Gardeners North Sheen Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners North Sheen collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to its customers and prospective customers. It applies to all Gardeners North Sheen customers and service users within our operating area. By engaging our gardening and related services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Who this Privacy Policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to individuals who contact Gardeners North Sheen, request a quote, make a booking, receive gardening or related services, or otherwise interact with us as private or business customers within the area we serve. It also applies to individuals who communicate with us on behalf of a business, organisation, landlord or property management company in relation to our services.

Personal data we collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data when you communicate with us or use our services:

Identification and contact details, such as name, title, postal address, service address, billing address, and any other address you provide to us.

Communication details, such as the date and content of enquiries, service requests, quotations, feedback and complaints, as well as your communication preferences.

Service and contract information, including details about the gardening services requested or provided, property access information you choose to share, service frequency, and records of site visits.

Billing and payment information, such as the services you have purchased, prices, payment status and basic transaction records. We do not store full payment card details where payments are processed via third party payment providers.

Technical information where relevant, such as basic usage data associated with your interactions with our online presence, for example date and time of enquiry forms or messages submitted through online channels.

How we collect personal data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, in writing, in person, or through any online form or messaging channel you use to reach us. We may also receive personal data about you indirectly if you are referred to us by another customer, letting agent, landlord or property manager, or where another person makes a booking on your behalf and provides your details so that we can deliver our services.

Lawful basis for processing

Gardeners North Sheen processes personal data only where we have a lawful basis under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act. Depending on the context, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Performance of a contract: We process your personal data to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, such as providing quotations, and to perform an agreed contract for gardening or related services, including scheduling and carrying out visits and issuing invoices.

Legitimate interests: We may process personal data where this is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. These interests include managing and improving our services, keeping appropriate business records, handling customer enquiries and complaints, and promoting our services to existing and former customers in a proportionate way.

Legal obligations: We may process your personal data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as tax, accounting and record keeping obligations, and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Consent: In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example for specific types of optional marketing communications where required by law. When we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

How we use personal data

We use your personal data to provide, manage and improve our services. This includes handling enquiries and quote requests, scheduling and delivering gardening work, managing contracts, issuing invoices, processing payments through third party providers, and maintaining service records.

We also use personal data for routine business administration, such as customer service, quality assurance, staff training, resolving disputes and responding to complaints. Where appropriate and lawful, we may use contact details to provide you with information about services that are relevant to you, for example related or follow-up services at your property.

Data retention

Gardeners North Sheen keeps personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and in line with applicable legal and regulatory requirements. The specific retention period will depend on the type of information and the context in which it was obtained.

Customer and service records are generally kept for a period necessary to manage our relationship with you, to deal with any queries or disputes, and to meet tax and accounting obligations. After these periods expire, data is securely deleted or anonymised so that it can no longer identify you.

Data processors and third parties

We may engage carefully selected third party service providers to process personal data on our behalf. These processors may provide services such as payment processing, accounting support, secure data storage, booking and scheduling tools, communication platforms and administrative support.

Where we use such processors, they are only permitted to use personal data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes we specify. They are required to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the data and to comply with applicable data protection laws.

We may also share personal data where necessary with other independent third parties, such as professional advisers, insurers, regulators and authorities, but only where we have a lawful basis to do so and only to the extent required.

International data transfers

Where any of our service providers or systems involve the transfer of personal data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with data protection law. These safeguards may include the use of standard contractual clauses or reliance on adequacy decisions where available.

Security of your personal data

We take the security of personal data seriously and use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, accidental loss, disclosure or destruction. These measures are reviewed and updated from time to time in line with legal requirements and industry practice. However, no method of transmission or storage can be guaranteed as completely secure, and you should take care when providing personal information.

Your rights under data protection law

As an individual whose personal data is processed by Gardeners North Sheen, you have a number of rights under data protection law. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and exemptions.

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 information about how it is used.

Right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data concerning you.

Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you may have the right to request the deletion of your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal obligation to retain it.

Right to restriction: You may have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in specific situations, such as where you contest its accuracy or object to our use of it.

Right to data portability: Where processing is based on your consent or on a contract and is 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 transmit it to another controller.

Right to object: You have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including profiling, and the absolute right to object at any time to the use of your personal data for direct marketing.

Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on consent as a lawful basis, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

How to exercise your rights and complaints

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact Gardeners North Sheen using the usual contact methods you use to communicate with us about services. We will respond to your request in accordance with legal time limits and may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you believe that your personal data has been processed in a way that does not comply with data protection law. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly first.

Updates to this Privacy Policy

Gardeners North Sheen may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations or the way we process personal data. The updated version will apply from the date it is made available. You should review this page periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal information.