Privacy Policy - Aperfield Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Aperfield Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Aperfield Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including anyone who requests a quote, books a service, receives a service, or communicates with us in connection with carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, stain treatment, or related cleaning 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. This policy is designed to explain your rights and our responsibilities in clear terms.

1. Information We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing our services, managing our business, and meeting our legal obligations. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the name of a business or property manager.
Contact details such as address, telephone number, and email address.
Service details such as property access notes, cleaning instructions, booking preferences, and information about the areas or items to be cleaned.
Billing and payment details such as payment status, invoice records, and transaction references. We do not store unnecessary card information unless required by a secure payment provider.
Communication records including enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence.
Technical information where applicable, such as basic website usage data, device information, and cookies used for functionality and security.

We may also receive information from third parties where this is necessary to deliver a service. For example, a landlord, letting agent, property manager, or family member may share your details when arranging a service on your behalf. In such cases, we expect those third parties to have the right to share the information with us.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data only for specific and legitimate purposes. These include:

processing enquiries and providing quotations;
managing bookings and carrying out cleaning services;
contacting customers about appointments, access arrangements, or service changes;
issuing invoices and managing payments;
maintaining service records and customer history;
responding to complaints, disputes, and aftercare requests;
meeting tax, accounting, insurance, and legal requirements;
protecting our business from fraud, misuse, or security incidents;
improving our operations, quality standards, and customer service.

We do not use personal data for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. If this changes, we will update this policy and provide appropriate information about your rights.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Depending on the situation, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Performance of a Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes handling enquiries, confirming bookings, delivering cleaning services, and processing payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process data to comply with legal obligations, such as keeping accounting records, supporting tax compliance, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process information where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include improving our services, managing customer relationships, preventing fraud, maintaining records, and handling service disputes.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain marketing communications or optional cookies where required. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

4. Sharing Personal Data and Processors

We may share personal data only when necessary and only with parties that help us run our business or fulfil legal duties. These recipients may act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We require appropriate safeguards to protect your information.

Payment processors that securely handle card or online payment transactions.
IT and cloud service providers that store emails, records, scheduling data, or business systems.
Accounting or bookkeeping providers that assist with invoices, tax records, and financial administration.
Customer communication tools used for booking confirmations, reminders, or service updates.
Subcontractors or employees who need access to customer details to provide services.
Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors where necessary.
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect rights, safety, or property.

We do not sell personal data. Where processors are used, they are expected to process personal information only on our instructions and to maintain appropriate confidentiality and security measures.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and why it is held.

Customer and booking records are typically retained for the period needed to manage the service relationship and resolve any follow-up issues.
Financial and accounting records are kept for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Complaint or dispute records may be retained for longer where necessary to defend legal claims or demonstrate compliance.
Marketing preferences are kept until you unsubscribe or object.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

6. Your Rights

You have important rights regarding your personal data. Subject to legal limits and exemptions, these include:

Right of access – you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – you can ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – you may request a copy of certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

In some cases, we may need to keep certain information for legal reasons even if you ask us to delete it. If that happens, we will explain why.

7. Security of Your Information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and limiting data access to those who need it to perform their work.

While no system is completely secure, we work to reduce risk and to respond appropriately to any data incident. If a personal data breach occurs and there is a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will handle it in line with applicable legal obligations.

8. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will only do so where appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent protection measures required by law.

9. Marketing

We may send service-related communications that are necessary for bookings, invoices, or updates. We will only send optional marketing communications where permitted by law and, where required, with your consent. You may opt out of marketing at any time.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers to review it periodically.

11. How to Exercise Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please make a clear request stating what you would like to know, correct, restrict, or delete. We may need to verify your identity before responding to protect your information.

We aim to respond within the time limits required by law. If your request is complex or if we receive a number of requests, we may need additional time, but we will keep you informed.

12. Complaints

If you have concerns about how your personal data is handled, we encourage you to raise them with us first so we can address the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed.

Summary: Aperfield Carpet Cleaners explains how it collects, uses, shares, retains, and protects customer data, the lawful bases for processing, customer rights, and how data is handled securely for all local customers.