Privacy Policy

Gardeners Old Ford Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Old Ford collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data in connection with our gardening and related services. It applies to all Gardeners Old Ford customers in our service area, including prospective, current, and former customers who contact us, request a quote, or use our services.

Who We Are and Scope of This Policy

Gardeners Old Ford is a gardening service provider offering maintenance, landscaping, and related services. In the course of providing these services, we act as a data controller in relation to the personal data of our customers and potential customers. This Privacy Policy explains how we comply with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws.

Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identification and contact information, such as your name, postal address, and any other contact details you choose to provide when you make an enquiry or become a customer.

Service and contract information, such as details of the gardening services you request, property access instructions you choose to share, and records of your quotes, bookings, invoices, and payments.

Communication records, such as information contained in email correspondence, letters, messages sent through online forms, or notes of telephone conversations between you and Gardeners Old Ford.

Usage and technical information, where relevant, such as basic information generated when you visit our website or interact with our online content. This may include IP address, browser type, approximate location, and information on how you navigate our website, where such data is collected through cookies or similar technologies.

Any other information you choose to provide directly to us that is reasonably necessary for the provision of our services, such as special instructions relating to your property or preferences about how we carry out our work.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data solely for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes. These include:

To respond to your enquiries and provide quotes for gardening and related services.

To set up and manage your customer account and provide the services you request, including scheduling visits, carrying out agreed works, and managing follow-up visits.

To manage billing, process payments, send invoices, and maintain appropriate financial records.

To communicate with you about your bookings, changes to services, important updates, and any necessary service-related information.

To maintain internal records for business administration, including service history, customer feedback, and quality control.

To improve our services, for example by analysing aggregated and anonymised information to understand customer needs and service performance.

To comply with legal obligations, such as record-keeping, responding to lawful requests from competent authorities, and fulfilling our tax and accounting duties.

Lawful Bases for Processing

Gardeners Old Ford processes personal data only where we have a valid lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the context, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract: We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into a contract with you or to perform a contract for services, such as providing gardening work, issuing invoices, and managing bookings.

Legitimate interests: We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include maintaining accurate records of services provided, communicating needed updates regarding our services, or improving our operations.

Legal obligation: We process personal data where it is necessary to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including tax, accounting, and record-keeping requirements.

Consent: In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where required by law for certain types of marketing. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Customer and service records are generally kept for a period that allows us to manage ongoing services, respond to queries or complaints, and demonstrate that we have treated you fairly. Financial information and records relating to payments, invoices, and tax may be retained for a longer period where required by applicable law.

When personal data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with an identifiable individual.

Data Processors and Third Parties

Gardeners Old Ford may use carefully selected third parties to help us provide our services and operate our business. These third parties act as data processors or independent controllers, depending on the circumstances.

Data processors may include providers of information technology services, customer relationship management tools, accounting or billing systems, and secure data storage services. These processors act on our instructions, are bound by written contracts, and are required to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data.

We may also share data with independent third parties where necessary, such as accountants, legal advisers, or regulators, where required by law or where it is necessary to protect our rights.

We do not sell or rent your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes. Where any sharing is necessary, we will ensure that it is limited to what is strictly required and is carried out in compliance with data protection law.

International Transfers

Where any of our service providers or systems involve the transfer of personal data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. This may include the use of standard contractual clauses or reliance on other recognised transfer mechanisms that provide an adequate level of protection for your data.

Security of Your Personal Data

We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those who have a business need to know and ensuring that anyone processing your data is subject to confidentiality obligations.

While we strive to protect your personal data, no method of transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure. However, we are committed to regularly reviewing and updating our security practices.

Your Data Protection Rights

As a customer of Gardeners Old Ford within our service area, you have certain rights under data protection law in relation to your personal data. These include the right to:

Access: You can request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data, together with certain additional information.

Rectification: You can ask us to correct or complete any personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.

Erasure: In certain 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 retain it.

Restriction: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in specific circumstances, such as while we are verifying the accuracy of data or considering an objection.

Objection: You can object to processing that is based on our legitimate interests, in which case we will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests and rights or we need to continue for legal reasons.

Portability: Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may request a copy of your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and ask us to transfer it to another controller where technically feasible.

Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

How To Exercise Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have questions about how Gardeners Old Ford handles your personal data, you can contact us using the contact methods you already use for our services or by writing to us at our usual business address. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. We aim to respond without undue delay and in accordance with legal time limits.

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 substantial changes will be communicated in an appropriate way and the updated policy will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers in our service area to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.