Gardeners New Eltham Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners New Eltham collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers in the New Eltham and surrounding area. It also explains the legal bases on which we process your data and sets out your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners New Eltham customers and potential customers located in our service area who contact us, request a quotation, make a booking, or otherwise interact with our gardening services. By engaging with us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data when you contact us, request services, or use our gardening services:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, property address, service address if different, and general location information relevant to the provision of gardening services.

Communication details, including any information you provide when you contact us by post or through other communication channels, along with the content of your messages, feedback, and enquiries.

Service and contract information, including details about the type of gardening services requested, visit dates, frequency of service, access instructions for your property, and notes necessary to carry out the work professionally and safely.

Billing and transaction information, including invoicing details, records of payments, and summaries of services provided. We do not store full payment card details if you choose to pay by card; these are processed by secure payment processors.

Usage and technical data, where applicable, such as basic information about how you interact with any online presence we operate, for example date and time of contact, device type, and non-identifying technical information used for security and service improvement.

How We Collect Your Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a quotation, make a booking, or ask a question about our gardening services. This may be done through written correspondence or other communication channels that you choose to use.

We may also collect personal data generated during the delivery of our services, such as notes taken during site visits, records of services performed, and updates to your service preferences.

In some cases, we may receive personal data about you from third parties who refer you to us or purchase gardening services on your behalf, such as family members, landlords or managing agents. When this happens, we treat your personal data in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Lawful Bases for Processing

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

Contract. We process your data where it is necessary to enter into and perform a contract with you, such as when you request a quotation, make a booking, or we provide and manage gardening services at your property.

Legal obligation. We may process your data where necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, for example in relation to tax, accounting, and record keeping obligations.

Legitimate interests. We may process your data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include managing and improving our services, scheduling visits efficiently, handling customer queries and complaints, and safeguarding our staff and property.

Consent. In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of direct marketing communications, where applicable. Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

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

To provide gardening services, including assessing your requirements, supplying quotations, scheduling visits, and performing agreed services at your property.

To manage our relationship with you, including handling enquiries, rescheduling or cancelling appointments, managing your preferences, and responding to feedback or complaints.

To administer billing and payments, including issuing invoices, processing payments via our payment processors, and maintaining appropriate financial records.

To operate and improve our business, including managing workloads, planning routes, maintaining tools and equipment, and monitoring the quality and safety of our services.

To comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including record keeping, accounting, and cooperation with authorised authorities where required by law.

To send you service-related communications, such as appointment confirmations, reminders, and essential updates about the services you receive from us.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties where this is necessary for the operation of our business and the delivery of our services. These third parties act as data processors or independent controllers, depending on their role.

Data processors may include service providers such as payment processing companies, bookkeeping or accounting providers, route planning or scheduling tools, document storage or backup services, and information technology support providers. These processors are only permitted to process your personal data on our instructions and must implement appropriate security measures.

Where required, we may also share personal data with professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, and with public authorities or regulators if we are legally obliged to do so.

Whenever we use processors, we take steps to ensure that your personal data remains protected in accordance with data protection law, including through appropriate contractual arrangements.

Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

Service and contract records, including contact details and details of services performed, are generally kept for as long as you remain a customer and for a reasonable period afterwards, typically up to six years, to enable us to respond to queries, handle any disputes, and comply with legal obligations.

Billing and transaction data, including invoices and basic payment records, are retained for periods required by tax and accounting laws.

Where we rely on consent for specific processing activities, we retain the related data until you withdraw your consent or the data is no longer needed, whichever occurs first, subject to any legal retention requirements.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to you.

Data Security

We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction, or damage.

These measures may include access controls, secure storage, minimisation of paper records, restricted access to personal data based on role, and secure disposal of information that is no longer required. While we take reasonable steps to protect your data, no system can be completely secure, and you should take care when sharing information with us through any communication channel.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and legal exceptions, but we will always consider and respond to any request you make in line with the law.

Right of access. You have the right to request confirmation that we process your personal data and to receive a copy of that data, together with information about how we use it.

Right to rectification. You have the right to ask us to correct or complete personal data that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.

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

Right to restriction of processing. You may request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in specific situations, such as while we are considering a request to rectify your data.

Right to object. You have the right to object to certain types of processing, including processing based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation.

Right to data portability. Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, 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 we transmit it to another organisation where technically feasible.

Right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent for processing, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before your withdrawal.

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

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data protection best practices. Any updated version will apply to all Gardeners New Eltham customers in our service area from the date it is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.