Privacy Policy - Cleaners Paddington

This Privacy Policy explains how Cleaners Paddington collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing cleaning services to customers in Paddington and the surrounding area. It applies to all Cleaners Paddington customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, former customers, and individuals who contact us on behalf of a household, landlord, business, or property management company.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, transparent, and secure manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy should be read carefully so that you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who processes it on our behalf, and what rights you have over your data.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Cleaners Paddington is the data controller in respect of the personal data described in this policy. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing personal data when arranging and delivering cleaning services, managing bookings, handling payments, maintaining service records, and responding to enquiries.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for delivering our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations. Depending on the nature of your interaction with us, we may collect the following categories of data:

Identity information such as your name, title, and, where applicable, the name of a business or organisation.
Contact information such as your address, email address, telephone number, and preferred communication details.
Service information such as property access details, cleaning preferences, instructions, appointment history, and notes relating to the service requested.
Payment information such as billing details, payment status, and transaction records. We do not intentionally store unnecessary full card details where secure third-party payment systems are used.
Communication data such as messages, emails, phone call notes, complaints, feedback, and any correspondence relating to our services.
Technical data such as basic website or device information if you contact us online, including IP-related or browser-related data where applicable.
Legal and administrative data such as records needed for insurance, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, or compliance with law.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and legally permitted. If such data is provided to us incidentally, for example in access instructions or service preferences, we will treat it with additional care and only process it where a lawful basis exists.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you request a quotation, make a booking, ask a question, provide service instructions, pay for services, submit feedback, or communicate with us. We may also receive data from third parties where necessary, for example from property managers, landlords, employers, or household representatives who arrange cleaning services on your behalf. In some cases, we may obtain limited information from service providers such as payment processors or booking systems.

4. Why We Use Personal Data

We use personal data only for legitimate service and business purposes, including the following:

To provide and manage cleaning services.
To confirm appointments, reschedule services, and communicate operational updates.
To prepare quotations, issue invoices, and process payments.
To record customer preferences and service history for quality control.
To respond to questions, complaints, and service requests.
To comply with taxation, accounting, insurance, and other legal obligations.
To protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.
To maintain internal records and improve our services.

We will never use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons for which it was collected unless we have informed you and have a valid lawful basis to do so.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for every use of personal data. Depending on the context, Cleaners Paddington relies on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, arranging services, confirming access details, and managing payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data when we are required to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, such as record keeping, tax requirements, accounting rules, or responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, maintaining service records, preventing fraud, improving service quality, and handling disputes. When we rely on legitimate interests, we consider whether the processing is necessary and proportionate.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where you agree to receive optional marketing messages or where consent is required for a specific form of data use. You may withdraw consent at any time, and this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

6. Sharing and Processors

We do not sell personal data. However, we may share information with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and provide services. These third parties act either as independent controllers or as processors acting on our instructions.

Examples of processors may include:

Payment processors that handle secure transaction processing.
Booking and scheduling platforms that help manage appointments and service calendars.
IT and cloud service providers that store or secure business data.
Accounting or invoicing providers that support financial administration.
Communication service providers that support email, messaging, or telephone systems.

Where processors act on our behalf, we require them to process personal data only for the agreed purpose, to keep it secure, and to comply with data protection law. We may also share data where necessary with insurers, legal advisers, regulatory bodies, or law enforcement if required or permitted by law.

7. International Transfers

If any of our processors store or access data outside the United Kingdom, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that your personal data remains protected. This may include using approved safeguards such as adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent protections recognised by law.

8. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, insurance, or reporting obligations. Retention periods vary depending on the type of record and the reason for keeping it.

In general:

Customer and service records are retained for the period needed to manage the relationship and service history.
Financial and invoice records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Complaint, dispute, and correspondence records may be retained for as long as needed to resolve matters and demonstrate compliance.
Unused enquiry data may be deleted after a reasonable period if no service relationship is established.

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

9. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, restricted permissions, data minimisation, and staff awareness practices. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the risks involved.

10. Your Rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights under data protection law. Subject to legal limits and verification of identity, you may have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you.
Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data.
Erase your data in certain circumstances.
Restrict how we process your data in certain situations.
Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Data portability in relation to certain information you have provided to us.
Withdraw consent where we rely on consent as the lawful basis.

You also have the right to raise concerns about how your data is handled. Please note that some rights may not apply in all situations, especially where we must retain information for legal obligations or defend against claims.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and household or business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a property or service arrangement and provided by a responsible adult in a lawful manner. If we become aware that we have collected data improperly, we will take appropriate steps to remove it.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or operational practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their personal data is handled.

13. Summary of Key Points

In short, we collect only the personal data needed to provide cleaning services, manage payments, and meet legal responsibilities. We process data using lawful bases such as contract, legal obligation, legitimate interests, and, where needed, consent. We share data only with trusted processors or where required by law, keep it only as long as necessary, and respect your rights under UK data protection law.

Cleaners Paddington is committed to maintaining privacy, transparency, and trust in every service we provide to customers throughout the Paddington area.