Gardeners Charlton Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Charlton collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers. It applies to all Gardeners Charlton customers in our service area, as well as individuals who contact us about our gardening services.

We are committed to complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act, and to processing personal data in a lawful, fair and transparent manner.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy covers personal data processed in connection with the provision of gardening and related services by Gardeners Charlton. It applies when you contact us, request a quote, enter into a contract for services, or otherwise interact with us as a customer or potential customer in our service area.

By using our services or by contacting us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. This document does not create any contractual relationship between you and Gardeners Charlton beyond your existing service agreement, but it explains how we handle your personal data.

Personal Data We Collect

We only collect data that is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. The categories of personal data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details: name, postal address, service address, billing address, and other contact details you choose to provide.

Service and contract information: records of gardening services requested or provided, site notes, job history, appointment dates and times, and any instructions or preferences you give us relating to your garden or property.

Communication records: information contained in enquiries, quotes, messages or feedback you send to us, including the date, time and content of your communications.

Payment and transaction information: details of payments made for services, such as the amount, date and method of payment. We do not retain full payment card details when payments are processed via third-party payment providers.

Online and technical information: if you visit our website, we may collect technical information such as IP address, browser type, and basic usage data in order to maintain and improve our website. We do not use this data to identify you directly unless this is necessary for security or legal reasons.

How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data in a number of ways, including:

Directly from you when you contact us by any means to ask about or arrange our services, request a quote, make a booking, or provide feedback.

During the performance of our services, when we visit your property and record information needed to carry out work safely and effectively.

From third parties where you have authorised them to share data with us, for example if a property manager, landlord or family member books services on your behalf and provides your details so that we can deliver the service.

Automatically, when you visit our website and basic technical data is generated by your device or browser.

Lawful Basis for Processing

Gardeners Charlton relies on the following lawful bases under the UK GDPR to process your personal data:

Contractual necessity: we process your personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract for gardening services with you, including providing quotes, scheduling work, delivering services and managing invoices and payments.

Legitimate interests: we may process your data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights. This may include maintaining accurate records, improving our services, managing and developing our business, responding to enquiries and protecting our legal rights.

Legal obligations: we may process certain personal data to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as tax and accounting requirements or responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

Consent: in limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where required for certain direct marketing communications that are not covered by our legitimate interests. Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide gardening services: including arranging site visits, carrying out work, managing appointments, and communicating with you about the services you receive.

To respond to enquiries and provide quotes: to answer your questions, provide price estimates, and follow up on your requests.

To manage our relationship with you: to keep records of work performed, handle feedback or complaints, and keep you informed about any important changes relevant to your existing services.

To manage payments and accounts: to issue invoices, process payments through third-party payment processors, and maintain financial records as required by law.

To operate and improve our business: including record keeping, analysis of how our services are used, staff training and planning future services.

To meet legal and regulatory requirements: such as maintaining accurate accounting records and cooperating with law enforcement where required.

Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.

Customer and service records are generally retained for a period that allows us to manage ongoing relationships, respond to future queries about past work and meet our legal and tax obligations. After this period, data is securely deleted or anonymised so that it can no longer identify you.

Where we hold data on the basis of your consent, we will retain it until you withdraw your consent or until it is no longer needed for the purpose for which consent was obtained, whichever occurs first, provided no other lawful basis applies.

Sharing Your Personal Data and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your data with certain third parties when this is necessary for the operation of our business or the provision of services to you, always in accordance with data protection law.

Service providers and processors: we may use third-party providers to support our activities, for example providers of booking or scheduling tools, payment processors, cloud storage or document management services, and IT support. These providers act as processors and are only allowed to process your data on our documented instructions, under appropriate contractual safeguards.

Professional and legal advisers: we may share data with accountants, legal advisers or similar professionals where necessary for advice, audits or to protect our legal rights.

Public authorities: we may disclose personal data where required to do so by law or in response to valid requests from governmental or regulatory bodies.

Where processors are used, we take steps to ensure that they provide appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data and comply with data protection law.

International Transfers

If any of our processors or service providers transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will ensure that adequate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or other mechanisms approved under data protection law, to protect your data.

How We Protect Your Data

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the personal data we hold against unauthorised access, loss, destruction or damage. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those who have a business need to know, using secure storage solutions and maintaining appropriate records and procedures.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exemptions. These rights include:

Right of access: you can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data.

Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

Right to erasure: you can request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and there is no legal requirement for us to retain it.

Right to restriction of processing: you can ask us to restrict the processing of your data in certain situations, such as when you contest its accuracy or object to our use of it.

Right to object: you can object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including any direct marketing that is based on those interests. We will stop processing your data for these purposes unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue.

Right to data portability: where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may be able to request the transfer of certain personal data to you or to another controller in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before withdrawal.

If you exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before acting on your request. We will respond within the timescales required by law.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how Gardeners Charlton handles your personal data, you can raise them with us and we will do our best to address your concerns. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations or how we process personal data. Any updated version will apply to all personal data held by Gardeners Charlton at the time of the update and to all Gardeners Charlton customers in our service area. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your data.