Privacy Policy - Gardeners Eltham

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Eltham collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data for all Gardeners Eltham customers in the area. It applies when you request a quotation, book a gardening service, communicate with us, or otherwise engage with our services. We are committed to handling personal information in a fair, lawful, transparent, and secure manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Gardeners Eltham provides gardening and related outdoor property services to customers in the Eltham area. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal information we collect and use. This means we determine why and how your personal data is processed. In some situations, we may also use third-party service providers that process data on our behalf; in those cases, they act as processors.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the information necessary to provide and manage our services, run our operations, and comply with legal obligations. Depending on your interaction with us, we may collect the following categories of data:

Identity information such as your name and title.
Contact information such as your address, email address, and phone number.
Service information including details about the gardening work requested, property access notes, scheduling preferences, and service history.
Billing and payment information where needed to issue invoices, record payments, or manage account records.
Communication records such as emails, messages, complaint details, and notes from calls or appointments.
Technical information limited to basic records generated when you interact with our digital systems, such as IP address or device information if applicable.
Special category data only where you voluntarily provide it and only when necessary, for example if a health-related access requirement must be noted to safely carry out a service. We handle such data with extra care and only where a lawful basis exists.

We do not intentionally collect more personal data than is needed. We also aim to keep information accurate and up to date. If you provide information about another person, you should ensure that you have the right to share it with us.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote or booking;
submit an enquiry;
pay for services or receive an invoice;
communicate with us by phone, email, or other means;
provide feedback or raise a concern; or
enter into a service agreement with us.

We may also receive information from third parties where appropriate, such as from payment providers, business partners, or publicly available sources, but only where such collection is lawful and relevant to our services.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We only process personal data where we have a valid lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the context, our lawful bases may include:

Contract – to provide quotes, arrange services, deliver gardening work, take payment, and manage customer relationships.
Legal obligation – to keep records for tax, accounting, insurance, or regulatory purposes.
Legitimate interests – to operate and improve our business, maintain service quality, manage enquiries, prevent fraud, and resolve disputes, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
Consent – where we rely on your permission for specific optional processing, such as certain forms of marketing or the processing of special category data in limited cases.
Vital interests – in rare situations where processing is necessary to protect someone’s life or physical safety.

Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. How We Use Your Information

We use personal data to deliver our services and manage our relationship with you. This may include:

preparing quotes and service plans;
scheduling and carrying out gardening work;
responding to questions and customer requests;
issuing invoices, tracking payments, and maintaining records;
improving our services and customer experience;
handling complaints, claims, or disputes;
meeting legal, tax, and accounting requirements; and
sending service-related messages where necessary.

We will not use your personal data in a way that is incompatible with the original purpose for which it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do so and have informed you where required.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and provide services. These organisations act as processors when they handle data on our instructions, or as independent controllers when they determine their own processing purposes.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

IT and hosting providers that support our records, systems, or communications;
payment processors that facilitate card or electronic payments;
accounting and bookkeeping services that help manage financial records;
customer relationship or scheduling tools used to organise services;
professional advisers such as lawyers, insurers, or auditors where necessary.

We require processors to protect personal data and to use it only for the purposes we specify. We do not sell your personal data. We will only disclose information to other parties where required for service delivery, legal compliance, business administration, or where you have asked us to do so.

7. International Transfers

If any of our service providers process data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections, so that your information remains protected to a standard consistent with UK GDPR requirements.

8. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, insurance, and dispute-resolution requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason it was collected.

In general:

Customer and service records are kept for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Communication records are kept as long as needed to manage enquiries, complaints, or ongoing service matters.
Consent-based marketing records are retained until you withdraw consent or they are no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. We regularly review what we hold to ensure we do not retain information longer than necessary.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions or exceptions, but we will always respond appropriately and within the required legal timeframes.

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 restrict processing – to ask us to limit how we use your data in some situations.
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format and, where possible, have it transferred to another controller.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent.

If you believe your data rights have not been respected, you also have the right to raise a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. However, we encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve the issue promptly and fairly.

10. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, unlawful destruction, alteration, or disclosure. These measures are designed to reflect the nature of the data we process and the risks involved. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take data protection seriously and review our safeguards regularly.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in a specific service context and lawfully permitted. Where children’s data is involved, we take additional care to ensure it is processed appropriately and only when required.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is used.

Summary of Our Commitment

Gardeners Eltham is committed to processing personal data lawfully, transparently, and securely. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, retain it only as long as necessary, and respect your rights at every stage. This policy applies to all Gardeners Eltham customers in area and reflects our ongoing responsibility to handle personal information with care and accountability.