Privacy Policy - Richmond Cleaner

Last updated: This Privacy Policy explains how Richmond Cleaner collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Richmond Cleaner customers in the area, including people who enquire about services, receive quotes, book appointments, or use our cleaning services in any residential or commercial setting.

We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is written to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have over your data.

1. Who We Are

Richmond Cleaner provides professional cleaning services to customers in Richmond and the surrounding area. In the context of data protection law, Richmond Cleaner is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used.

We take privacy seriously and aim to collect only the information we need for legitimate business and service purposes. We also take steps to ensure that any personal data we handle is accurate, secure, and retained only for as long as necessary.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity details: name, title, and where relevant, business name.
Contact details: address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details: property type, service preferences, appointment information, instructions, and access requirements.
Payment information: limited billing information needed to process payments, issue invoices, and maintain accounting records.
Communication records: messages, booking requests, complaints, feedback, and service-related correspondence.
Technical and usage data: basic information collected when you interact with our digital systems, such as device type or browser data where relevant for website security or performance.
Safety and access information: details needed to enter premises safely, such as alarm instructions or preferred entry arrangements.

We do not intentionally collect special category personal data unless it is clearly necessary and legally permitted. Special category data includes information about health, religion, ethnicity, political views, or similar sensitive matters. If such data is ever provided to us incidentally, we will handle it with extra care and only where there is a lawful basis to do so.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide cleaning services and manage bookings;
to prepare quotes and confirm service availability;
to communicate about appointments, service changes, and service delivery;
to process invoices, payments, and refunds where necessary;
to keep records for accounting, tax, and business administration;
to respond to enquiries, complaints, and customer support requests;
to protect against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
to maintain service quality and improve our operations;
to comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from public authorities.

We only use your personal data for the purposes set out in this policy or for closely related purposes that would reasonably be expected in the course of our business.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. Richmond Cleaner relies on the following lawful bases, depending on the situation:

Performance of a Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes handling bookings, carrying out cleaning services, managing access arrangements, and issuing invoices.

Legitimate Interests

We may process your personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. Examples include responding to enquiries, maintaining service records, improving customer service, preventing misuse, and managing our business effectively.

Legal Obligation

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

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent. Where consent is the lawful basis, you can withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. How We Collect Your Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote or service;
book or amend an appointment;
contact us by message, phone, or email;
make a payment or request an invoice;
provide access or service instructions;
submit feedback or a complaint.

We may also receive information from third parties where necessary, such as payment processors, property managers, or business partners acting on your behalf, but only where this is lawful and appropriate.

6. Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share it with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These parties act as processors when they process data on our instructions.

Examples of processors may include:

Payment processors: to complete payment transactions securely;
Booking and scheduling providers: to manage appointments and service administration;
Accounting or invoicing systems: to maintain financial records and tax compliance;
IT and cloud service providers: to store data, maintain systems, and support security;
Communication service providers: to send service-related messages and notices;
Professional advisers: such as accountants or legal advisers where necessary.

Where processors are used, we require them to protect your data and only process it in line with our instructions and applicable law. We may also disclose personal data if required by law, to protect our legal rights, or in connection with a formal authority request.

7. International Transfers

If any of our processors store or access data outside the UK, we will take appropriate safeguards to ensure your personal data remains protected in accordance with applicable data protection law. Such safeguards may include the use of approved contractual clauses or equivalent legal measures.

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 requirements.

Typical retention periods may include:

Customer and booking records: kept for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards to manage follow-up, disputes, or service continuity;
Financial and tax records: retained for the period required by law, generally up to 6 years;
Correspondence and complaints: kept long enough to resolve issues and maintain service records;
Consent-based records: kept until consent is withdrawn or the purpose no longer applies.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it or anonymise it securely. Retention periods may vary depending on the nature of the information and our legal duties.

9. Your Rights

You have important rights under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, 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 some situations;
Right to data portability: to receive certain data 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 the relevant supervisory authority if you believe your data has been mishandled.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal exceptions. We will respond to requests in accordance with applicable law and within the required timeframes.

10. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to help protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, and limiting access to data to those who need it for business purposes.

While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and respond appropriately to any suspected data incident.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, operational, or service changes. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers in the Richmond Cleaner area to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

12. Summary of Key Principles

In summary, Richmond Cleaner collects only the information needed to deliver services effectively and lawfully. We use personal data to manage bookings, communications, payments, and compliance obligations. We rely on lawful bases such as contract, legitimate interests, legal obligation, and consent where appropriate. We share data only with trusted processors and other parties where necessary, keep it only as long as needed, and respect your rights under data protection law.

By using Richmond Cleaner services, customers in the area acknowledge that their personal data may be processed in line with this Privacy Policy and applicable law.