Gardeners Bethnal Green Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Bethnal Green collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers in the Bethnal Green area. We are committed to handling your information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy applies to all existing and prospective customers who live in, or request services in, the Bethnal Green area.

Who We Are

Gardeners Bethnal Green is a local gardening and related services provider operating in the Bethnal Green area. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller in relation to the personal data we collect about you. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed.

Types of Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for us to provide our services and manage our relationship with you. The information we may collect includes:

Identification and contact details, such as your name and preferred contact details.

Address and location details, including your property address where the gardening service is to be carried out and any relevant access instructions you choose to provide.

Service details, such as records of the services you request, quotes we provide, appointments booked, and notes related to the work required at your property.

Billing and payment information, such as records of payments made and related transaction references. We do not store full payment card details; these may be processed securely by third party payment processors on our behalf.

Communication records, including information contained in messages, enquiries, feedback, or complaints that you send to us and our responses.

Technical data, such as basic information about how you interact with our website or online content, for example your IP address and device information, where this is collected through cookies or similar technologies.

How We Collect Your Personal Data

We may collect personal data from you directly when you contact us to request a quote, make a booking, or ask a question about our services. This can be done in person, by phone, or through our online channels.

We may also generate personal data about you as we provide our services, for example by recording details of the work carried out at your property, the dates of visits, and any follow up actions needed.

In some cases, we may receive personal data from third parties where this is necessary and lawful, for example if a landlord or property manager provides your contact details so that we can arrange access to carry out gardening services at your property.

Lawful Bases for Processing

We process your personal data only when we have a lawful basis to do so under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Performance of a contract: We process your personal data when it is necessary to provide the services you have requested, to prepare quotes, to manage bookings, and to fulfil our gardening service agreement with you.

Legitimate interests: We may process your personal data when it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This can include managing and improving our services, maintaining records for business planning, and responding to enquiries and feedback.

Legal obligation: We may process your personal data where it is necessary to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, for example in relation to tax or accounting requirements.

Consent: In limited cases, we may seek your consent to process your personal data for a specific purpose, such as sending you certain types of marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our gardening services, including creating and updating your customer record, arranging visits to your property, and carrying out the agreed services.

To communicate with you about your bookings, queries, quotations, invoices, and any changes to our services or this Privacy Policy.

To manage payments, issue invoices, and keep appropriate financial records as required by law.

To improve our services, including monitoring service quality, understanding customer preferences, and developing new or improved offerings.

To handle complaints, disputes or claims and to protect our legal rights.

To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, such as keeping appropriate records for tax and accounting purposes.

Data Retention

We will retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Customer and service records: We generally retain your contact details and service history for a period that allows us to manage ongoing customer relationships and respond to any queries about past work. After this period, records will either be securely deleted or anonymised so that they can no longer be linked to you.

Financial records: We retain billing and payment information for the period required by law for tax and accounting purposes. After this time, the data is securely deleted or anonymised.

Communication records: Correspondence and enquiry records are retained for a period that enables us to respond to and resolve issues, and to monitor service quality, after which they are deleted or anonymised.

Data Processors and Third Party Recipients

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to use your personal data in accordance with our instructions and must provide appropriate security measures.

Examples of such processors and recipients include:

Payment processing providers, who handle card or electronic payments securely on our behalf.

IT and hosting service providers, who support the operation, security and maintenance of our website, email systems and data storage.

Professional advisers, such as accountants, where access to limited personal data may be required for business administration and compliance.

Where required by law or regulation, we may also share personal data with public authorities, regulatory bodies or law enforcement agencies.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

International Transfers

Where any of our service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data in accordance with data protection law. This may include using standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities or ensuring that the country has an adequate level of data protection.

How We Protect Your Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures include restricting access to personal data to those who have a business need to know, using appropriate security controls on our systems, and keeping our procedures under regular review.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all Gardeners Bethnal Green customers in the Bethnal Green area, subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions.

Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and, if so, to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and certain related information.

Right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you may have the right to request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and there is no legal requirement for us to retain it.

Right to restriction of processing: You may have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as while a dispute about the accuracy of the data is being resolved.

Right to data portability: In some cases, you may have the right to receive the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and to request that this data be transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.

Right to object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as the lawful basis, including in relation to any direct marketing activities.

Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before it was withdrawn.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority if you are concerned about how we handle your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any concerns directly.

Policy Scope and Updates

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Bethnal Green customers and service users in the Bethnal Green area, including individuals who make enquiries, request quotations or receive services from us.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, our internal processes, or legal requirements. Any changes will take effect from the date the updated policy is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.