Privacy Policy - Hackney Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Hackney Cleaners collects, uses, shares, stores, and protects personal data. It applies to all Hackney Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, existing customers, and anyone who contacts us for cleaning services. We are committed to handling personal data in a way that is lawful, fair, transparent, and respectful of individual privacy rights.

We comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is intended to help you understand what information we process, why we process it, how long we keep it, who may receive it, and the rights you have over your data.

1. Data Collection

We collect only the personal data that is necessary for providing cleaning services, managing customer relationships, and meeting legal or regulatory obligations. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name, title, and any relevant account reference.
Contact details such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details such as the type of cleaning requested, service frequency, appointment notes, and property access instructions.
Billing and payment details such as transaction records, payment status, and invoice information.
Communication records such as messages, complaints, feedback, and service-related correspondence.
Technical information where applicable, such as limited website or device information used for security or service administration.

We may receive information directly from you when you request a quote, book a service, make a payment, provide instructions, or communicate with us. In some cases, we may receive data from third parties acting on your behalf, such as landlords, letting agents, property managers, or family members arranging services for you. We may also collect data through service interactions, including notes made by staff to ensure that cleaning is carried out safely and efficiently.

We do not intentionally collect special category personal data unless it is necessary and lawful to do so. If such information is provided by you voluntarily, we will treat it with additional care and only process it where there is a valid legal basis.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide, schedule, and manage cleaning services.
To communicate about bookings, service changes, invoices, and follow-up matters.
To process payments and maintain accurate financial records.
To respond to enquiries, complaints, and customer service requests.
To maintain service quality, training, safety, and operational records.
To meet legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations.
To protect our business, customers, and staff from fraud, misuse, or security incidents.

We only use personal data for purposes that are compatible with the reason it was collected. If we need to use your data for a new purpose, we will make sure there is a valid lawful basis and, where required, we will inform you.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis under UK GDPR. Depending on the situation, we may rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging appointments, carrying out cleaning services, issuing invoices, and managing customer accounts.

Legal Obligation

We process certain information because we must comply with legal obligations, including tax rules, accounting requirements, health and safety duties, and record-keeping obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is in our legitimate interests to do so and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This can include managing business operations, improving services, preventing fraud, handling disputes, and protecting property and staff.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you choose to receive certain types of optional communication. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

Vital Interests

In rare situations, we may process personal data to protect someone’s vital interests, such as an emergency affecting health or safety.

We do not rely on consent where another lawful basis is more appropriate for core service delivery. If you would like to understand which lawful basis applies to a specific type of processing, we will explain it clearly.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These parties act as processors when they process data on our behalf and only under our instructions. We require them to protect your data and to use it only for the agreed purpose.

Examples of processors or recipients may include:

Payment service providers who handle transactions securely.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who assist with invoicing and financial records.
IT, software, and cloud service providers who store or support customer records and business systems.
Communication service providers who help deliver emails, messages, or booking notifications.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers when necessary.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, court order, regulatory request, or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, customers, staff, or property. We do not sell personal data.

Where a processor is used, we take reasonable steps to ensure suitable contractual safeguards are in place. These include confidentiality requirements, data security obligations, and restrictions on using the data for their own purposes.

5. International Transfers

If any processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place before any transfer occurs. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other legally permitted transfer mechanisms.

6. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, insurance, and dispute-resolution requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the nature of the data and the services provided.

In general, we may retain:

Customer and service records for the duration of the relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and tax records for the period required by law.
Complaints, dispute, and claims records for as long as needed to resolve issues and defend legal claims.
Communications and correspondence for as long as relevant to the service or for business record-keeping.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete it, anonymise it, or otherwise dispose of it in a safe manner.

7. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, staff training, secure storage, password protection, and limited access to records on a need-to-know basis.

Although we use reasonable safeguards, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a data incident occurs that is likely to affect your rights or freedoms, we will respond in line with applicable law and take appropriate remedial action.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights regarding your personal data. These include:

Right of access – you may ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – in some cases, you may ask us to delete your data.
Right to restriction – you may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to object – you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – you may ask for certain information in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal conditions or exemptions. If you make a request, we will respond within the timeframe required by law and may ask for information to confirm your identity.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are generally aimed at adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a service arrangement and is provided by a parent, guardian, or authorised adult. If we become aware that we have collected data unlawfully, we will take steps to delete it where appropriate.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our data 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 their data is handled.

11. Fair Processing Commitment

Hackney Cleaners is committed to processing personal data responsibly and transparently. We will only collect what we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, keep it secure, and respect the rights of every customer. Our aim is to ensure that all personal data is handled with care, confidentiality, and accountability.

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