Privacy Policy - Cleaners Stjohnswood

This Privacy Policy explains how Cleaners Stjohnswood collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to its customers in the St John's Wood area. It applies to all Cleaners Stjohnswood customers in the area, including individuals who request cleaning services, manage bookings, communicate with us, or otherwise engage our services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We respect the privacy of every customer and only process personal data where we have a valid legal reason to do so. This policy describes what data we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and the rights available to you as a data subject.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the personal data necessary to provide and manage our cleaning services, operate our business effectively, and meet legal obligations. The type of information we may collect includes:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact details such as your email address, phone number, and service address.
Booking and service information including appointment dates, service preferences, notes about your property, and cleaning instructions.
Billing and payment information such as invoicing details and payment status. We do not store full card data where payments are processed through secure payment providers.
Communication records including emails, messages, complaint details, feedback, and customer support correspondence.
Account and transaction data if you maintain an account or regular service arrangement with us.
Technical information in limited circumstances, such as basic device or browser details when you interact with our online systems, where applicable.

We generally collect this information directly from you when you make an enquiry, book a service, request a quote, or communicate with us. In some cases, information may also be provided by a third party acting on your behalf, such as a property manager or family member arranging cleaning services.

2. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data only where it is necessary for legitimate business purposes and permitted by law. Typical uses include:

To provide cleaning services and manage appointments.
To confirm bookings and communicate service arrangements.
To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records.
To respond to enquiries, complaints, or service requests.
To maintain customer records and service history.
To improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of our services.
To comply with legal, tax, and accounting obligations.
To protect against fraud, misuse, or unauthorised activity.

We do not use your personal data for unrelated purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected unless we inform you and have a lawful basis to do so.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Cleaners Stjohnswood relies on the following bases:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging cleaning services, confirming bookings, communicating service details, and handling payments.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include service management, record keeping, business administration, customer support, service quality monitoring, and fraud prevention. We consider the impact on your privacy before relying on this basis.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information where needed to comply with legal requirements, such as tax, accounting, insurance, or regulatory obligations.

Consent

Where required by law, we will rely on your consent. If we ask for consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

We do not normally process special category data unless it is necessary and we have an appropriate lawful basis. If you choose to provide information that could reveal sensitive details, we will handle it with heightened care and only as needed to deliver our services.

4. Data Retention

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

Customer and booking records are generally kept for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards to manage follow-up, disputes, or service continuity.
Financial and invoicing data are retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Communication records may be kept for operational review, complaint handling, and evidence of instructions or agreements.
Marketing-related data, where applicable, are kept until you withdraw consent or object to processing.

When personal data is no longer required, we will delete, anonymise, or securely dispose of it in line with our retention practices.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These third parties act as processors when they process data on our behalf and only under our instructions, or as independent controllers where they determine their own purposes. We require appropriate contractual safeguards to protect your information.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

Payment service providers that process customer payments securely.
Accounting and bookkeeping services that assist with financial administration.
Scheduling, CRM, or communication tools used to manage bookings and customer interactions.
IT and cloud storage providers that support secure data storage and system maintenance.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers when necessary.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, court order, regulatory authority, or to protect our legal rights, staff, customers, or property.

We do not sell your personal data. Any sharing is limited to what is necessary for the operation of our services or legal compliance.

6. Security of Your Information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and restricted data handling practices.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to maintain appropriate safeguards and review our practices periodically to reduce risk.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location and the circumstances of processing, you have certain rights over your personal data. 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 information.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – to request transfer of certain data to you or another provider.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent.

You also have the right to make a complaint to your local data protection authority if you believe your personal data has been handled unlawfully. We encourage you to raise concerns with us first so that we can attempt to resolve them promptly and fairly.

8. International Transfers

If any processor or service provider stores or accesses personal data outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent legal protections designed to keep your data secure and lawful.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data handling practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we use personal data.

10. Summary of Our Commitment

Cleaners Stjohnswood is committed to protecting the privacy of all customers in the area. We only collect the personal data we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, retain it for appropriate periods, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We aim to ensure that our data practices are transparent, proportionate, and respectful of your rights.

If you are a customer of Cleaners Stjohnswood in the St John's Wood area, this policy applies to you.