Privacy Policy - Gardeners Gunnersbury

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Gunnersbury collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data in connection with its gardening services. It applies to all Gardeners Gunnersbury customers in the local area, including individuals, households, landlords, tenants, and business clients who engage our services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent way, and to respecting your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

By using our services, making an enquiry, or otherwise interacting with us, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this policy. We only collect information that is relevant, adequate, and limited to what is necessary for the purposes set out below.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us. The information we collect may include:

Identity details such as your name or the name of your household or organisation.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details relating to the gardening work requested, site notes, preferred schedule, and access requirements.
Billing and payment information needed to arrange invoices, quotations, or payment records.
Communication records including messages, enquiry details, complaints, feedback, and service updates.
Technical and usage data if you interact with digital systems used for administration, such as device information, timestamps, or basic log data.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless there is a specific and lawful reason to do so. If such information is ever required, it will only be processed where permitted by law and with appropriate safeguards.

2. How We Use Personal Data

Gardeners Gunnersbury uses personal data only for legitimate business and operational purposes. These include:

responding to enquiries and providing quotations;
arranging and delivering gardening services;
managing appointments, site visits, and service changes;
issuing invoices, processing payments, and maintaining records;
handling customer support, feedback, and complaints;
maintaining security, preventing misuse, and protecting our business and customers;
meeting legal, regulatory, tax, and accounting obligations.

We aim to keep our processing proportionate. Where possible, we use information in a way that minimises the amount of data needed while still allowing us to deliver a reliable service.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis before processing personal data. Depending on the activity, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process data where it is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. This includes preparing quotes, scheduling services, and completing garden work.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include service administration, business record keeping, quality control, fraud prevention, and responding to customer queries.

Legal Obligation

We process certain data where required to comply with a legal obligation, such as tax, accounting, insurance, or record-keeping requirements.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent. If we do, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell personal data. However, we may share information with trusted third parties where necessary to run our business and provide services. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the context.

Examples of processors may include:

IT and cloud service providers that host or support administrative systems;
accounting and bookkeeping providers that help manage invoices and records;
payment service providers used to facilitate payments;
communication tools used for email, scheduling, or customer correspondence;
professional advisers such as legal, financial, or insurance advisers where necessary.

Where a processor is used, we require them to process personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure, and to act in compliance with data protection law. We take reasonable steps to ensure that any third party handling data on our behalf provides appropriate safeguards.

We may also disclose information where required by law, where necessary to establish or defend legal claims, or where needed to protect the rights, property, or safety of Gardeners Gunnersbury, our customers, or others.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, or for as long as required by law. Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and the reason for processing.

In general:

customer enquiry records are kept for a reasonable period to allow follow-up and service continuity;
service and contract records are retained while the relationship remains active and for an additional period afterwards where needed;
financial and tax records are kept for the period required by accounting and tax law;
complaints or legal records may be retained longer where necessary to resolve disputes or comply with legal obligations.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and careful handling of records. While no system is completely secure, we work to ensure that any risk is reduced to an appropriate level.

We also encourage customers to provide only the information that is necessary for us to respond to their request or deliver services effectively.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK data protection law, you have a number of rights regarding your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing.

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 situations.
Right to restriction – to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
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, where relevant.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent.

You may also have the right to raise concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed. We encourage customers to raise concerns directly first so we can address them promptly and fairly.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults acting on their own behalf or on behalf of a property owner or occupier. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is unavoidable in the context of a service request and is limited to what is necessary. If we become aware that we have collected children’s data without a valid legal basis, we will take steps to delete it.

9. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will only do so where adequate safeguards are in place and the transfer is lawful. This may include the use of approved contractual clauses or other legal mechanisms designed to protect your information to UK GDPR standards.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, business practices, or service operations. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically so you remain informed about how your data is handled.

11. Our Commitment

Gardeners Gunnersbury is committed to using personal data responsibly and transparently. We only process information when there is a valid reason to do so, and we aim to maintain trust by keeping data secure, accurate, and relevant. Our approach is based on fairness, minimisation, and respect for privacy at every stage of our customer relationship.

This policy applies to every Gardeners Gunnersbury customer in the area and forms part of our wider commitment to lawful and ethical service delivery.