Privacy Policy

Ardleigh Green Carpet Cleaners is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of every customer. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information when we provide carpet cleaning and related services. It applies to all Ardleigh Green Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who contacts us about our services.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Ardleigh Green Carpet Cleaners acts as the data controller for the personal data we collect and use in the course of our business. This means we determine the purposes and methods of processing your personal information in connection with our services.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Information We Collect

We only collect personal information that is necessary to provide our cleaning services, manage our customer relationships, and meet legal or operational obligations. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name and title.
Contact details such as address, phone number, and email address.
Service details such as property access instructions, cleaning requirements, appointment preferences, and service history.
Billing and payment information such as payment records, invoice details, and transaction references.
Communication records such as messages, enquiry details, complaints, and feedback.
Technical information if you interact with us through digital systems, such as basic device or usage data where applicable.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you choose to provide it to us. Special category data includes information about health, religion, race, or other sensitive details. If such information is provided by you, we will only process it where we have a lawful basis and appropriate safeguards in place.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotes, confirm bookings, and deliver carpet cleaning services.
To manage customer accounts, appointments, and service records.
To communicate with you about your enquiry, booking, or service updates.
To process payments, issue invoices, and maintain financial records.
To respond to complaints, questions, or requests.
To improve our services and ensure quality control.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations.
To protect our business, customers, staff, and property from fraud or misuse.

We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another compatible purpose and that this is permitted by law.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on the following lawful bases under the UK GDPR:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotes, scheduling services, carrying out cleaning work, and managing payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain records where needed to comply with legal requirements, including tax, accounting, insurance, and regulatory obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. Examples include service administration, record-keeping, quality control, business improvement, and preventing fraud.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where you explicitly agree to receive certain types of communication or where special category data is involved. You may withdraw consent at any time, although this will not affect processing already carried out lawfully before withdrawal.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These parties act as processors when they process personal data on our instructions. We only work with processors that provide appropriate data protection safeguards.

Examples of processors may include:

Payment service providers who handle transactions securely.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who help maintain financial records.
IT and cloud storage providers who support our systems, backups, and data security.
Scheduling or customer management tools used to organise bookings and service records.
Communication service providers used for emails, messaging, or administrative notifications.

We may also share personal data where necessary with professional advisers, insurers, regulatory bodies, or law enforcement authorities when required by law or when needed to protect our legal rights.

We do not sell your personal data. If data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it in accordance with applicable law.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason it is held.

Customer service records are generally kept for the duration of the business relationship and for a reasonable period after it ends.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Communication records may be kept for a shorter period where they are needed for service administration or dispute resolution.
Consent-based records are retained only until consent is withdrawn or no longer required.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or destroy it.

7. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include restricted access, secure storage, password protection, staff confidentiality expectations, and routine data management practices.

Although we take data security seriously, no system can be guaranteed as completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will deal with it in accordance with legal requirements.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and any legal exemptions.

Right of access – you can ask for 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 restrict processing – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in specific situations.
Right to data portability – you may request that we provide certain information in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has been handled improperly.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and business or household customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is provided incidentally in the course of service delivery and is necessary for a legitimate purpose. Where this occurs, we will handle such data with care and in line with data protection law.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated, and we encourage customers to review it periodically.

11. Summary of Key Principles

In managing personal information, Ardleigh Green Carpet Cleaners follows the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity, and confidentiality. We only collect what we need, use it for legitimate purposes, keep it no longer than necessary, and protect it with suitable safeguards.

By using our services, requesting a quote, or contacting us about a booking, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this Privacy Policy.