Swiss Cottage Cleaners Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Swiss Cottage Cleaners collects, uses, stores and protects personal data of all customers within our service area. It also describes your rights under applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation and the UK General Data Protection Regulation. By using our cleaning services, contacting us, or otherwise providing your personal data, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Scope of this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to all personal data processed by Swiss Cottage Cleaners in connection with providing domestic or commercial cleaning services to customers in our service area. It covers data collected through our website, by telephone, in person, through messaging services, and through any other communication channels we may use to provide our services.
Data Controller
Swiss Cottage Cleaners is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. As data controller, we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data and are responsible for ensuring that such processing complies with applicable data protection laws.
Personal Data We Collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you:
Identification and contact details such as your name, title, address, and preferred contact details.
Service and booking information such as property type, access instructions where required for the service, service preferences, dates and times of bookings, and records of work carried out.
Communication data including correspondence with you, notes of telephone conversations, and any feedback or complaints you provide.
Billing and payment information such as invoice details, payment status, and information necessary to process payments. Payment card details are generally processed by secure payment processors and are not stored by us, except where necessary and lawful for recurring billing or dispute resolution.
Technical data where you use our website, which may include IP address, browser type and version, device information, and information about how you interact with our website, to the extent this is collected through cookies or similar technologies.
Purposes and Lawful Basis for Processing
We only process your personal data where there is a lawful basis to do so. The purposes for which we process your personal data and the corresponding lawful bases are:
To provide and manage cleaning services to you, including handling enquiries, making and managing bookings, attending your premises, and issuing invoices. The lawful basis is that processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
To communicate with you about your bookings, service changes, cancellations, and operational matters. The lawful basis is performance of a contract and, where relevant, our legitimate interests in ensuring effective communication and service delivery.
To manage payments, invoicing, and accounting, including dealing with payment queries and potential disputes. The lawful basis is performance of a contract and compliance with our legal obligations related to accounting and taxation.
To improve our services, handle complaints, gather feedback, and monitor service quality. The lawful basis is our legitimate interests in improving and developing our business and ensuring a high standard of service.
To send you service-related updates and, where permitted, marketing communications about our services that may be of interest to you. The lawful basis is our legitimate interests for existing customers, or your consent where required by law. You can opt out of marketing at any time.
To comply with legal obligations, regulatory requirements, and to cooperate with authorities where legally required. The lawful basis is compliance with a legal obligation.
To protect our rights, property and the safety of our staff, customers and the public, including establishing or defending legal claims. The lawful basis is our legitimate interests in protecting our business and legal rights.
Data Retention
We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
Customer records relating to service provision, contracts, and invoices are typically retained for the period during which you are a customer and for a reasonable period thereafter, often up to six years after the end of the customer relationship, in line with legal limitation and tax record requirements.
Communication records, feedback and complaint information are retained for as long as necessary to manage the issue and for a period that allows us to demonstrate our handling and resolve any follow-up queries.
Technical data collected via the website is retained for a shorter period that allows us to analyse and improve website performance, usually for no longer than is necessary to achieve those purposes.
When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymise it, unless we are required by law to keep it for a longer period.
Data Processors and Sharing of Personal Data
We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors are engaged to support the provision of our services and are only permitted to process personal data in accordance with our instructions and applicable data protection laws.
Categories of processors may include providers of booking and scheduling software, payment processing services, accounting and invoicing systems, customer relationship management tools, cloud storage and IT support services, and, where applicable, professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers.
We may also share your personal data with third parties where required by law, where it is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others, or in connection with a business reorganisation or similar event, in which case appropriate safeguards will be applied.
Where processors or service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent measures, in order to protect your personal data in accordance with data protection laws.
Security of Your Personal Data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, encryption where appropriate, staff training, and procedures to respond to suspected data breaches.
While we take reasonable steps to safeguard your data, no system can be completely secure. We encourage you to take care when sharing personal data, particularly when using email or other online communication channels.
Your Data Protection Rights
You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exceptions under applicable law.
Right of access. You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data, together with information about how it is used.
Right to rectification. You can request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data be corrected or updated.
Right to erasure. You can request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where the data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.
Right to restriction of processing. You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, such as while a complaint about accuracy is being investigated.
Right to data portability. Where processing is based on consent or on a contract and carried out by automated means, you may request that we provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or request that it be transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to object. You can object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including profiling, and we will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or where processing is required for legal claims. You also have the right to object at any time to processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes.
Right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe that your data protection rights have been infringed. You are encouraged to contact us first so that we can attempt 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 practices, legal requirements or other operational reasons. Any changes will be effective when the updated policy is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.
Contact and Queries
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, about how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, you can contact Swiss Cottage Cleaners using the contact details provided on our website or in your customer correspondence.
