Privacy Policy - Cleaners Islington

This Privacy Policy explains how Cleaners Islington collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to its customers in the Islington area. It applies to all Cleaners Islington customers in the area, including anyone who requests a quote, books a service, communicates with us, or uses our cleaning services. We are committed to handling personal data 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 We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Cleaners Islington acts as the data controller for personal information collected in connection with our cleaning services. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used. We take privacy seriously and only use personal data where we have a valid legal basis to do so.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us. The information we collect may include:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact information such as your phone number and email address.
Address details such as property location and service address.
Booking and service details including preferred dates, service type, instructions, and service history.
Billing and payment information where needed for invoicing, payment processing, and record keeping.
Communication records including messages, emails, notes from calls, and feedback.
Technical information if you use our digital systems, such as basic usage data, IP address, or device information.
Special instructions relevant to service delivery, such as access arrangements or household preferences.

We do not knowingly collect more information than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Where possible, we keep data collection limited and relevant.

3. How We Collect Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote;
make or manage a booking;
communicate with us by phone, email, or online forms;
provide feedback or raise a complaint;
enter into a service agreement with us.

We may also receive data from third parties where necessary for service delivery, such as payment providers or subcontracted service processors acting on our behalf. In limited cases, we may receive information from a property representative or person authorised to arrange services for you.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We only process personal data when we have a lawful basis under UK GDPR. Depending on the activity, our lawful bases may include:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform our contract with you. This includes managing bookings, delivering cleaning services, handling payments, and communicating about your service.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include improving service quality, maintaining records, preventing fraud, and handling customer support. We always consider whether our interests are proportionate and respectful of your privacy.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information to meet legal or regulatory obligations, including tax, accounting, and record-keeping requirements.

Consent

In some situations, we may rely on your consent, especially for optional communications or certain uses of data not strictly necessary for service provision. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide cleaning services and manage customer accounts;
to confirm bookings and service arrangements;
to process payments and issue invoices;
to respond to enquiries, feedback, or complaints;
to maintain service records and business administration;
to improve our services and internal processes;
to comply with legal, tax, and accounting requirements;
to protect against misuse, fraud, or security incidents.

We use a data minimisation approach and only process information that is relevant and necessary for these purposes.

6. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where required to provide our services or manage our operations. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We only share information when there is a lawful basis and we take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

Types of processors may include:

Payment processors who handle card or electronic payments securely.
IT and cloud service providers who store or support our business systems.
Administrative service providers who assist with scheduling, invoicing, or record management.
Communication platform providers who support email, messaging, or customer service tools.
Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where needed.

Where processors act on our behalf, they are only permitted to use your data according to our instructions and are required to protect it with suitable technical and organisational security measures. We do not sell your personal data.

7. International Transfers

If any of our processors store or access data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are used to protect your information. This may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms recognised under data protection law.

8. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and reporting obligations. Retention periods depend on the type of information and the reason it is held.

As a general approach, booking and service records may be retained for a reasonable period after the service ends in order to handle queries, disputes, and business administration. Financial records are usually retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws. Once data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

We apply the principle of storage limitation, meaning we do not keep personal data indefinitely without a valid reason.

9. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access to personal information on a need-to-know basis.

Although we take reasonable steps to protect your data, no system can be guaranteed completely secure. If a data incident occurs, we will respond in line with our legal obligations.

10. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal limits, these may include:

Right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing – to ask us to limit how we use your data in specific situations.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to data portability – to receive certain information in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You are also entitled to raise concerns with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your rights have been infringed. We encourage you to contact us first so we can address any issue promptly and fairly.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from individuals under 18 unless it is necessary in a household or property-management context and provided by an adult authorised to do so. If we become aware that we have collected data improperly, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data practices. Any changes will take effect when the updated policy is made available. We recommend reviewing this Policy periodically to stay informed about how your data is protected.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

Cleaners Islington is committed to treating personal data with care, respect, and transparency. We collect only what is needed, use it for lawful and clearly defined purposes, keep it only for as long as necessary, and work with processors who are expected to protect it properly. Our approach is designed to safeguard privacy while allowing us to provide reliable cleaning services to customers in Islington.