Privacy Policy - Cleaner Watford

This Privacy Policy explains how Cleaner Watford collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Cleaner Watford customers in the Watford area, including prospective, current, and former customers, as well as anyone who communicates with us about our cleaning services.

We are committed to handling personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is intended to help you understand what information we process, why we process it, how long we keep it, who may receive it, and what rights you have in relation to it.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the personal data that is necessary to provide, manage, and improve our services. Depending on your interaction with us, this may include:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the name of a business or property manager.
Contact details such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information such as booking dates, cleaning preferences, property access instructions, and service history.
Payment-related information such as billing records, invoice details, and transaction references. We do not knowingly store full card details unless handled by a secure third-party payment processor.
Communication records such as emails, messages, complaints, feedback, and notes about service requests.
Technical data such as basic website or device information if you interact with digital systems used to manage bookings, subject to the tools in use.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you choose to provide it and it is necessary for a legitimate purpose, such as ensuring safe access to a property or accommodating a request. If such information is received, we will only process it where a lawful basis exists and appropriate safeguards are in place.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data to operate our cleaning services effectively and lawfully. This includes:

Processing enquiries and bookings.
Delivering cleaning services at the correct property and time.
Managing customer accounts, invoices, and payments.
Communicating about appointments, changes, cancellations, or service issues.
Recording preferences and instructions to improve service quality.
Handling complaints, feedback, and dispute resolution.
Meeting legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations.
Protecting our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We will not use your information for purposes that are incompatible with those described in this policy unless we have a valid legal basis to do so.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Cleaner Watford relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. For example, we need your name, address, and contact details to provide a cleaning service at the agreed property.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include improving services, maintaining records, managing appointments, responding to queries, and protecting against fraud or misuse. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we carefully consider whether the processing is proportionate and necessary.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain records to comply with legal obligations, including tax law, accounting requirements, employment law, health and safety duties, and insurance or regulatory obligations.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, particularly where you have actively agreed to a specific type of processing. If we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time, although this will not affect processing already carried out before withdrawal.

4. Sharing Your Information

We only share personal data when necessary and with appropriate safeguards. Recipients may include:

Payment service providers who handle transactions securely on our behalf.
Booking, scheduling, or communication platforms used to organise and manage services.
Accountants, auditors, or professional advisers where required for compliance or business administration.
Insurance providers in the event of a claim or incident.
Public authorities, law enforcement, or regulators where disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect rights, safety, or property.

We require processors and third parties to protect personal data and to use it only for authorised purposes. We do not sell personal data.

5. Data Processors

Where Cleaner Watford uses third-party service providers to process personal data on our behalf, those parties act as data processors. They may include providers of secure payment processing, booking tools, cloud storage, email systems, accounting software, and customer management systems.

We choose processors carefully and expect them to:

Process data only on our instructions.
Apply appropriate technical and organisational security measures.
Keep personal data confidential.
Assist with data subject requests and incident management where applicable.
Delete or return data when their services are no longer required.

Where data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure appropriate legal safeguards are in place, such as an adequacy decision or standard contractual protections where required.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including meeting legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the nature of the data and the reason for processing.

Customer and service records are generally retained for as long as needed to manage the service relationship and resolve related issues.
Financial and invoicing records may be kept for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Communication records may be retained for a reasonable period to support customer service, quality control, and dispute handling.
Incident or complaint records may be retained longer where necessary for legal claims, insurance matters, or safeguarding business interests.

When data is no longer required, we will delete, anonymise, or securely destroy it. Retention periods are reviewed regularly to ensure they remain appropriate and lawful.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights regarding your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal limits, but we will always respond fairly and transparently.

Right of access – you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – in certain circumstances, you can request deletion of your data.
Right to restrict processing – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in specific situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to data portability – you may request that certain data be provided to you or another controller in a usable format.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the legal timeframe, usually within one month, unless the request is complex.

8. Security of Your Information

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, limited staff access, and careful selection of trusted service providers.

However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Complaints and Supervisory Authority

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to raise them with us so we can review and address the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection matters.

10. 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 handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated to you.

By using Cleaner Watford services in the Watford area, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and how your personal data is handled.