Privacy Policy - Gardeners Blackfriars

Gardeners Blackfriars is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of all customers in the Blackfriars area. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data, and sets out the rights available to you under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. It applies to all Gardeners Blackfriars customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about services, receive quotations, book gardening work, or otherwise interact with us.

1. Who we are

For the purposes of data protection law, Gardeners Blackfriars acts as the data controller in relation to personal data we collect and use for our own business purposes. This means we determine why and how your personal data is processed.

We aim to handle all information in a fair, lawful, and transparent way. Our approach is based on the principle of data minimisation, meaning we only collect the information necessary to provide and manage our gardening services properly.

2. Information we collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity details, such as your name and title.
Contact details, such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details, including information about your garden, property access, job preferences, and requested work.
Billing and payment information, where needed to manage invoices, payments, and records of transactions.
Communication records, including messages, enquiries, complaints, booking notes, and service updates.
Technical information, if you interact with us through digital means, such as device information, IP address, or basic usage logs where relevant.
Special category data, only where strictly necessary and usually only if you voluntarily provide it and it is relevant to a specific service or access requirement.

We do not intentionally collect more information than we need. If you provide personal data relating to another person, you should ensure that you have the right to do so.

3. How we use personal data

We process personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To schedule, manage, and deliver gardening services.
To communicate with you about appointments, service changes, or customer support.
To prepare and maintain invoices, receipts, and accounting records.
To improve our customer service and service quality.
To meet legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
To maintain security, prevent fraud, and protect our business and customers.

We only use personal data for the purpose for which it was collected, unless we reasonably consider that it is compatible with the original purpose and lawfully permitted.

4. Lawful basis for processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. Depending on the context, Gardeners Blackfriars may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract – where processing is necessary to provide a quote, enter into an agreement, or deliver gardening services you have requested.
Legal obligation – where processing is required to comply with accounting, tax, insurance, employment, or regulatory requirements.
Legitimate interests – where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as managing customer relationships, improving services, or maintaining records, provided these interests do not override your rights and freedoms.
Consent – where we rely on your freely given consent, such as for certain optional communications or processing of special category data when required.

Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

5. Sharing personal data and processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and deliver services. These parties may act as processors or independent controllers depending on the nature of the service.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

Bookkeeping and accounting providers.
Payment processing services.
IT and cloud storage providers.
Administrative and scheduling systems.
Professional advisers, such as insurers, legal advisers, or tax advisers, where necessary.

Where a third party acts as a processor, it will only process personal data on our instructions and must keep it secure. We use appropriate contractual arrangements to protect your data.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, court order, or lawful request from a public authority, or where it is necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

6. Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, insurance, and reporting requirements.

Retention periods depend on the type of information and the reason we hold it. In general:

Customer service and booking records are kept for a reasonable period after the service ends.
Invoice, payment, and tax records are kept for the period required by law.
Enquiry records may be retained for follow-up purposes and business administration.
Data no longer required is securely deleted or anonymised.

We apply the principle of storage limitation and regularly review the data we hold to ensure it is not kept longer than necessary.

7. Data security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from accidental loss, unlawful use, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, staff awareness, and careful handling of records.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we are committed to maintaining a level of protection appropriate to the risks involved.

8. International transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that suitable safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable data protection law. This may include the use of approved contractual protections or transfer mechanisms designed to maintain an adequate level of protection.

9. 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 request correction of 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 certain situations.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent.

To protect your privacy, we may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

Exercising your rights

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, we will respond within the time limits required by law. In some cases, we may not be able to comply fully if a legal exemption applies, but we will explain our decision clearly.

10. Marketing

We do not send marketing communications unless permitted by law or, where required, with your consent. If you receive any optional marketing from us, you can opt out at any time. We will respect your choices and update our records accordingly.

11. Children’s data

Our services are generally intended for adults and property owners, tenants, or authorised representatives. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary and lawful in connection with a service request or property access arrangement.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or the way we process personal data. The latest version will apply to all Gardeners Blackfriars customers in the area. We encourage you to review it periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your information.

13. Summary of our commitments

Gardeners Blackfriars is committed to lawful, fair, and transparent processing of personal data. We collect only what is necessary, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, retain it for no longer than needed, and rely on appropriate processors and safeguards. We also respect your rights and will handle requests in line with GDPR requirements.

By using our services or engaging with us, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable data protection law.