Privacy Policy for Merton Park Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Merton Park Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all customers of Merton Park Carpet Cleaners in the local area, including anyone who requests a quote, books a service, receives a service, or otherwise interacts with us.

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. We also aim to ensure that all personal data is kept secure and used only for legitimate business purposes.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity details such as your name and, where necessary, the name of your household or business.
Contact details such as your phone number, email address, and service address.
Service information including details about the carpet cleaning or related cleaning services requested, preferred booking times, access instructions, and special requirements.
Payment information such as payment status, transaction records, and limited billing details. We do not store full card information unless this is required by a payment provider.
Communication records including messages, notes from phone calls, emails, complaints, service confirmations, and follow-up correspondence.
Technical data if you interact with any digital systems we use, such as device type, browser information, or basic usage data for security and service administration.

We generally collect personal data directly from you when you make an enquiry, book a service, request a quote, or communicate with us. In some cases, we may receive information from third parties acting on your behalf, such as property managers, landlords, or family members arranging services for you, where appropriate and lawful.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data only when it is necessary for our business operations and for legitimate, lawful reasons. The main purposes for which we use your information include:

providing quotes and responding to enquiries;
arranging, confirming, and delivering cleaning services;
managing bookings, schedules, and job records;
processing payments and managing invoices;
communicating service updates, changes, or follow-up information;
handling complaints, queries, and customer support requests;
maintaining internal records for accounting, auditing, and compliance;
protecting our business, staff, and customers from fraud, abuse, or misuse;
improving our services, planning operations, and ensuring service quality.

We do not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected, unless we have a lawful basis to do so and you are informed where required.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a valid legal ground for using personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, delivering carpet cleaning services, issuing invoices, and communicating about the service you have requested.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer records, improving operational efficiency, preventing fraud, and maintaining service quality.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain records where we are required to do so by law, including tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where we need your permission for specific optional communications or certain non-essential uses of your information. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors or independent controllers, where necessary for business operations or legal compliance.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

payment providers who process card or electronic payments;
accounting and bookkeeping providers who assist with financial records and tax compliance;
booking, scheduling, or communication platforms used to manage appointments or customer correspondence;
IT and data storage providers who support secure data hosting, backup, or system maintenance;
professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary;
public authorities where disclosure is required by law or to protect legal rights.

Where we use processors, we ensure they are subject to appropriate contractual safeguards and only process personal data on our instructions, unless they are independently responsible for their own compliance obligations.

We require all processors to apply suitable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data and to process it only for permitted purposes.

5. Retention of Personal Data

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

In general:

customer enquiry records may be retained for a reasonable period if no booking occurs;
completed service records, invoices, and financial information may be kept for the period required by law and standard business practice;
communication records may be retained for a period needed to resolve issues, support service quality, and maintain accurate business records;
data no longer required will be securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise disposed of safely.

When deciding retention periods, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure, the purposes for processing, and any legal requirements that apply.

6. Data Security

We take appropriate steps to protect personal data from accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, regular reviews of data handling practices, and using reputable service providers.

Although we work hard to protect your information, no method of transmission or storage is entirely risk-free. If a personal data breach were to occur, we would respond in accordance with legal requirements and take steps to reduce any risk to affected individuals.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK data protection law, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

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 object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests, or to certain other types of processing.
Right to data portability – to request transfer of data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used format, where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Some of these rights are subject to conditions and may not apply in every case. For example, we may need to retain certain information to meet legal obligations or to defend against claims. Where a request cannot be fully actioned, we will explain why.

8. International Transfers

If any personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it in line with applicable data protection law. This may include the use of adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults or for adults arranging services on behalf of a household or property. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a service arrangement and only where appropriate lawful grounds exist.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

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

11. How We Apply This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Merton Park Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including residential and commercial customers, one-time clients, repeat clients, and anyone whose personal data we process in connection with our services. By using our services or providing us with personal information, you acknowledge that your data will be handled in accordance with this policy and the applicable law.

We are committed to using your data responsibly, transparently, and only where there is a clear lawful basis to do so. If we ever need to change how we use personal information in a material way, we will take appropriate steps to inform affected individuals where required.

By continuing to use our services, you understand that personal data may be processed for booking, delivery, administration, legal compliance, and customer support purposes as described above.