Privacy Policy - Carpet Cleaners E3

This Privacy Policy explains how Carpet Cleaners E3 collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Carpet Cleaners E3 customers in the area, including prospective customers, active customers, and anyone who contacts us for carpet, upholstery, rug, stain treatment, or related cleaning services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Carpet Cleaners E3 provides professional cleaning services for domestic and commercial premises. In the course of providing these services, we may collect and process personal data about customers, property occupiers, payment contacts, and other individuals involved in booking, receiving, or managing our services. We act as a data controller for the personal data we determine the purpose and means of processing.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect data that is relevant and necessary for our service delivery, customer management, safety, and legal obligations. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity details such as name and title
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number
Service details such as property access instructions, cleaning preferences, booking times, and service history
Payment information such as transaction records, invoice details, and partial payment references
Communication records such as enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence
Technical data if you interact with us electronically, such as basic device or browser information where relevant for security and functionality
Special categories of data only where strictly necessary and provided by you, for example health-related access needs or allergy information relevant to safe service delivery

We do not intentionally collect more personal data than is required. If special category data is provided, we treat it with additional care and only process it where there is a clear lawful reason to do so.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We may collect personal data in several ways, including:

when you make a booking or request a quote
when you communicate with us by phone, email, or online form
when we carry out a service at your property
when you make a payment or receive an invoice
when you submit a review, complaint, or follow-up enquiry
when third parties provide necessary service-related information on your behalf

Where personal data is provided by someone other than you, we expect that person to have the authority or consent to share it with us.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where a lawful basis under the UK GDPR applies. The main lawful bases we rely on are:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, providing cleaning services, sending invoices, and handling service-related communications.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, such as accounting requirements, tax rules, fraud prevention, and record-keeping duties.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. These interests include managing customer relationships, improving our services, maintaining business records, protecting against misuse, and ensuring the security of our operations.

Consent

Where required, we will rely on your consent. This may apply to certain optional communications or to the processing of special category data where no other lawful basis is available. You may withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide carpet cleaning and related services
to confirm bookings and manage appointments
to communicate about service requirements, changes, or issues
to prepare quotes, invoices, and payment records
to respond to customer enquiries and complaints
to improve service quality and customer satisfaction
to meet legal, accounting, and compliance obligations
to protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or security risks

We do not use personal data for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third-party processors who help us deliver our services or operate our business. These parties process data on our behalf and only under our instructions. Examples may include:

payment service providers
accounting and bookkeeping providers
booking, scheduling, or customer management software providers
IT and cloud storage providers
professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers
subcontracted service providers where necessary to fulfil a booking

We require processors to handle personal data securely and to process it only for the agreed purpose. We do not sell personal data. We may also disclose data where required by law, court order, or a lawful request from a public authority.

7. International Transfers

If any processor stores or accesses personal data outside the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent protections required by law.

8. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless a longer period is required by law. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of record and the reason it is held. For example:

Customer service records are retained for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards
Financial and tax records are kept for the period required by accounting and tax legislation
Complaints or dispute records may be kept longer where needed to resolve issues or defend legal claims
Consent-based records are kept until consent is withdrawn or the information is no longer needed

When personal data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or archived in line with our retention practices.

9. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, password protection, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and regular review of systems and procedures. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take data protection seriously and work to reduce risk wherever reasonably possible.

10. Your Rights Under GDPR

Depending on the circumstances, you 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 data
Right to erasure - to request deletion of your data where legally possible
Right to restriction - to ask us to limit processing in certain situations
Right to data portability - to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format
Right to object - to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing
Right to withdraw consent - where processing is based on consent

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request. We aim to respond within the statutory timeframe and will explain if an extension is needed.

11. How to Exercise Your Rights

You may contact us to exercise any of your rights or to raise concerns about how your data is handled. We may ask for information to confirm your identity and to help us locate the relevant records. There is usually no fee for making a request, unless it is clearly unfounded, excessive, or repetitive.

12. Complaints

If you believe your data has not been handled properly, you have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue promptly and fairly. If you remain dissatisfied, you can seek further guidance from the UK data protection regulator.

13. 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 processing practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle personal data.

14. Summary of Our Commitment

Carpet Cleaners E3 is committed to handling personal data responsibly and transparently. We collect only the information needed to provide our services, rely on lawful bases for processing, keep data only for as long as necessary, use trusted processors under strict controls, and respect your GDPR rights. This policy applies to all Carpet Cleaners E3 customers in the area and is designed to ensure privacy is protected at every stage of our service relationship.