Gardeners Kingston Upon Thames Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Kingston Upon Thames collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers in Kingston upon Thames and the surrounding area. It also explains your rights under applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Kingston Upon Thames customers and individuals who enquire about or use our services in the area, regardless of how you contact us or interact with us, for example by phone, in person or online.
Data Controller
For the purposes of data protection law, Gardeners Kingston Upon Thames is the data controller in relation to the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide why and how your personal data is processed in connection with our gardening and related services.
Personal Data We Collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:
Identification and contact details, such as your name, postal address, property address where services are provided, and general contact details such as your chosen communication channels.
Service information, such as details about your garden, property access instructions you choose to share with us, service history, any special requirements, and records of communications relating to bookings, quotations and customer service.
Payment and transaction data, such as records of payments made, payment method used and related transaction details. We do not store full payment card details; where card payments are taken, these are processed by a payment processor on our behalf.
Usage and communication data, such as records of enquiries, quotes requested, feedback and complaints, and information provided during phone calls or in-person visits, as well as scheduling and appointment information.
Marketing preferences, such as whether you wish to receive marketing communications from us and your preferred methods of contact.
How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a quote, make a booking, ask a question, provide feedback, or otherwise communicate with us. This may be in person, by phone, or through other communication channels you choose to use.
We may also generate personal data in the course of providing our services, for example notes relating to the gardening work carried out at your property, service schedules and billing records.
In limited circumstances we may receive personal data about you from third parties where this is necessary to provide our services, for example if someone refers you to us or acts on your behalf with your consent.
Lawful Bases for Processing
We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so under data protection law. Depending on the context, we may rely on the following lawful bases:
Contract: We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as to provide gardening services, issue quotes, manage bookings, process payments and respond to your requests.
Legal obligation: We process personal data where we are required to do so in order to comply with legal obligations, such as accounting, tax or record-keeping requirements.
Legitimate interests: We process personal data where this is necessary for our legitimate business interests and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes managing our relationship with you, improving our services, ensuring the security of our operations, and handling customer enquiries and complaints.
Consent: In situations where neither contract, legal obligation nor legitimate interests provide an appropriate lawful basis, we may rely on your consent. This may include certain forms of direct marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We may use your personal data for the following purposes:
To provide gardening and related services, including arranging visits, carrying out work at your property, and keeping records of the services delivered.
To respond to enquiries and manage customer relationships, including preparing quotes, answering questions, rescheduling appointments and dealing with feedback or complaints.
To process payments and manage billing, including issuing invoices, processing refunds where applicable and keeping transaction records for financial reporting.
To plan and improve our services, including understanding which services are most in demand, how we can better meet customer needs, and maintaining quality standards.
To send service-related communications, such as appointment reminders, updates about scheduled work and important information about changes to our terms or policies.
To send marketing communications where permitted, for example information about seasonal offers or new services, subject to your preferences and applicable law.
To comply with legal obligations and to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, including cooperation with regulatory authorities where required.
Data Sharing and Processors
We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where necessary and lawful. These may include:
Service providers acting as data processors who perform tasks on our behalf, such as payment processing providers, accounting support, and administrative or IT support services. These providers only process your personal data in accordance with our instructions and are subject to appropriate contractual safeguards.
Professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, where necessary in connection with the management of our business or to obtain professional advice.
Public authorities and regulators, where we are legally required to disclose personal data or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties.
International Transfers
If we use service providers that are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, your personal data may be transferred to countries that do not offer the same level of data protection as your home jurisdiction. Where such transfers occur, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that your personal data remains protected in accordance with applicable law, for example by using standard contractual clauses or other legally recognised safeguards.
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.
In general, we keep customer records for as long as you remain an active customer and for a reasonable period afterwards in case of queries, disputes or legal claims. Financial and transactional records are typically retained in line with statutory retention periods required for tax and accounting purposes.
When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with you.
Data Security
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, appropriate staff training and regular review of our data handling practices.
While we take reasonable steps to secure your personal data, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You are encouraged to take care with the information you provide and how you communicate with us.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under data protection law, you have certain rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to limitations and conditions under the law, but generally include the following:
Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and to obtain a copy of that data, together with certain information about how it is used.
Right to rectification: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data concerning you.
Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.
Right to restriction of processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example while we investigate a concern you have raised about its accuracy.
Right to data portability: Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to request that it be transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to object: You have the right to object to processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis, including profiling based on those interests. You also have the right to object at any time to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes.
Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, you can contact us using your preferred communication method as made available by us. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.
Complaints
If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK supervisory authority for data protection if you believe that your rights have been infringed under data protection law.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or for other operational reasons. Any updated version will apply to all Gardeners Kingston Upon Thames customers in the area from the date it is communicated or made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.
