Privacy Policy - Kentish Town Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Kentish Town Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Kentish Town Cleaners customers in the area, including anyone who enquires about, books, receives, or pays for our cleaning services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in line 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 customers, prospective customers, household members, authorised representatives, and any other individuals whose personal data is provided to us in connection with our services. It also applies to people whose data is processed when we arrange, deliver, or manage cleaning services in Kentish Town and the surrounding area. By using our services or providing personal data to us, you acknowledge that this Privacy Policy applies.

2. What personal data we collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant to providing our services, managing our relationship with you, and complying with legal obligations. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identity data: name, title, and any preferred name.
Contact data: address, email address, telephone number, and service location.
Service data: booking details, cleaning preferences, instructions, access arrangements, service history, and notes relevant to delivering our services.
Payment data: payment status, transaction reference, and billing records. We do not store full card details where payment is processed by a secure third-party provider.
Communication data: messages, emails, call notes, complaints, feedback, and records of customer support interactions.
Technical data: limited device or usage information if you interact with us through digital systems used to manage bookings or communications.
Special category data: only where you voluntarily provide information that may be relevant to access requirements, health, allergies, or sensitivities connected with service delivery. We will only process such data where permitted by law and where it is necessary.

We aim to keep data collection minimal. We do not seek to collect unnecessary personal information.

3. How we use your personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to arrange and deliver cleaning services;
to manage bookings, schedules, and service updates;
to process payments and maintain financial records;
to communicate with you about your service;
to handle complaints, disputes, and service issues;
to meet legal, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
to maintain records for quality assurance, training, and business administration;
to prevent fraud, misuse, and unauthorised access.

We never sell personal data. Any use of personal information is limited to legitimate business and legal purposes connected with our services.

4. Lawful basis for processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the context, Kentish Town Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as providing a quote, booking a service, or completing a cleaning appointment.

Legal obligation

We may process personal data to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including tax, accounting, record-keeping, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include service management, customer support, fraud prevention, internal administration, and maintaining business records.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on consent, especially where it is required for certain types of optional communication or for processing special category data provided voluntarily. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

Where special category data is processed, we will only do so when lawful grounds exist and the data is needed for a specific and legitimate purpose.

5. Data sharing and processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our services. These third parties act as processors when they process data on our behalf and under our instructions. Typical processors may include:

booking and scheduling software providers;
payment processing providers;
email and communication service providers;
IT support, data storage, and cloud hosting providers;
accounting and invoicing software providers;
professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers;
service partners or subcontractors where needed to fulfil a booking.

We require processors to handle data securely, only for the purposes we specify, and in accordance with data protection law. We do not allow processors to use your personal data for their own independent purposes.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, court order, or to protect our rights, property, customers, or staff. Where possible, we will limit disclosure to the minimum necessary.

6. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless a longer retention period is required by law. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing. In general:

customer and service records are kept for the period needed to manage our relationship and service history;
financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law;
complaints, disputes, and correspondence may be retained for a reasonable period to help resolve issues and maintain proper records;
data held on the basis of consent is deleted or anonymised when consent is withdrawn, unless another lawful basis applies.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in accordance with our retention practices. Retention is regularly reviewed so that information is not kept longer than necessary.

7. Data security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include restricted access, password protection, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and careful selection of processors. While no system can be completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and to respond appropriately if an incident occurs.

8. Your rights under data protection law

You have important rights regarding your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exemptions, you may have the right to:

access the personal data we hold about you;
rectify inaccurate or incomplete information;
erase your data in certain circumstances;
restrict how we process your data;
object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
data portability for data you have provided to us where applicable;
withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

You also have the right to be informed about how your data is used and the right not to be subject to unlawful automated decision-making. If you believe your data protection rights have been infringed, you may raise the matter with the relevant supervisory authority.

9. Children’s data

Our services are intended for adults and households arranging cleaning services. We do not knowingly collect personal data directly from children unless it is incidentally provided by an adult customer and necessary for service delivery. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child without a valid reason, we will take steps to delete it.

10. International transfers

Where a processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the United Kingdom, we will take appropriate safeguards to ensure that your personal data remains protected in accordance with applicable law. These safeguards may include approved contractual protections and other legal transfer mechanisms.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or how we process personal data. Any revised 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 we handle data.

12. Summary of our commitment

Kentish Town Cleaners is committed to processing personal data responsibly, transparently, and securely. We collect only what is needed, use it only for clear and lawful purposes, keep it only for as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. Your privacy matters to us, and we aim to uphold your rights at every stage of our service.