Gardeners Mottingham Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Mottingham collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to its customers and prospective customers in the Mottingham area. It is intended to provide clear information in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws. This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Mottingham customers and service users in our operating area, as well as people who contact us to enquire about our services.

Who this Privacy Policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to all individuals who use or request our gardening, landscaping or related services in the Mottingham area, including domestic and commercial customers, as well as individuals who contact us by any means to request a quote, make a booking, or ask for information. It also applies to people whose personal data we obtain indirectly in connection with the provision of our services, such as people present at a service address or people acting on behalf of another customer.

Personal data we collect

We collect and process only the personal data that we need in order to run our business, provide services and meet our legal obligations. The types of data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details, such as name, postal address, service address, and any other similar contact information you provide when you contact us or use our services.

Service related information, such as descriptions of the garden or property area, preferred service dates and times, notes about access arrangements, and details of any specific instructions or preferences relating to the work.

Communication records, such as details of enquiries, quotes, bookings and complaints, along with any correspondence you send to us or that we send to you.

Billing and payment information, such as records of payments made, payment method used, and invoices raised. We do not store full payment card details if electronic or card payments are made through third party payment providers.

Technical and usage information, where relevant, such as basic information collected by our website or any online forms, including date and time of visits and pages viewed, to help us understand how our services are used and to improve them.

How we collect personal data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, in person, via online forms or through any other communication method to request or use our services. We may also obtain information from third parties if they contact us on your behalf, for example, a family member, landlord, tenant or property manager arranging services at a property. In some cases, we may collect information from publicly available sources where this is necessary to verify details or to contact you about a service that has been requested.

Lawful basis for processing

We only process personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the context, the lawful bases we rely on are:

Contract: We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example, accepting a booking, providing gardening services, or managing invoices and payments.

Legal obligation: We may process personal data to comply with legal obligations, such as record keeping and accounting requirements or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate interests: We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that these interests are not overridden by your rights and interests. This may include arranging schedules, improving our services, maintaining security, handling customer queries and managing our business operations.

Consent: In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example, if we send you optional marketing communications that are not based on legitimate interests. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

How we use personal data

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

To provide gardening and related services you have requested, including arranging visits, performing work at the property and managing follow up visits.

To prepare and send quotes, confirm bookings, and update you about your appointments or any changes to our services.

To manage billing and payments, including issuing invoices, receipts and dealing with payment queries or disputes.

To respond to enquiries, requests for information and complaints, and to provide ongoing customer service.

To maintain business records for administrative, accounting and legal purposes.

To improve our services, plan resources, and manage health and safety matters related to work at your property.

To send you information about our services where this is permitted by law and where you have not opted out or where we have your consent, as applicable.

Data sharing and processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf, or who act as independent controllers where necessary. These may include:

Service providers who help us operate our business, such as IT service providers, website hosting providers, payment processors and administrative support providers.

Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers, where this is necessary for legitimate business purposes or to comply with legal obligations.

Public authorities or law enforcement agencies where we are required to do so by law, or to protect our legal rights or the safety of others.

Where we use third parties as data processors, we ensure that appropriate contractual and technical safeguards are in place so that your personal data is processed only in accordance with our instructions and with suitable security measures.

Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and to meet legal, accounting or reporting requirements. The specific retention period will depend on the type of data and the context of our interactions with you.

In general, we will keep core customer and transaction records for the duration of our relationship with you and for a period after this ends to comply with legal and tax obligations and to handle any potential disputes. Communication records are retained for a reasonable period to allow us to manage ongoing queries and maintain accurate records of our interactions.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with an identifiable individual.

International transfers

Our primary operations are based in the United Kingdom. If we use service providers based outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will take steps to ensure that any transfer of personal data is carried out in compliance with data protection laws, for example, by using appropriate contractual protections or relying on adequacy regulations or similar safeguards, where applicable.

Data security

We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. These measures include limiting access to personal data to personnel and service providers who need it for legitimate business purposes and who are subject to confidentiality obligations. While we take security seriously, no system can be completely secure, and you should take care when sharing information with us.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exemptions. These include:

The right of access: You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data, along with information about how we use it.

The right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate personal data and complete incomplete data.

The right to erasure: You can request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example, where we no longer need it for the purposes for which it was collected and there is no legal reason to retain it.

The right to restrict processing: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, such as while we are checking the accuracy of the information.

The right to object: You can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as the lawful basis. You also have the right to object at any time to the use of your personal data for direct marketing.

The right to data portability: In certain cases, you can request that we provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and that we transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any concerns.

Children

Our services are not specifically directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data relating to children except where it is provided by or on behalf of an adult customer in connection with the provision of our services at a property. Where this occurs, we process such data only as necessary for the relevant service and in line with this Privacy Policy.

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. When we make changes, we will update the version made available to customers. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we process personal data.

Contacting us about privacy

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, how we handle personal data or if you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, you can contact Gardeners Mottingham using the contact details you normally use when communicating with us about our services. Please make it clear that your enquiry relates to data protection or privacy.