Privacy Policy - Arkley Carpet Cleaners

Arkley Carpet Cleaners is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information relating to our customers in the Arkley area. It applies to all Arkley Carpet Cleaners customers in area, including individuals who request quotations, book services, receive cleaning visits, make payments, or otherwise interact with us.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, Arkley Carpet Cleaners acts as the data controller for the personal data we process in connection with our cleaning services. This means we determine why and how your personal data is used.

We are committed to processing personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We only collect information that is relevant and necessary for providing carpet cleaning and related services, managing customer relationships, meeting legal obligations, and improving our operations.

2. Data We Collect

We may collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us. This may include:

• Identity details such as your name and title.
• Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
• Service information such as booking details, property access notes, cleaning preferences, and service history.
• Payment information such as invoice records, payment status, and transaction references. We do not normally store full card details if payments are processed securely by a third party.
• Communication records such as enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence.
• Technical information where applicable, such as basic website usage data, device details, or cookies if you visit an online platform associated with our services.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you have provided it voluntarily, or where we are required to handle it for a specific legal reason. Special category data includes information about health, religion, biometric data, or similar sensitive details.

How We Collect Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

• Request a quote or book a service.
• Communicate with us by phone, email, text, or in person.
• Provide access instructions or service preferences.
• Pay for services or ask us to issue an invoice.
• Submit a review, complaint, or general enquiry.

We may also receive information from third parties where necessary, such as payment processors, referral partners, or publicly available sources used for business administration and fraud prevention.

3. Why We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

• To provide quotes and arrange cleaning services.
• To deliver carpet cleaning and related services safely and effectively.
• To communicate with you about appointments, service updates, and changes.
• To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records.
• To manage complaints, disputes, and customer support requests.
• To improve our services, training, and operational efficiency.
• To comply with legal, regulatory, accounting, and tax obligations.
• To prevent fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the situation, we rely on one or more of the following bases:

Contract

We process data where it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, or to perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, carrying out cleaning services, and handling payments.

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 relationships, improving our services, securing our systems, maintaining records, and handling non-marketing service communications.

Legal Obligation

We may process certain information to comply with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping requirements.

Consent

Where required, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain optional communications or particular types of marketing. If we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

5. Data Retention

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

In general:

• Customer and service records are kept for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
• Invoices, payment records, and tax-related documents are retained for the period required by law.
• Enquiry and complaint records are kept for as long as necessary to resolve the matter and maintain appropriate business records.
• Unused or unnecessary data is securely deleted or anonymised when it is no longer needed.

Important: retention periods may be extended where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims, or to comply with formal legal requirements.

6. Processors and Data Sharing

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These parties are only allowed to use your data according to our instructions and for agreed purposes. They are required to protect your information and comply with relevant data protection laws.

Examples of processors may include:

• Payment processing providers.
• Booking and scheduling systems.
• Accounting and invoicing software providers.
• IT support and cloud storage services.
• Customer communication tools.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, court order, regulatory authority, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Arkley Carpet Cleaners, our customers, staff, or the public.

We do not sell personal data.

7. International Transfers

Where any service provider stores or processes data outside the United Kingdom, we will take appropriate steps to protect that information. This may include using approved contractual safeguards or ensuring the recipient is in a jurisdiction with adequate data protection standards.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights regarding your personal data. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and exemptions, but we will always aim to respond appropriately and within the required time limits.

• Right of access: you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure: you can request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to restrict processing: you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
• Right to object: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
• Right to data portability: you can request that certain information be provided in a structured, commonly used format.
• Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. This helps protect your information from unauthorised access.

9. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and restricted permissions.

Although we take data security seriously, no method of transmission or storage is completely risk-free. If a data breach occurs, we will assess the situation promptly and take appropriate action in line with legal requirements.

10. Marketing

We may send service-related messages necessary for booking, scheduling, billing, or customer support. We will only send marketing communications where permitted by law. You can opt out of marketing at any time by following the instructions in the communication or by contacting us through the appropriate channel.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are aimed at adults and household customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary for service delivery and provided by an adult acting on their behalf. If we become aware that we have collected such information inappropriately, we will take steps to delete it.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data processing practices. The latest version will apply to all relevant personal data processing. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

Arkley Carpet Cleaners is dedicated to handling customer information responsibly. We collect only the data needed to deliver and manage our services, use it under appropriate lawful bases, retain it only as long as required, and share it only with trusted processors or where the law permits. We respect your rights and aim to maintain a clear, fair, and secure approach to data protection.

By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal data will be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.