Privacy Policy - Stockwell Cleaners

Last updated: This Privacy Policy explains how Stockwell Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Stockwell Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals who use our cleaning services for homes, apartments, offices, and related service requests.

1. Overview

Stockwell Cleaners is committed to handling personal data in a fair, transparent, and secure manner. We process information only where we have a valid lawful basis under data protection law and only for purposes connected with providing our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations.

This policy is written in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and explains your rights as a data subject. It should be read together with any terms that apply to our services. By engaging with Stockwell Cleaners, requesting a quotation, booking a service, or communicating with us, you acknowledge that your information may be processed as described below.

2. Data We Collect

We collect only the data necessary to deliver our services and operate responsibly. Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Identity details: name, title, and any preferred name used for communication.
Contact details: email address, telephone number, and service address.
Service information: booking details, cleaning preferences, access instructions, property notes, and service history.
Payment-related data: billing information, payment status, and transaction records. We do not store full card details unless a secure payment system requires limited processing.
Communication records: messages, enquiries, complaints, feedback, and notes from customer service interactions.
Technical data: basic records such as device type, IP address, or browser details when needed for security, fraud prevention, or system maintenance.

We may also collect special category data only in rare circumstances where you voluntarily provide it and where processing is necessary, such as access arrangements linked to health, mobility, or safety considerations. In such cases, we apply additional safeguards and handle the information with increased care.

3. How We Use Personal Data

Stockwell Cleaners uses personal data for the following purposes:

to provide cleaning services and manage bookings;
to prepare quotations and confirmations;
to communicate about schedules, access, service changes, and follow-up matters;
to process payments and keep accurate financial records;
to respond to complaints, queries, and requests;
to improve our services, customer care, and operational planning;
to maintain safety, security, and quality control;
to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations.

We may also use aggregated or anonymised information for internal reporting and business analysis. This information does not identify you directly.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where a lawful basis under GDPR applies. Depending on the circumstances, our lawful bases include:

Contract

We process data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, delivering services, handling billing, and maintaining service records.

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. Examples include service improvement, fraud prevention, internal administration, quality assurance, and business record management.

Legal Obligation

We process certain records where required to comply with legal duties, including tax, accounting, insurance, and regulatory requirements.

Consent

Where required, we rely on your consent, for example for optional communications or for handling particularly sensitive information you choose to share. You may withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Vital Interests

In exceptional circumstances, we may process information to protect someone’s vital interests, such as during an emergency involving access to premises or immediate safety concerns.

5. Sharing Data and Processors

We do not sell personal data. We may share information only where necessary and appropriate, and only with trusted third parties who act as processors or independent controllers under data protection law.

Our processors may include:

IT and cloud service providers: for secure storage, email, scheduling, and business operations;
Payment service providers: to process transactions securely;
Accounting and bookkeeping providers: for financial administration and reporting;
Customer management software providers: for bookings, service tracking, and communication;
Professional advisers: such as legal, insurance, or tax advisers when needed;
Regulators, authorities, or law enforcement: where disclosure is required by law.

Where processors handle data on our behalf, they are required to process it only on our instructions, protect it appropriately, and keep it confidential. We take reasonable steps to ensure any third party with access to personal data is contractually bound to maintain security and comply with GDPR requirements.

6. International Transfers

If any processor stores or accesses data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent lawful transfer mechanisms. Our aim is to ensure your information remains protected wherever it is processed.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including to provide services, meet legal requirements, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data:

Customer and booking records: retained for the duration of the relationship and a reasonable period afterwards for administration and dispute handling.
Invoices and accounting records: kept for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Complaints and correspondence: retained for as long as necessary to resolve the matter and improve service quality.
Security and system logs: retained only for a limited time unless needed for investigation or legal purposes.

When data is no longer needed, we delete it securely, anonymise it, or otherwise dispose of it in a safe and lawful manner.

8. How We Protect Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure systems, encryption where appropriate, staff confidentiality obligations, and regular review of our procedures.

Although we take security seriously, no method of transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We therefore encourage customers to share only the information necessary for service delivery.

9. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to legal limits and exceptions. These include:

Right of access: to request confirmation of whether we process your data and to obtain a copy of it.
Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data where there is no lawful reason for us to keep it.
Right to restriction: to request limited use of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability: to receive certain information in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent.
Right to complain: to a data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed.

Important: Some rights may not apply where we must keep data for legal reasons or where another lawful basis overrides the request. We will assess every request carefully and respond in accordance with applicable law.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where necessary in connection with a household service and only when provided by an adult customer. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child improperly, we will take steps to delete it promptly.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, services, or internal processes. Where changes are significant, we will take reasonable steps to ensure customers are made aware. Continued use of our services after an update means the revised policy will apply.

12. Further Information

If you have questions about how Stockwell Cleaners handles your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights, we will deal with your request in a lawful and timely manner. We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests to protect your information from unauthorised disclosure.

This policy is designed to be clear, fair, and GDPR-compliant. We value privacy and aim to keep all personal information limited to what is necessary, treated respectfully, and handled with care.

13. Summary of Key Commitments

We collect only necessary data for bookings, service delivery, billing, and support.
We use lawful bases such as contract, legitimate interests, legal obligation, consent, and vital interests where appropriate.
We share data only with trusted processors and other parties when legally required.
We keep data only as long as needed and dispose of it securely when no longer required.
We respect your rights and will respond to requests in line with GDPR.

Stockwell Cleaners is committed to responsible data handling for every customer in the area.