Privacy Policy - Southkensington Cleaner

This Privacy Policy explains how Southkensington Cleaner collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Southkensington Cleaner customers in area, including anyone who requests, receives, or enquires about our cleaning services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Southkensington Cleaner provides residential and commercial cleaning services. In the course of delivering these services, we may process personal data about customers, property occupants, service users, payment contacts, and other relevant individuals. We only collect information that is necessary for legitimate business operations and service delivery.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal data:

Identity details such as your name and, where needed, the name of another contact person.
Contact details including address, email address, and phone number.
Service information such as booking preferences, cleaning instructions, service history, and property access details.
Payment information such as billing records and transaction status. We do not store full card details unless a secure payment provider requires it.
Communication records including messages, complaints, requests, and feedback.
Technical information if you interact with our digital systems, such as IP address, device data, and usage logs.
Special category data only where it is incidentally revealed to us and strictly necessary, for example if access arrangements involve health or mobility considerations. We do not seek such data unless required for service delivery and legal compliance.

We do not intentionally collect more data than is needed. Where possible, we ask that you avoid including sensitive information in routine messages unless it is necessary for the service.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you make a booking, request a quote, communicate with us, or otherwise use our services. We may also receive data from third parties acting on your behalf, such as property managers, tenancy agents, landlords, or payment processors. In some cases, we may obtain information from public sources or service partners if needed to fulfil a contract or protect our legitimate interests.

4. Why We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide cleaning services and manage bookings.
To communicate about appointments, service changes, invoices, and feedback.
To process payments and maintain financial records.
To improve our services, training, and customer experience.
To deal with complaints, disputes, or service issues.
To meet legal, accounting, and regulatory obligations.
To protect our staff, customers, property, and business operations.

We only use personal data in ways that are compatible with the purpose for which it was collected, unless we have a lawful basis to use it for a different compatible purpose.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Southkensington Cleaner relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract – when processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as arranging and delivering cleaning services.
Legal obligation – when we must process data to comply with tax, accounting, insurance, safety, or other legal requirements.
Legitimate interests – when processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include managing customer relationships, preventing fraud, and improving services.
Consent – where we rely on your clear permission, for example for optional marketing communications or certain non-essential uses of data. You can withdraw consent at any time.
Vital interests – in rare situations where processing is necessary to protect someone’s life or safety.

If we process special category data, we will do so only where an additional condition under UK GDPR applies, such as explicit consent or necessity for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.

6. Sharing Personal Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties acting as processors or independent controllers, depending on the circumstance. Processors only act on our instructions and must keep data secure. Typical processors may include:

Payment service providers for handling transactions.
Scheduling or booking software providers for managing appointments.
IT and cloud service providers for data storage, email, and system support.
Accountants or payroll providers for financial administration.
Legal, insurance, or compliance advisers where necessary to protect our interests or meet obligations.

We may also disclose information to public authorities, courts, regulators, or law enforcement where required by law or where disclosure is necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

We do not sell your personal data. If data is transferred outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses where applicable.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy. Retention periods depend on the type of information, the nature of the service, legal obligations, and whether a dispute or claim is ongoing.

Customer and service records are generally kept for the duration of the relationship and for a reasonable period afterward.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law, typically up to six years for accounting purposes.
Complaint and correspondence records may be retained for as long as necessary to resolve the matter and defend against claims.
Marketing consent records are kept until you withdraw consent or opt out.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or destroy it.

8. Security of Personal Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, password protection, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and supplier due diligence. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection that is appropriate to the risk.

9. Your Rights

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

Right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing – 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 technically feasible.
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 may withdraw it at any time.
Right to lodge a complaint – with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your rights have been infringed.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal or contractual limitations. We will respond to valid requests within the timescales required by law.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not intentionally collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in a household or property context and provided by an adult with authority to do so. Where this occurs, we process the information carefully and only as needed to deliver the service.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or service arrangements. Any updates will take effect when published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how we protect personal data.

12. Summary of Our Commitments

Southkensington Cleaner is committed to processing personal data lawfully, transparently, and securely. We only collect what we need, use it for clear purposes, retain it for limited periods, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. All Southkensington Cleaner customers in area are covered by this policy, and we respect each individual’s data protection rights.

This policy is intended to provide a clear and practical explanation of our data handling practices.