Privacy Policy - Cleaner Twickenham

Effective date: This Privacy Policy applies to all Cleaner Twickenham customers in the area and explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Introduction

Cleaner Twickenham is committed to respecting your privacy and handling your personal data responsibly, fairly, and transparently. This policy explains what information we collect when you request, arrange, or receive cleaning services; why we collect it; how long we keep it; who may process it on our behalf; and what rights you have over your data. We only collect and use personal data where we have a valid legal reason to do so, and we limit our use of that data to what is necessary for running our services, meeting our obligations, and improving our operations.

For the purposes of this policy, personal data means any information that identifies you, or could reasonably be used to identify you, such as your name, address, telephone number, email address, payment information, and service history.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the information needed to provide and manage cleaning services effectively. Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of data:

Identity data: your name and, where relevant, title.
Contact data: address, email address, and telephone number.
Service data: details about the type of cleaning requested, booking dates, property access notes, preferences, and service instructions.
Billing and payment data: payment status, invoices, and transaction details. We do not store unnecessary card information where payment is handled securely by a payment processor.
Communication data: messages, complaints, feedback, and any correspondence you send to us.
Technical data: limited information such as device type, browser type, and usage data if you contact us through digital systems that record it.
Special category data: we do not intend to collect special category data unless you voluntarily provide it and it is necessary for a specific service request, in which case we will handle it with extra care and only where allowed by law.

We usually collect data directly from you when you make an enquiry, arrange a service, complete a form, communicate with us, or make a payment. In some cases, we may also receive information from third parties such as property managers, tenants, landlords, or payment providers where this is necessary for service delivery or administration.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to arrange, deliver, and manage cleaning services;
to confirm bookings and service details;
to process payments, invoices, and refunds;
to maintain records of services provided;
to handle complaints, requests, and customer support;
to meet legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations;
to protect our business, customers, and staff from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
to improve our services, processes, and customer experience;
to send necessary service-related communications.

We will not use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the original reason it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do so and, where required, have informed you appropriately.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis before we process your personal data. Cleaner Twickenham relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, carrying out cleaning services, issuing invoices, and providing customer support related to the service.

Legal Obligation

We process certain information where we must comply with legal requirements, such as tax records, accounting obligations, fraud prevention, and other regulatory duties.

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, internal record-keeping, quality control, staff training, protecting against misuse, and responding to complaints.

Consent

Where required, we rely on your consent, for example if we ask to use certain optional information or contact you for a purpose that is not covered by another lawful basis. You may withdraw consent at any time, although this will not affect processing that has already taken place lawfully.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share information only where necessary and appropriate for service delivery, compliance, or legitimate business functions. Some of these recipients act as processors, meaning they process data on our instructions and only for specified purposes.

Examples of processors and third parties may include:

Payment processors that handle secure transaction processing;
Accounting or bookkeeping providers used for invoicing and financial records;
IT and hosting providers that store or support our systems;
Customer communication tools used to manage messages and service updates;
Insurance providers where needed for claims or risk management;
Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers;
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law.

All processors are expected to take appropriate security measures and to process personal data only in line with our instructions. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason for holding it.

Service and booking records are generally kept for as long as needed to manage the customer relationship and handle queries or disputes.
Financial and invoice records are kept for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Complaints and correspondence are retained for a reasonable period to resolve issues and maintain service records.
Marketing or consent-based records are kept until you withdraw consent or object, where applicable.

When data is no longer required, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or archived in line with our retention practices. We review records periodically to ensure we do not keep them longer than necessary.

7. Your Rights

Depending on the circumstances and legal conditions, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

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 information.
Right to erasure: to ask us to delete your data in certain situations.
Right to restrict processing: to request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to data portability: to request that certain information be provided to you or another controller in a structured, commonly used format, where legally applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the UK Information Commissioner's Office if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed. Before doing so, we encourage you to contact us so we can try to resolve any issue directly.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and limiting access to those who need the information for legitimate business purposes. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work hard to maintain a high standard of protection.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidentally provided by an adult customer in the course of arranging a service. Where such data is not needed, we will not retain it longer than necessary.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our data handling practices. The most current version will apply to all Cleaner Twickenham customers in the area. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your personal data.

11. Summary of Our Commitments

In summary, we collect only the personal data needed to provide cleaning services, we process it on a lawful basis, we keep it only for as long as necessary, we use trusted processors under proper safeguards, and we respect your rights under data protection law. Cleaner Twickenham is committed to handling your information in a fair, secure, and transparent manner.