes. We will not use it in ways that are incompatible with those purposes without informing you and ensuring we have a valid legal basis.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for every use of personal data. Depending on the situation, Westkensington Cleaners may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging and delivering cleaning services, managing bookings, and handling payment arrangements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process your data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing service records, improving operations, preventing fraud, and maintaining internal administration. We always consider whether our interests are balanced against your privacy rights.

Legal Obligation

We may process your data where necessary to comply with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting, employment, insurance, or regulatory requirements.

Consent

In certain circumstances, we may ask for your consent to process specific information. Where consent is used, it will be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. You may withdraw consent at any time, although this will not affect processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share it with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and provide services. These parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the circumstances.

Payment processors to handle secure payment transactions.
Booking or scheduling providers that help us manage appointments and service allocation.
IT and cloud service providers that store, host, or protect business systems and records.
Accountants and professional advisers where necessary for financial, legal, or compliance purposes.
Insurance providers or legal representatives where required to manage claims or disputes.
Regulatory or law enforcement bodies where disclosure is required by law.

Whenever we share data, we take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled securely, lawfully, and only for the purposes for which it was disclosed.

6. Processors and Data Protection Safeguards

Where we use third-party processors, they are required to process personal data only on our instructions and to maintain appropriate technical and organisational security measures. We aim to work only with processors that provide sufficient guarantees regarding confidentiality, integrity, and availability of personal data.

Examples of safeguards may include:

Access controls and password protection.
Encryption where appropriate.
Staff confidentiality obligations.
Data minimisation and restricted retention periods.
Procedures for handling security incidents.

If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual protections or other lawful transfer mechanisms required by data protection law.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, and reporting obligations. The exact retention period depends on the nature of the data and why it is processed.

In general:

Customer service and booking records are kept for the period needed to administer the relationship and resolve disputes.
Financial and invoicing records are kept for the time required by tax and accounting rules.
Complaint or correspondence records may be kept for a reasonable period to evidence communications and service quality.
Data processed on the basis of consent is kept until consent is withdrawn or the data is no longer needed.

When information is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. Retention is reviewed regularly to ensure we do not keep personal data for longer than necessary.

8. Your Rights

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal limitations, but we will always consider and respond to requests appropriately.

Right of Access

You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and ask for a copy of the information we hold about you.

Right to Rectification

You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.

Right to Erasure

In some cases, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis to keep it.

Right to Restrict Processing

You may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances, such as when accuracy is being checked.

Right to Object

You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds or need to continue for legal reasons.

Right to Data Portability

Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may request that your data be provided in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.

Right to Withdraw Consent

If we rely on consent for a particular processing activity, you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise your rights, you may submit a request to us using the usual communication channels we provide. We may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits set by law.

9. Security of Your Information

We take the security of personal data seriously and use appropriate measures to protect it against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures are designed to be proportionate to the nature of the data and the risks involved.

Despite our efforts, no system can be completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will act in accordance with applicable law and take steps to mitigate the impact.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adult customers or authorised representatives arranging services on behalf of a property. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidental and necessary for service delivery, and only with appropriate lawful basis.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data protection practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Westkensington Cleaners is committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear purposes, keep it secure, retain it only as long as necessary, and respect your rights under data protection law. This policy applies to all Westkensington Cleaners customers in the area and is intended to ensure that your information is treated with care and integrity.