Privacy Policy - Gardeners Bloomsbury

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Bloomsbury collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data belonging to its customers in the Bloomsbury area. It applies to all Gardeners Bloomsbury customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about services, receive quotations, book appointments, or engage us for gardening and related outdoor maintenance work. We are committed to handling personal information in a fair, transparent, and lawful manner in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Gardeners Bloomsbury provides gardening and outdoor maintenance services to residential and commercial customers. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the data controller for the personal data we collect and process in connection with our services. This means we decide why and how your personal data is used and are responsible for ensuring that it is processed lawfully, securely, and only for legitimate purposes.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect data that is necessary for business, legal, and service-related purposes. Depending on your interaction with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, business or property name.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information such as the type of gardening service requested, property notes, access requirements, and appointment preferences.
Billing and payment details such as invoice records, payment status, and transaction references.
Communication records such as messages, phone notes, complaints, feedback, and correspondence relating to your service.
Site and safety information such as instructions, hazard notes, and details needed to carry out work safely.
Technical data if you interact with our digital systems, such as basic device or browser information collected for security and performance purposes.

We do not seek to collect special category data unless it is necessary and lawful to do so. Special category data includes information about health, religion, political views, ethnicity, or similar sensitive matters. If such information is ever provided to us incidentally, we will only process it where a lawful condition applies and where appropriate safeguards are in place.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quotation or make an enquiry;
book or use our gardening services;
communicate with us by phone, email, or written message;
provide instructions, feedback, or complaints;
make a payment or receive an invoice;
sign a contract or service agreement.

We may also receive information from third parties where necessary for providing services, for example from property managers, landlords, contractors, or payment providers. Where we receive data from another source, we will handle it in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis under UK GDPR. Depending on the situation, our lawful bases may include:

Contract - to prepare quotations, manage bookings, carry out services, issue invoices, and fulfil our obligations to you.
Legal obligation - to keep records for tax, accounting, insurance, or regulatory purposes.
Legitimate interests - to operate and improve our business, manage customer relationships, prevent fraud, protect our property and staff, and resolve disputes, provided your rights do not override those interests.
Consent - where we rely on your clear consent for a specific purpose, such as certain optional communications. You may withdraw consent at any time.

When we rely on legitimate interests, we ensure that our processing is proportionate, necessary, and limited to what is reasonably expected in the context of our services.

5. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to manage appointments and deliver gardening services;
to communicate service updates and practical instructions;
to prepare invoices, process payments, and maintain records;
to deal with complaints, queries, and disputes;
to protect against fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access;
to meet legal, tax, and accounting obligations;
to review and improve the quality and efficiency of our services;
to maintain safety, especially where site-specific risks must be managed.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably believe that another compatible purpose applies or we are required by law to use it otherwise.

6. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. Processors are organisations that handle data on our instructions and only for specified purposes. They may include:

IT and cloud service providers that support storage, communications, and security;
accounting and bookkeeping providers that assist with financial records and tax compliance;
payment processing providers that handle card or transfer transactions;
customer management and scheduling tools used to organise work and appointments;
professional advisers such as accountants, legal advisers, or insurers where required;
subcontractors or partner service providers where necessary to complete requested work.

Where we use processors, we require them to respect data protection law, keep information secure, and use the data only for the agreed purpose. We do not sell your personal data.

We may also disclose data if required by law, court order, or public authority, or where necessary to protect our rights, property, staff, or customers. If a business restructuring or transfer occurs, personal data may be shared with relevant parties under appropriate safeguards.

7. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information, the reason it was obtained, and any legal duties that apply. In general:

quotation and enquiry records may be kept for a reasonable period to manage follow-up, disputes, and service history;
service and customer records may be retained while the customer relationship remains active and for a period afterwards;
financial and accounting records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law;
complaint and legal records may be kept longer where necessary to defend or establish legal claims.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. We apply retention controls to ensure that information is not kept indefinitely without justification.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage practices, staff confidentiality requirements, and limited access based on business need. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the risks involved.

9. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal exceptions and conditions, these may include:

the right to be informed about how your data is used;
the right of access to obtain a copy of your personal data;
the right to rectification to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
the right to erasure in certain circumstances, sometimes called the right to be forgotten;
the right to restrict processing where certain conditions apply;
the right to data portability for information processed by automated means on the basis of consent or contract;
the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
rights relating to automated decision-making, where applicable.

You also have the right to withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent as the basis for processing. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

To exercise your rights, you may make a request using the details we have provided through our usual communication channels. We will respond within the timeframe required by law and may ask for information to confirm your identity before acting on your request.

10. International Transfers

If any of our service providers store or process data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that suitable safeguards are in place to protect your information. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual protections, or other legally recognised transfer mechanisms.

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 handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is used.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Gardeners Bloomsbury is committed to privacy, transparency, and responsible data handling. We collect only the information we need, use it for clearly defined purposes, keep it only as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where the law requires. We respect your rights and will continue to process your data in a way that is fair, secure, and compliant with GDPR principles.