Privacy Policy - Fulham Cleaners

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This Privacy Policy explains how Fulham Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing cleaning services. It applies to all Fulham Cleaners customers in the area, including residential and commercial clients who use our services, request quotations, make bookings, or otherwise interact with us.

We are committed to handling personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy sets out the categories of personal information we process, the lawful bases we rely on, the parties we may share data with, how long we keep it, and the rights available to individuals.

1. Information We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for delivering our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity details: name, title, and any information provided when you request services.
Contact details: address, phone number, and email address.
Service information: cleaning instructions, property access notes, service preferences, appointment history, and feedback.
Billing and payment data: invoice details, payment status, and limited payment-related information necessary to process transactions.
Communication records: emails, messages, call notes, complaints, and customer service correspondence.
Technical information: basic device or usage data if you visit any digital service we use, such as IP address or browser type where applicable.
Special category data: we do not actively seek sensitive information. If you voluntarily provide information that may reveal health or access needs, we will only process it where necessary and appropriate safeguards are in place.

Where possible, we collect personal data directly from you. We may also receive information from third parties such as property managers, landlords, letting agents, business clients, or payment providers where necessary to deliver the service or manage the account.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide cleaning services and manage bookings;
to prepare quotes, confirm appointments, and communicate service updates;
to issue invoices, receive payments, and maintain financial records;
to respond to enquiries, complaints, and service requests;
to maintain internal records and improve our services;
to meet legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations;
to prevent fraud, misuse, or security incidents;
to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims where necessary.

We ensure that personal data is used only for clearly defined and legitimate purposes. We do not sell personal data.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. We rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging bookings, carrying out cleaning services, managing your account, and processing payments.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, improving operations, keeping service records, preventing misuse, and maintaining network and information security.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain personal data where required to comply with legal duties, including tax, accounting, employment, health and safety, and regulatory requirements.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain marketing communications or optional processing. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Vital Interests and Public Interest

These bases are unlikely to apply in normal service delivery, but we may use them if necessary in exceptional circumstances to protect someone’s vital interests or where required by law.

4. Sharing Personal Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who assist us in operating our business. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers, depending on the service provided.

Processors may include:

IT and cloud service providers: for secure data storage, communication, and system maintenance.
Accounting and invoicing providers: for financial administration and record keeping.
Payment service providers: for card or electronic payment processing.
Customer management tools: for booking schedules, service notes, and customer support.
Professional advisers: such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary.
Authorities and regulators: where disclosure is required by law or to protect rights, safety, or property.

Where we use processors, we require appropriate data processing agreements and safeguards to ensure personal data is handled securely and only on our instructions. If a third party acts as an independent controller, it will be responsible for its own privacy obligations.

5. International Transfers

If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will only do so where appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms. We aim to ensure that personal data remains protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection law.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected and to satisfy legal or operational requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Service and booking records: retained for the period needed to manage the customer relationship and resolve any disputes.
Financial and tax records: retained for the period required by law, typically several years after the financial year to which they relate.
Communication records: kept for as long as needed to respond to enquiries, manage complaints, or maintain evidence of instructions.
Marketing consent records: kept until you withdraw consent or it is no longer needed.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or destroy it. In some cases, we may retain minimal information where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

7. Security of Personal Data

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and regular review of our processes.

Although we take reasonable steps to safeguard data, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will assess the situation promptly and take action in accordance with applicable law.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to certain conditions or exemptions.

Right of access: you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: you may request deletion of personal data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: you may ask us to limit processing in specific situations.
Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: you may request certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits set by law.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging cleaning services for homes or businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected such data, we will take reasonable steps to delete it unless there is a lawful reason to retain it.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or processing practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how personal data is handled.

11. Summary of Key Points

We collect only the information needed to provide and manage cleaning services.
We process data under lawful bases including contract, legitimate interests, legal obligation, and consent where appropriate.
We share data only with trusted processors and other parties where necessary and lawful.
We retain data only for as long as required for service delivery, legal compliance, or legitimate business needs.
You have important rights over your personal data, including access, correction, deletion, objection, and portability.

By using our services, you acknowledge that this Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal data for all Fulham Cleaners customers in the area. We are committed to respecting your privacy and processing your information with care, fairness, and transparency.