Privacy Policy - Fitzrovia Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Fitzrovia Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing carpet cleaning and related services. It applies to all Fitzrovia Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who has enquired about our services. We are committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Fitzrovia Carpet Cleaners is a local service provider offering carpet cleaning, stain treatment, deodorising, and related cleaning services. In the course of our work, we may process personal data about individuals who request quotations, make bookings, receive services, or communicate with us. This policy describes our data practices and the rights available to individuals under data protection law.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for legitimate business and service delivery purposes. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the name of your organisation or landlord.
Contact details such as telephone number, email address, and service address.
Booking and service information including appointment dates, property access notes, service preferences, and instructions.
Payment information necessary to process transactions, such as payment confirmation and billing records.
Communication records including messages, enquiries, complaint details, and feedback.
Technical data such as basic device and usage information when you interact with our digital systems, where applicable.
Special category data only if you voluntarily provide it and only where strictly necessary, for example if an access requirement reveals health-related information. We minimise such processing and treat it with additional care.

We do not intentionally collect more information than needed. If you choose not to provide certain details, we may be unable to complete a booking or deliver a requested service.

3. How We Use Your Data

We process personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To arrange and deliver carpet cleaning services.
To manage bookings, scheduling, and customer records.
To take payment, issue invoices, and maintain financial records.
To communicate regarding service updates, access arrangements, or follow-up matters.
To handle complaints, disputes, and insurance-related enquiries.
To improve our services, systems, and customer experience.
To comply with legal, accounting, tax, and regulatory obligations.

We use your data only for the purposes described in this policy or for purposes that are compatible with them. We do not sell personal data.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Fitzrovia Carpet Cleaners relies on one or more of the following bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging cleaning services, confirming appointments, and completing the work you have requested.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where necessary to comply with legal requirements, including tax rules, accounting obligations, record keeping, fraud prevention, and 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, improving service delivery, maintaining internal records, and preventing misuse of our systems. We always consider the impact on your privacy before relying on this basis.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, especially where processing is optional and not essential to service delivery. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Vital Interests and Other Rare Grounds

In exceptional circumstances, we may process data to protect someone’s vital interests or for another lawful reason permitted by data protection legislation. This is expected to be rare.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us deliver our services. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service provided. Where they act as processors, they handle data only on our instructions and are required to protect it appropriately.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

Payment processors that handle card or electronic payment transactions.
IT and cloud service providers that store or secure booking and communications data.
Accounting or bookkeeping providers that assist with invoicing, tax, and financial administration.
Customer management or scheduling tools used to organise appointments and service records.
Professional advisers such as legal, insurance, or financial advisers where necessary.
Public authorities or regulators where disclosure is required by law.

We require all processors to use appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard personal data. Where data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure suitable safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections.

6. Data Retention

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

Customer and booking records are retained for the period needed to manage services and handle follow-up queries.
Financial and tax records are generally retained for the period required by law.
Communication records may be kept for a reasonable period to support customer service, complaint handling, and dispute resolution.
Inactive or unnecessary data is deleted or anonymised when no longer needed.

When data is no longer required, we take steps to securely erase, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices. We do not keep personal data indefinitely.

7. Your Rights

Individuals whose data we process have important rights under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

Access your personal data and receive a copy of it.
Rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Erasure, sometimes called the right to be forgotten, where the law allows.
Restriction of processing in certain situations.
Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Data portability for data you provided to us and which we process by automated means based on consent or contract.
Withdraw consent where we rely on your consent.

You also have the right to raise concerns about how your data is handled. If you believe your rights have been infringed, you may lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter promptly.

8. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and limited data sharing on a need-to-know basis. While no system can guarantee absolute security, we regularly review our safeguards to reduce risk.

9. Automated Decision-Making

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 explain your rights in relation to such processing.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging cleaning services for homes or premises. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we become aware that data has been collected from a child without appropriate consent or legal basis, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. Any updates will take effect when published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how we protect personal data.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Fitzrovia Carpet Cleaners is committed to respecting privacy and handling personal data responsibly. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, keep it no longer than necessary, and protect it through suitable safeguards. We also aim to ensure that every customer in the area receives transparent information and can exercise their rights with confidence.

Privacy matters to us, and we will continue to process data in a way that is fair, secure, and compliant with applicable law.