Privacy Policy - Gardeners Homerton

Gardeners Homerton is committed to protecting personal data and respecting privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information relating to our customers in the Homerton area. It applies to all Gardeners Homerton customers in the area, including anyone who makes an enquiry, requests a quote, books a service, or receives gardening work from us.

We aim to handle personal data in a fair, transparent, and lawful way in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is written to help you understand what we do with your information, why we use it, and what rights you have over it.

1. Information We Collect

We only collect information that is necessary to provide our gardening services, manage customer relationships, and meet legal or operational requirements. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name.
Contact details such as your telephone number, email address, and postal address.
Service details such as the type of garden work requested, property access notes, appointment preferences, and job instructions.
Billing and payment information such as invoice details and payment status.
Communications such as messages, enquiries, complaints, and feedback.
Technical information where relevant, such as basic website or email interaction data if you contact us electronically.
Photographs of gardens or completed work, where needed to assess a job, document progress, or record before-and-after results.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is provided to us by you and is necessary for a specific lawful reason. If such information is ever shared with us, we will handle it carefully and only where permitted by law.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data to deliver our services efficiently, safely, and professionally. Typical purposes include:

Responding to enquiries and providing quotations.
Planning, scheduling, and carrying out gardening services.
Managing customer accounts, instructions, and service history.
Processing payments and issuing invoices.
Handling complaints, follow-up queries, or service issues.
Maintaining internal records for quality control and business administration.
Meeting legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations.
Improving our services and understanding customer needs.

We only use your data where it is necessary and proportionate for the relevant purpose. We also take steps to ensure that our use of personal information is limited to what is needed and that it is not kept longer than required.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

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

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes quoting for work, arranging appointments, completing gardening services, and managing payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain data when required to comply with legal obligations, such as accounting, tax, insurance, and record-keeping duties.

Legitimate Interests

We may process information where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include maintaining service records, improving customer service, managing our business operations, and protecting against fraud or misuse.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where we ask permission to use a photograph for promotional purposes or to send certain non-essential communications. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Important: We do not use personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was originally collected unless we have a valid legal basis to do so.

4. Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service they provide.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

IT and cloud storage providers who securely host or back up data.
Email and communication providers who support our customer correspondence.
Accounting and invoicing providers who help manage our financial records.
Payment service providers who process transactions securely.
Scheduling or job management tools used to organise appointments and records.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary.

We only appoint processors that can provide appropriate security and confidentiality commitments. They are only allowed to use personal data according to our instructions and for the agreed purpose.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, to protect our rights, to prevent fraud, or to respond to lawful requests from public authorities. We do not sell personal data.

5. Retention of Personal Data

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. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason it is held.

In general:

Customer enquiry records may be kept for a short period if no service is booked.
Job and service records may be retained for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and invoice records are typically kept for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Complaint or dispute records may be retained longer where needed to resolve or defend a claim.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or alteration. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, and limiting access to staff or contractors who need the information for legitimate business reasons.

While no method of transmission or storage is completely risk-free, we work to reduce security risks as much as reasonably possible.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject, you have rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exemptions, 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 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.
Right to data portability – to request transfer of certain data in a structured format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data protection rights have not been respected.

8. Children’s Data

Our gardening services are intended for adult customers and property owners or occupiers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidental and necessary in the context of a service booking or property access arrangement. If we become aware that we have collected data inappropriately, we will take steps to remove it where required.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or how we process personal data. Any updated version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how their information is handled.

10. Summary of Our Commitment

Gardeners Homerton will always aim to process personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, keep it no longer than necessary, and protect it with appropriate safeguards. Whether you are requesting a one-off visit or ongoing gardening support, your privacy remains important to us.

This policy applies to every Gardeners Homerton customer in the Homerton area.