Gardeners Barnsbury Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Barnsbury collects, uses, stores and protects personal data belonging to its customers and prospective customers in the Barnsbury area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws and how you can exercise those rights.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Barnsbury customers and individuals who enquire about or use our gardening and related services in the Barnsbury area, whether you contact us online, by post or in person.

Who we are and our role

Gardeners Barnsbury is a gardening services provider operating in the Barnsbury area. For the purposes of data protection law, Gardeners Barnsbury is the data controller of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used and are responsible for ensuring that it is processed in compliance with applicable data protection legislation.

Personal data we collect

We collect and process personal data that is necessary for the provision and management of our services, the operation of our business and compliance with our legal obligations. The types of personal data we may collect include the following categories.

Identification and contact details such as your full name, address, property location where the gardening service is provided, and communication details that you choose to share with us when you make an enquiry or booking.

Service and contract information such as details of the services you request, the dates and times of visits, access instructions to your property that you choose to provide, and any notes relevant to the work we carry out.

Billing and payment information such as records of payments made and amounts due. We do not store full payment card details if card payments are processed by external payment providers, but we may hold limited transaction information for accounting and record keeping purposes.

Communication records such as information contained in emails or messages you send to us, and any notes we make in relation to your enquiries, feedback or complaints.

Technical and usage data where applicable, such as basic information about how you interact with any website, forms or digital tools we operate, including the date and time of your visit and pages viewed. This will be limited to what is necessary for the functioning and security of our online services.

How we collect personal data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a quote, make a booking, ask a question, provide feedback or otherwise communicate with us about our services.

We may also receive personal data indirectly when someone acts on your behalf, for example where a landlord or managing agent arranges services for your property and provides your contact details or access instructions to us.

In addition, some technical data may be collected automatically when you use any online tools or services that we operate, to help us maintain security, manage performance and understand how our services are used.

Lawful bases for processing

We only process personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases.

Performance of a contract. We process personal data to provide our gardening services, manage bookings, take payment, communicate with you about your service, and fulfil our contractual obligations to you.

Legitimate interests. We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This can include managing and improving our services, responding to enquiries, maintaining business records, and protecting our business from fraud or misuse.

Legal obligations. We may process personal data where it is necessary for compliance with legal obligations, such as accounting, taxation, responding to lawful requests from authorities or keeping certain records for specified periods.

Consent. Where required by law, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time by contacting us using the details provided in this Privacy Policy.

How we use personal data

We use the personal data we collect for the following main purposes.

To provide, manage and improve our gardening services, including handling enquiries, preparing and providing quotes, arranging appointments, carrying out the work requested and following up where required.

To manage our relationship with you, including communicating with you about your bookings, rescheduling visits, dealing with issues or complaints and responding to any queries you raise.

To administer our business operations, including invoicing, processing payments, maintaining financial records, budgeting and managing suppliers and contractors.

To ensure the safety and security of our staff, customers and property, including managing access instructions you provide and keeping appropriate records of visits.

To comply with legal and regulatory requirements and to cooperate with law enforcement or regulatory authorities where necessary.

Data sharing and processors

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These third parties are only permitted to use your personal data in accordance with our instructions and only for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Examples of data processors we may use include external providers of accounting or bookkeeping services, payment processing services, scheduling and booking tools and providers of secure data storage or document management services. We ensure that appropriate contracts and safeguards are in place with all such processors to protect your data and ensure compliance with data protection law.

We may also share your personal data with professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where this is necessary for legitimate business purposes and for compliance with our legal obligations.

In certain circumstances, we may be legally obliged to share personal data with public authorities, law enforcement bodies or regulators. We will only do so where required by law or where we believe it is necessary to protect our rights, the rights of our customers or the safety of individuals.

Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. The length of time we retain data varies depending on the type of information and the reasons we collected it.

Customer and service records, including your contact details and information relating to the services we have provided, are usually kept for a period that allows us to manage our relationship with you, respond to any queries or complaints, and maintain accurate business and accounting records.

Financial and transactional records are retained for the period required by taxation and accounting laws, which may be several years after the end of the financial year in which the transaction took place.

Where we no longer need personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, and there is no legal requirement for us to retain it, we will delete or anonymise it in a secure manner.

International transfers

Where we use service providers that are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, or that store data in other countries, we take steps to ensure that your personal data is adequately protected. This may include using standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities or relying on other appropriate safeguards permitted under data protection law.

Data security

We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement measures designed to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those who have a genuine need to know it for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, using secure systems for storing records, and regularly reviewing our procedures to ensure they remain appropriate.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. These rights apply subject to certain conditions and exceptions.

You have the right to be informed about how your personal data is used, which is the purpose of this Privacy Policy.

You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you and to receive a copy of that data, together with information about how it is processed.

You have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data is corrected or updated.

You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where the data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and there is no legal requirement for us to retain it.

You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we are dealing with a request to correct or delete data.

You have the right to object to certain types of processing, including processing based on our legitimate interests, where your particular situation gives rise to such an objection.

Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew consent.

You also have the right to complain to a supervisory authority if you believe that your data protection rights have been infringed. In the United Kingdom, this is the Information Commissioners Office. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any concerns.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, our business operations or applicable law. Any changes will be effective from the date the updated version is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.