Waterloo Carpet Cleaning GDPR Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Waterloo Carpet Cleaning collects, uses, stores and protects personal data of its customers and prospective customers in the Waterloo area. It is intended to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and any applicable local data protection laws. This Privacy Policy applies to all Waterloo Carpet Cleaning customers and anyone who makes an enquiry or otherwise interacts with our services in the Waterloo area.

Data Controller

Waterloo Carpet Cleaning is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. As the data controller, we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data and are responsible for ensuring that such processing is carried out in compliance with data protection laws.

Personal Data We Collect

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

Identification and contact details such as your name, address, service address, billing address, and general contact details so that we can communicate with you and provide our services.

Communication data such as information you provide when you contact us to request a quote, make a booking, ask a question, or provide feedback or a complaint. This may include the content of your messages and any information you choose to supply about your property or service requirements.

Service and transactional data such as details of the services you have requested or received, appointment dates and times, service notes, invoices, payment status, and any related administrative records.

Payment-related information such as limited payment details necessary to process your transaction, depending on the payment method used. Where we use third-party payment processors, we do not receive or store your full card details, but we may receive confirmation that a payment has been made, partial card information as required for identification or refund purposes, and transaction reference numbers.

Technical and usage information such as basic information about how you access our website or online booking tools, including time and date of visits, pages viewed, and general device or browser information. This may be collected through cookies or similar technologies where permitted by law and subject to any preferences you express.

Lawful Bases for Processing

We only process your personal data when we have a valid legal basis to do so under data protection laws. Depending on the context, we may rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract. We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, including to provide carpet cleaning and related services, manage bookings, process payments, and communicate with you about your appointments.

Legal obligation. We process certain data to comply with our legal obligations, such as keeping financial and tax records, responding to lawful requests from public authorities, or complying with consumer protection laws.

Legitimate interests. We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include managing and improving our services, handling customer enquiries and complaints, preventing fraud and misuse of our services, and maintaining appropriate business records.

Consent. In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where required for specific types of marketing or certain cookies and similar technologies. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before your withdrawal.

Purposes for Which We Use Personal Data

We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our carpet cleaning services, including handling enquiries, issuing quotes, scheduling and carrying out appointments, and providing customer support.

To manage our relationship with you, including sending service-related notifications, confirming or rescheduling appointments, sending invoices, and responding to your questions or feedback.

To process payments and maintain financial and accounting records, including issuing receipts, credit notes and handling refunds or disputed transactions.

To improve our services and operations, including monitoring the effectiveness and quality of our services, training staff, and developing new or enhanced services.

To carry out business administration, including maintaining internal records, managing risk, ensuring security, and complying with our legal and regulatory obligations.

To send you service-related information and, where permitted by law and subject to your preferences, limited marketing communications about our services.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with the following categories of recipients where necessary and lawful:

Service providers acting as data processors who provide services to us, such as payment processing, appointment or booking systems, accounting or invoicing software, information technology support, data storage, or customer communication tools. These processors act only on our instructions and are subject to appropriate contractual and security obligations.

Professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, or for compliance and regulatory purposes.

Public authorities, law enforcement agencies or regulators if we are legally required to do so or if disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, property or safety or that of others.

Any third party to whom we may choose to sell, transfer or merge parts of our business or our assets. If such a change happens, the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this Privacy Policy and you will be informed of any material changes.

International Transfers

Where our service providers or their servers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, your personal data may be transferred internationally. In such cases, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the use of standard contractual clauses or equivalent measures, to ensure that your personal data continues to be protected to a standard essentially equivalent to that provided under applicable data protection laws.

Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. The specific retention period will depend on the type of data and the purposes of processing.

Service and transactional records, including invoices and basic customer details, are typically retained for a period required by tax and accounting laws. Information relating to enquiries that do not result in a service may be retained for a shorter period to help us manage follow-up communications and understand demand for our services.

Where we rely on consent for specific types of processing, we generally retain related data until you withdraw your consent or until it is no longer necessary for the relevant purpose, whichever occurs first. We may retain some information in an anonymised or aggregated form so that it can no longer be associated with an identifiable individual.

Data Security

We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. These measures include restricting access to personal data to individuals who need it for their role, using secure systems and practices for storing and transmitting data, and regularly reviewing our security measures and procedures.

While we take these steps to safeguard your information, no system can be completely secure. You are encouraged to take appropriate steps to protect your own information, such as not sharing sensitive details in unsecured communications.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection laws, you have certain rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. These rights may be subject to limitations and conditions. Your rights include:

Right of access. You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you, together with certain information about how we use it.

Right to rectification. You can request that we correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal data that we hold about you.

Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or where you have withdrawn consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.

Right to restriction of processing. You can request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as where you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our processing.

Right to object. You can object to processing of your personal data based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. You also have the right to object at any time to the use of your data for direct marketing.

Right to data portability. In certain circumstances, you can request that we provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

Where we rely on consent as a legal basis, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

Exercising Your Rights and Complaints

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have questions or concerns about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details available via our usual customer communication channels. We will respond to your request in accordance with applicable legal requirements and within the relevant statutory time limits.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority for data protection if you believe that your data protection rights have been violated. We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns directly before you approach the supervisory authority.

Scope and Updates to This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Waterloo Carpet Cleaning customers and enquirers in the Waterloo area and to all personal data processed by us in connection with our carpet cleaning and related services. We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or other factors.

Any changes will be effective from the date we publish the updated Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.