Privacy Policy - Hampstead Cleaner

This Privacy Policy explains how Hampstead Cleaner collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with the services we provide. It applies to all Hampstead Cleaner customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about our services, receive a quote, book a service, or otherwise interact with us. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who we are

Hampstead Cleaner provides professional cleaning services to homes and businesses in the local area. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as a data controller when we determine the purposes and means of processing personal data relating to our customers, prospective customers, suppliers, and website or service users where applicable.

2. Personal data 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 information we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact details such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
Service details such as property access information, cleaning preferences, appointment history, and instructions provided to us.
Billing and payment details such as invoice records, payment status, and transaction references. We do not intentionally store full card details unless necessary through a secure payment provider.
Communication records such as messages, complaints, feedback, and correspondence with our team.
Technical information such as basic device or usage data if you contact us electronically, where this is necessary for security or service operation.

We may also collect limited information about access requirements, special instructions, or household preferences that help us complete a service safely and effectively. We do not seek to collect unnecessary personal data.

3. How we use personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To manage bookings, schedule services, and deliver cleaning services.
To communicate about appointments, changes, or service-related matters.
To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records.
To handle complaints, feedback, and service improvement.
To maintain internal records and business administration.
To comply with legal, regulatory, tax, and accounting obligations.
To protect our business, customers, and staff from fraud, misuse, or security incidents.

Where relevant, we may use data to improve our services and customer experience. Any such processing is carried out in a way that respects your privacy and data protection rights.

4. Lawful basis for processing

We process personal data only where we have a valid legal basis under GDPR. Depending on the context, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

4.1 Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging cleaning services, managing bookings, and fulfilling service requests.

4.2 Legitimate interests

We may process data based on our legitimate interests where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing our operations, responding to customer enquiries, improving services, preventing fraud, and keeping appropriate business records. We always consider whether our use of data is proportionate and necessary.

4.3 Legal obligation

We may process and retain certain personal data where required to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, and record-keeping duties.

4.4 Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where specific optional processing requires it. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing personal data and processors

We do not sell personal data. We may share personal data where necessary and lawful for the purposes described in this policy. When we use external service providers to process data on our behalf, they act as processors and may only handle the data according to our instructions and appropriate security requirements.

Examples of processors or third parties we may use include:

Payment processors who handle secure payment transactions.
Accounting or bookkeeping providers who assist with invoices, receipts, and financial administration.
IT and cloud service providers who support email, document storage, scheduling, or secure backups.
Customer management or scheduling software providers who help us organise service delivery.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where needed.

We may also disclose data to public authorities, regulators, courts, or law enforcement where required by law or where necessary to protect our legal rights.

6. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and in line with legal, accounting, and operational requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of record and the reason it is held.

In general:

Customer and booking records are kept for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterward.
Financial and accounting records are retained for the period required by law.
Communication records may be retained for as long as needed to manage queries, complaints, or service history.
Where data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices.

We 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 against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, and limiting access to data to only those who need it for their role. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we aim to use reasonable safeguards appropriate to the nature of the data we process.

8. International transfers

If any of our processors or service providers store or access data outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the information in line with applicable data protection law. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent protective measures.

9. Your rights

Under GDPR, you have a number of rights regarding your personal data. Subject to legal limitations and applicable exemptions, these 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 information.
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 data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how your personal data has been handled. We encourage you to raise concerns directly with us first so that we can try to resolve the issue promptly.

10. Children’s data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidentally provided by an adult customer in connection with service delivery. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child without appropriate authority, we will take steps to remove it where required.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our processing practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.

12. Summary of our commitment

Hampstead Cleaner is committed to respecting your privacy and using personal data responsibly. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, keep it only as long as necessary, and apply appropriate safeguards when sharing it with trusted processors. Your trust matters to us, and we aim to handle all personal information in a transparent, secure, and lawful manner.