Privacy Policy - Cleaner Balham

This Privacy Policy explains how Cleaner Balham collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Cleaner Balham customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who interacts with our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We take privacy seriously and aim to only collect the information that is necessary to provide our cleaning services, manage bookings, communicate effectively, and comply with legal obligations. This policy is written to help you understand what we do with your data and what rights you have.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you use our services. This can include:

Identity data, such as your name.
Contact data, such as your telephone number and email address.
Address data, such as the service address, billing address, or any location details needed to deliver cleaning services.
Booking details, including service type, preferred date and time, service instructions, and appointment history.
Payment-related data, such as payment status, transaction references, and billing records. We do not store more payment information than is necessary for processing and record-keeping.
Communication records, such as emails, messages, complaint notes, or service feedback.
Service information, including access instructions, cleaning preferences, and notes relevant to performing the work safely and efficiently.
Technical data, where applicable, such as limited website or device information if you contact us through digital channels.

We generally collect data directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, provide service instructions, or communicate with us. In some cases, we may receive information from third parties acting on your behalf, such as a family member, landlord, letting agent, or business representative, where appropriate and lawful.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data only for clear and legitimate purposes. These include:

providing cleaning services and managing appointments;
communicating about bookings, changes, and service updates;
processing invoices, payments, and refunds where necessary;
responding to enquiries, complaints, and customer support requests;
maintaining business records and service history;
improving service quality, planning resources, and managing operations;
meeting legal, accounting, insurance, and regulatory obligations;
preventing fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We will never use your personal data in ways that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do so and you are informed where required.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Cleaner Balham relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes handling your name, address, contact details, service preferences, and payment records so we can provide the cleaning service you requested.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information to comply with legal duties, such as tax, accounting, insurance, fraud prevention, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and interests do not override those interests. This can include service improvement, administrative management, communication records, quality control, and protecting our business against misuse or unlawful conduct. Where appropriate, we assess these interests to ensure they are balanced and proportionate.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily agree to receive certain marketing communications or to share optional information. You have the right to withdraw consent at any time, and this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Data Retention

We only keep personal data for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. Retention periods can vary depending on the type of information and the nature of the service.

Booking and service records are retained for a period necessary to manage customer history, resolve disputes, and maintain operational records.
Financial and invoice records are kept for the period required by applicable tax and accounting law.
Communication records may be retained for a reasonable time to support customer service, complaint handling, and service quality.
Inactive customer data may be deleted or anonymised when it is no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or otherwise dispose of it in a safe manner. Retention decisions are based on necessity, risk, and legal obligations, not on convenience.

5. Processors and Data Sharing

We may share personal data with trusted processors and service providers who support our operations. These third parties only process personal data on our instructions and are required to keep it secure and use it only for the agreed purpose.

Examples of processors may include:

bookkeeping and accounting providers;
payment processing services;
IT and cloud storage providers;
customer communication tools;
administrative support services;
professional advisers, such as insurers, lawyers, or auditors, where necessary.

We may also disclose data where required by law, to respond to lawful requests from public authorities, or to protect our rights, property, customers, or staff. If data is transferred outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that suitable safeguards are in place.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and restricted sharing of information on a need-to-know basis.

While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take reasonable and proportionate steps to safeguard all personal data we hold. If a data breach occurs, we will act in accordance with applicable law and notify affected individuals and regulators where required.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. These include:

The right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
The right to rectification – to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
The right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
The right to restrict processing – to ask us to limit the way we use your data in certain situations.
The right to data portability – to receive some of your data in a structured, commonly used format, where applicable.
The right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests, including certain direct marketing.
The right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data has not been handled properly. We encourage you to raise any concerns so we can address them first, but you are not required to do so.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary for a service arrangement and provided by an adult with authority to do so. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child without proper authority, we will take steps to delete it promptly.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, business operations, 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 personal data is managed.

10. Summary of Our Commitment

Cleaner Balham is committed to processing personal data responsibly, transparently, and securely. We collect only what we need, use it for legitimate purposes, retain it for appropriate periods, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. All Cleaner Balham customers in the area are covered by this policy, and we aim to respect privacy rights at every stage of our service.

Last updated: This policy is maintained in line with current UK data protection requirements.