Privacy Policy - Deep Cleaning Kensington

This Privacy Policy explains how Deep Cleaning Kensington collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing services to customers in the Kensington area. It applies to all Deep Cleaning Kensington customers in area, including individuals who request a quote, book a service, communicate with us, or otherwise engage with our cleaning services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, transparent, and secure manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for delivering our services, managing customer relationships, and meeting legal obligations. The information we may collect includes:

Identity data such as your name and title.
Contact data such as your address, phone number, and email address.
Service data such as property details, cleaning preferences, appointment dates, access instructions, and service history.
Payment data such as payment confirmation, billing records, and limited transaction information.
Communication data such as emails, messages, call notes, and feedback.
Technical data where relevant, such as basic device or usage information if you interact with our online systems.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you voluntarily provide it and it is necessary for a specific request. In such cases, we will handle it with appropriate care and additional safeguards.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide cleaning services and manage bookings.
To confirm appointments, prepare service delivery, and communicate with customers.
To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records.
To handle complaints, service queries, and customer support requests.
To improve our services, training, planning, and operational efficiency.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations.
To prevent fraud, misuse, and security incidents.

We will only use your data in ways that are compatible with the purpose for which it was collected, unless we reasonably determine another lawful basis applies and the new use is permitted by law.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Deep Cleaning Kensington relies on the following lawful bases:

Performance of a Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to provide a quote, arrange and deliver cleaning services, manage appointments, and carry out our obligations to you under a contract or pre-contractual steps.

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. Examples include customer administration, service improvement, security monitoring, and fraud prevention. We take care to ensure that any legitimate interest processing is proportionate and respectful of privacy.

Legal Obligation

We may retain and process data to comply with legal duties, including accounting, tax, insurance, and record-keeping requirements.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example if you choose to receive specific optional communications or provide special category data for a particular reason. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share data only when necessary and on a restricted basis with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These parties act as processors or independent controllers, depending on the context.

Examples of Processors

Payment providers that process card or electronic payments securely.
IT and hosting providers that store or support our business systems.
Administrative service providers that assist with scheduling, invoicing, and document management.
Communication service providers that help us send emails, texts, or service updates.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where required.

All processors are required to protect your data, process it only on our instructions, and maintain appropriate security and confidentiality. When data is shared with an independent controller, such as a regulator or law enforcement authority, that party is responsible for its own use of the data.

5. International Transfers

If any processor stores or accesses data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure suitable safeguards are in place to protect your personal data. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent lawful transfer mechanisms.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including service delivery, contractual administration, legal compliance, and dispute resolution. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason it is held.

Customer and service records are generally retained for the duration of our relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Communication records may be kept for a period needed to manage follow-up, complaints, or service history.
Marketing preferences are retained until you opt out or the data is no longer needed.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices and legal obligations.

7. Security of Your Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, disclosure, or alteration. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, confidentiality obligations, and regular review of internal practices. While no system is completely risk-free, we aim to maintain a level of security appropriate to the nature of the data and the risks involved.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal limits, these rights include:

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 in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction - to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to data portability - to receive certain data in a portable format where applicable.
Right to object - to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent - where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

These rights are not absolute, and some may be limited where we must comply with legal obligations or where processing is necessary for contract performance or legitimate business reasons. If you make a request, we may need to verify your identity before responding.

9. Automated Decision-Making

We do not use personal data for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. If this changes in the future, we will update this policy and provide the relevant information required by law.

10. Complaints and Further Information

If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data, you have the right to raise a concern with the UK supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve any issue promptly and fairly.

11. 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 protection practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how their personal data is protected.

Effective principle: We process personal data only when necessary, keep it secure, retain it for no longer than needed, and respect the rights of every customer using Deep Cleaning Kensington services in the Kensington area.