Gardeners East Ham Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners East Ham collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers in the East Ham area. It also sets out the lawful bases we rely on under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, how long we keep your data, when we use external processors, and what rights you have in relation to your personal information.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners East Ham customers and prospective customers located in our service area, including anyone who contacts us to request information, a quotation or gardening services.

Who we are

Gardeners East Ham is a gardening services provider operating in the East Ham area. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used, within the limits set by applicable law.

Personal data we collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing our services, managing our customer relationships and complying with legal obligations. The personal data we may collect includes:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, address, service address if different, and postcode.

Communication details, such as your preferred contact method and the content of messages you send to us, including enquiries, quotations, bookings, feedback and complaints.

Service details, such as information about your garden and property that is necessary to plan and deliver the services you request, for example lawn size, access arrangements, and any specific instructions or preferences.

Booking and transaction information, such as service dates, services ordered, prices quoted, amounts due and paid, and related records and invoices.

Technical and usage information, such as basic information about how you found our service or website and when you contact us online. We do not intentionally collect more technical data than is needed to operate and secure our services.

We do not intentionally collect special category data such as health information, unless this is strictly necessary and you choose to share it with us, for example to explain access requirements or safety considerations at your property.

How we collect your data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us, request a quotation, make a booking, or use our services. This can be in person, by post, or through online or digital contact methods.

We may also receive limited information indirectly, for example if someone contacts us on your behalf to arrange gardening services for your property, or if you are named as a contact for the property where services are to be carried out.

Purposes and lawful bases for processing

We only process your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so. The main purposes and corresponding lawful bases are:

To provide gardening services and manage our relationship with you. This includes responding to enquiries, preparing quotations, arranging visits, delivering services, communicating with you about bookings, and handling payments. The lawful basis is contract, because the processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you.

To send essential service communications. This includes messages about upcoming appointments, access arrangements, changes to services, and important updates about our terms. The lawful basis is contract and our legitimate interests in ensuring effective service delivery and customer care.

To manage our business, including record keeping, accounting, invoicing, and internal administration. The lawful bases are legal obligation, where we must keep records for tax or regulatory purposes, and our legitimate interests in running an efficient and sustainable business.

To handle questions, feedback, and complaints. The lawful basis is our legitimate interests in improving our services and resolving issues, and, when related to your service contract, contract.

To protect our rights, property and safety, and that of our customers and others. This may include preventing or addressing fraud, misuse of services or unsafe conduct. The lawful basis is our legitimate interests in ensuring security and protecting our business and customers, and, where applicable, legal obligation.

To comply with legal or regulatory requirements or respond to requests from authorities when we are legally required to do so. The lawful basis is legal obligation.

If we ever wish to use your personal data for a new purpose that requires consent, we will explain this clearly and give you the choice to agree or decline. Where consent is relied upon, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

Data retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, and to meet legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

Customer and service records, including basic contact details, service history, and relevant correspondence, are generally kept for up to six years after our last interaction with you. This period reflects typical limitation periods for legal claims and our obligations for tax and accounting records.

Enquiry information where no contract is formed is usually retained for a shorter period, typically up to two years, so that we can respond to follow-up questions and understand demand for our services.

In some cases we may keep data for a longer period if required by law or if there is an ongoing dispute, complaint or investigation. When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymise it.

Data processors and sharing

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to process your personal data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. They must also apply appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data.

Typical categories of processors include providers of customer management tools or systems that help us store and organise customer records, providers of accounting or invoicing tools we use to manage payments and financial records, and providers of secure data storage, backup or hosting services.

We may also share limited personal data with professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where this is necessary for our legitimate business needs or to comply with legal obligations.

We will only disclose personal data to public authorities, law enforcement or regulators where we are legally required to do so or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety or the safety of others.

We do not sell your personal data and we do not permit our processors to sell, use or disclose your data for their own independent marketing purposes.

International transfers

Where any of our processors store or access personal data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that your data is protected in line with UK data protection law. This may involve using standard contractual clauses or relying on other recognised safeguards.

How we protect your data

We take the security of your personal data seriously. We use a combination of organisational and technical measures designed to protect your data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, use, alteration or disclosure.

Access to personal data is limited to personnel and processors who have a need to know it for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. They are bound by confidentiality obligations and are required to handle data securely.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have several important rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply subject to certain conditions and exemptions. They include:

The right of access. You can request confirmation of whether we hold personal data about you and receive a copy of that data, together with certain information about how we use it.

The right to rectification. You can ask us to correct or complete personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.

The right to erasure. In some circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal reason to keep it.

The right to restrict processing. You can ask us to restrict the way we use your data in certain situations, such as while we are considering a request for rectification.

The right to data portability. In some cases, you can request that we provide you or another controller with a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

The right to object. You can object to our processing of your personal data based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or we need the data for legal claims.

The right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent as the lawful basis for processing, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing before consent was withdrawn.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, business practices or legal obligations. Any changes will take effect when the updated Policy is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.