Privacy Policy - Bermondsey Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Bermondsey Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with our cleaning services. It applies to all Bermondsey Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals, households, landlords, tenants, and business clients who use our services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Bermondsey Cleaners provides domestic and commercial cleaning services to customers in Bermondsey and the surrounding area. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the data controller for the personal information we collect about our customers, prospective customers, and others who interact with our services. This means we decide why and how your personal data is processed.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for delivering our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name, and where relevant, your business or household name.
Contact details such as address and any other information needed to arrange and deliver cleaning services.
Service information including cleaning preferences, scheduling details, access instructions, and service history.
Payment information where needed to process invoices, receipts, refunds, or payment confirmations.
Communication records such as messages, feedback, complaints, and service-related correspondence.
Technical information if you interact with our digital systems, such as basic device or usage data necessary for security and functionality.

We do not seek to collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you have provided it voluntarily or it is required by law. Special category data includes information about health, religion, ethnicity, or similar sensitive details.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data only for legitimate business purposes connected to our services. These purposes may include:

providing and managing cleaning services;
setting up appointments and service visits;
responding to enquiries and customer requests;
handling billing, payments, and refunds;
maintaining records of services provided;
managing quality, complaints, and customer support;
meeting legal, accounting, insurance, or tax obligations;
protecting our business, staff, and customers from fraud or misuse.

We may also use aggregated or anonymised information for internal reporting and service improvement. This information does not identify you personally.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Bermondsey Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases depending on the context:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging appointments, carrying out cleaning services, issuing invoices, and managing service-related communication.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided your interests and rights do not override ours. This may include improving our services, maintaining records, preventing fraud, and managing our business efficiently.

Legal Obligation

Some processing is necessary to comply with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting, employment, insurance, or regulatory requirements.

Consent

In limited situations, we may ask for your consent, for example where it is required to use certain optional information or communication preferences. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who support our operations. These parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service they provide. We only share data when necessary and require appropriate safeguards to protect it.

Examples of processors may include:

payment service providers that help us process transactions;
booking, scheduling, or customer management systems;
IT hosting, storage, or software providers;
accountants or bookkeeping services assisting with financial records;
professional advisers where needed for legal or business purposes.

We may also disclose data where required by law, by a court order, or to prevent unlawful activity. We do not sell personal data.

6. International Transfers

If any processor stores or accesses data outside the United Kingdom, we will take appropriate steps to ensure your personal data remains protected. This may include using approved contractual safeguards or relying on an adequacy decision where applicable.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Retention periods vary depending on the type of record and the reason for keeping it.

Customer service records are normally retained for the period needed to manage the service relationship and resolve any issues.
Financial and accounting records are kept for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Communication records may be retained for a reasonable period to support customer care, quality control, or dispute resolution.
Legal or claims-related records may be retained longer where necessary to defend legal rights or meet insurance requirements.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

8. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and restricted sharing of information on a need-to-know basis.

While we work hard to protect your data, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, but we do take appropriate steps to reduce risk.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights relating to your personal data. These rights may apply in different circumstances and may be subject to legal limitations.

Right of access – you can ask for 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 may ask us to delete your data where there is no lawful reason to keep it.
Right to restrict processing – you can ask us to limit how your data is used in certain situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – you may request transfer of certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely 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. We will respond within the time limits set by law.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is necessary in connection with a household service and lawfully provided by an adult responsible for the service arrangement.

11. Complaints

If you are concerned about how your personal data is handled, you have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant data protection authority. We encourage you to raise any concerns with us first so we can try to resolve the issue promptly and fairly.

12. 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 handling practices. Any updates will take effect when published in the revised version. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.

Summary: Bermondsey Cleaners explains how it collects, uses, shares, retains, and protects personal data for customers in the area, in line with UK GDPR rights and obligations.