Privacy Policy - Belsize Park Cleaners

Effective for all Belsize Park Cleaners customers in the local area. This Privacy Policy explains how Belsize Park Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing cleaning services to customers in the area. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This policy applies to all customers, including individuals who request domestic, commercial, or specialist cleaning services, as well as anyone whose personal data we process in connection with an enquiry, booking, payment, complaint, or service delivery. By using our services, you acknowledge that your data may be processed as described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the information needed to provide and manage our services effectively. Depending on your interaction with us, this may include:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details including property type, cleaning preferences, access instructions, booking dates, and service history.
Payment information such as payment status, transaction references, and billing records. We do not store full card details unless a secure payment provider requires limited processing for a transaction.
Communications including messages, notes from calls, complaints, feedback, and records of queries.
Technical and usage data where applicable, such as basic website or device information collected through standard analytics tools.
Special category data only where strictly necessary and usually only if you choose to provide it, for example information relevant to access arrangements, health-related cleaning considerations, or vulnerability-related service requests.

We aim to collect data that is adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for the purposes described in this policy.

2. How We Use Your Personal Data

We process personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To manage bookings, visits, and cleaning schedules.
To deliver cleaning services safely and efficiently.
To process payments, refunds, and billing records.
To manage customer support, complaints, and service quality.
To maintain internal records and business administration.
To comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
To improve our services, training, and customer experience.
To prevent fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access.

We do not use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected. If we need to use your data in a new way, we will provide appropriate notice where required by law.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We only process personal data where we have a valid lawful basis under UK GDPR. Depending on the activity, our lawful bases may include:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as arranging bookings, delivering cleaning services, and handling payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process information to comply with legal duties, including accounting, taxation, insurance, and record-keeping obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your interests and rights do not override those interests. This can include service administration, communication, fraud prevention, quality control, and business improvement.

Consent

In limited cases, we rely on your consent, for example where you have explicitly agreed to receive certain marketing communications or to provide optional additional information. You can withdraw consent at any time.

Vital Interests

In rare circumstances, we may process data to protect someone’s vital interests, such as in an emergency or where immediate action is needed to safeguard a person.

Special category data, if processed at all, will only be handled where a lawful condition and an Article 9 condition apply, and only to the extent required for the service or for your safety.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties, known as processors or service providers, who help us operate our business. These parties are only allowed to process data on our instructions and must protect it appropriately. Typical processors may include:

Payment providers that process card or online payments securely.
Booking and scheduling systems used to organise service appointments.
IT and cloud service providers that support secure storage, email, and administration.
Accountancy and payroll providers where necessary for financial management.
Customer communication tools used to send booking confirmations or service updates.
Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, and auditors.

We may also disclose personal data to public authorities, regulators, law enforcement, or courts where required by law or where disclosure is necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal rights.

We do not sell your personal data. If data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections.

5. Data Retention

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

Customer service and booking records are usually retained for a period necessary to manage the relationship and address queries.
Payment and invoicing records are retained in accordance with tax and accounting obligations.
Complaints or dispute records may be kept longer where needed to resolve issues or defend claims.
Consent-based marketing records are kept until you withdraw consent or we determine they are no longer needed.

When information is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices.

6. Your Rights

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

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 information.
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 situations.
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

To exercise your rights, you may contact us using the relevant channels made available by Belsize Park Cleaners. We may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits required by law.

7. Security of Your Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure systems, staff training, and data minimisation practices.

While we work hard to safeguard information, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If a personal data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will handle it in accordance with our legal obligations.

8. Marketing and Communications

We may send service-related communications where necessary to manage your booking or account. Where required, we will ask for consent before sending direct marketing communications. You can opt out of marketing at any time, and we will respect your preferences.

Important: service messages, such as booking confirmations or changes to appointments, are not marketing and may still be sent when needed to deliver the service.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, services, or our data-handling practices. Any updates will take effect once published in the relevant form. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how personal data is handled.

10. Summary of Our Commitment

Belsize Park Cleaners is committed to protecting personal information and respecting privacy rights. We process data fairly, use it only where lawful, keep it only as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. Our aim is to maintain transparency, security, and accountability in every part of our service.

This policy is intended to provide clear information to customers in the Belsize Park area about how their personal data is handled when using our cleaning services.