Privacy Policy - Balham Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Balham Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Balham Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about services, book appointments, receive cleaning services, or otherwise interact with us. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to all customers of Balham Cleaners in the area, as well as prospective customers, household representatives, and any person whose personal data is processed in connection with our services. It covers data collected through phone, email, online enquiry forms, direct messages, written communications, booking systems, payment records, service notes, and any other method used to arrange or deliver our cleaning services.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the personal data necessary for service delivery, business administration, legal compliance, and customer support. Depending on the type of interaction, we may collect the following categories of data:

• Identity information such as name, surname, and title.
• Contact information such as address, email address, and telephone number.
• Service information such as booking details, service preferences, property access instructions, cleaning requirements, and visit history.
• Payment information such as billing records, transaction references, and payment status. We do not intentionally retain full payment card details where payment is processed securely by third parties.
• Communication data such as messages, complaints, feedback, and records of calls or correspondence.
• Technical data if you interact with digital systems, including basic usage details, device information, and logs necessary for security and functionality.

We do not seek to collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and there is a valid legal basis for doing so. Where special category data is unavoidably disclosed to us, we handle it with heightened care and only where permitted by law.

3. How We Use Personal Data

Balham Cleaners uses personal data for the following purposes:

• to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
• to manage bookings and provide cleaning services;
• to communicate about appointments, changes, or service updates;
• to issue invoices, process payments, and manage accounts;
• to handle customer complaints, feedback, and service improvement;
• to maintain internal records and business administration;
• to meet legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
• to prevent fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access;
• to protect the security of our systems, staff, and customers.

We use personal data only for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes and do not use it in ways that are incompatible with those purposes.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each type of processing. Balham Cleaners may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Performance of a Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing quotations, bookings, cleaning appointments, customer records, invoicing, and service communications.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, improving service quality, maintaining security, preventing fraud, and keeping internal business records. When we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the impact on individuals and ensure that the processing is proportionate.

Legal Obligation

We process certain information where required to comply with legal obligations, such as tax rules, accounting requirements, record-keeping obligations, insurance matters, or lawful requests from public authorities.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain optional communications or where the law requires it. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors or independent controllers, but only where necessary and with appropriate safeguards. Processors are required to protect your data and to act only on our instructions.

Typical categories of processors and service providers may include:

• Payment processors that handle secure card or electronic payments;
• Booking and scheduling providers that help manage appointments and customer records;
• IT and cloud service providers that store or support our systems;
• Communication service providers that help send messages or manage email systems;
• Accounting and invoicing services that assist with financial administration;
• Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary;
• Public authorities or regulators where disclosure is required by law.

We do not sell personal data. If personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it in line with applicable law.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. The retention period depends on the type of data, the reason it was collected, and any legal obligations that apply.

• Booking and customer service records are kept for as long as needed to manage the customer relationship and resolve issues.
• Financial records are generally kept for the period required under tax and accounting laws.
• Communication records may be retained for a reasonable period to deal with enquiries, complaints, or service follow-up.
• Where data is no longer required, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise disposed of safely.

We regularly review retention periods to ensure that data is not kept longer than necessary.

7. Data Security

Balham Cleaners uses appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, alteration, or disclosure. These measures are designed to be proportionate to the nature of the data and the risks involved. Access to personal data is limited to authorised personnel and trusted processors who need it for legitimate business purposes.

8. Your Rights

As a data subject, you have rights under data protection law. Subject to legal limits and conditions, these rights may include:

• The right to be informed about how we use your data;
• The right of access to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• The right to rectification if your data is inaccurate or incomplete;
• The right to erasure in certain circumstances, sometimes called the right to be forgotten;
• The right to restrict processing in certain situations;
• The right to data portability for data you provided to us, where applicable;
• The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
• Rights related to automated decision-making, where applicable, although we do not normally use fully automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects.

You also have the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with legal requirements and may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

9. Marketing and Communications

If we send optional service updates or marketing communications, we will do so only where permitted by law. You may object to marketing at any time. We will respect your communication preferences and will not use personal data for marketing in a way that overrides your rights.

10. Complaints

If you have concerns about how your personal data is handled, we encourage you to raise them promptly so that we can review and address the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection supervisory authority if you believe your data protection rights have been breached.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, operational, or service changes. Any updates will take effect when published in the revised version. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their personal data is used.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Balham Cleaners is committed to processing personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We collect only the information we need, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, retain it only for as long as necessary, and apply appropriate safeguards when sharing it with processors. We respect customer rights and aim to maintain trust through responsible data handling across all Balham Cleaners customers in the area.