Privacy Policy - Cleaners Swisscottage

This Privacy Policy explains how Cleaners Swisscottage collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with the services we provide. It applies to all Cleaners Swisscottage customers in the area, including current, former, and prospective customers who interact with us by phone, email, online forms, messaging tools, in person, or through service bookings. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, transparent, and secure manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Cleaners Swisscottage provides cleaning services to residential and commercial customers. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and use in the normal course of our business. This means we decide why and how your personal data is processed, and we are responsible for ensuring that this is done legally and securely.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for delivering our services, managing our customer relationships, and meeting legal obligations. Depending on how you use our services, the personal data we may collect includes:

Identity information such as your name and title.
Contact details such as your phone number, email address, and service address.
Booking and service information such as requested cleaning dates, service preferences, property access notes, and instructions.
Payment information such as transaction records, invoice details, and payment status. We do not store full card details unless a secure payment method requires it.
Communication records including emails, messages, call notes, feedback, and complaints.
Technical data where relevant, such as device information, IP address, and basic usage data if you submit forms or use digital tools connected to our services.
Special instructions that may be necessary to complete a service, for example cleaning preferences relating to sensitive areas of a property. We ask that you avoid sharing unnecessary sensitive information.

We generally do not seek to collect special category data such as health data, religious beliefs, or biometric data. If such information is ever disclosed to us by mistake, we will handle it carefully and only where there is a valid legal basis.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To register and manage customer bookings.
To deliver cleaning services at the correct time and location.
To communicate with you about your bookings, service changes, and updates.
To prepare quotations, invoices, and payment records.
To respond to questions, feedback, and complaints.
To improve our services, operations, and customer experience.
To maintain business records and meet legal, tax, and accounting duties.
To prevent fraud, misuse, or security incidents.

We only process your data for specified purposes and do not use it in ways that are incompatible with those purposes.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Cleaners Swisscottage relies on the following lawful bases depending on the situation:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, providing services, issuing invoices, and handling customer support related to the service.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include improving our services, maintaining business records, preventing fraud, and managing internal administration.

Legal Obligation

We process data when required to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, such as tax, accounting, or record-keeping requirements.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain optional communications. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary and lawful. These third parties act as processors when they process personal data on our behalf and under our instructions. We require appropriate contracts and safeguards to protect your information.

Processors may include:

Payment service providers who handle transactions securely.
IT and hosting providers who support our systems, storage, and communication tools.
Administrative and accounting providers who assist with invoices, bookkeeping, or tax-related tasks.
Customer management or scheduling tools used to organise bookings and service delivery.

We may also disclose personal data to professional advisers, regulators, law enforcement, or public authorities where required by law or necessary to protect our rights, our customers, or the public.

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

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, tax, and reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason it was collected.

Customer and booking records are usually retained for the period needed to complete the service relationship and to handle follow-up queries or disputes.
Invoices and financial records are retained for the period required under tax and accounting law.
Communication records may be retained for a reasonable period to manage customer service, complaints, and business continuity.
Security or incident records may be retained longer where needed for legal defence, prevention, or investigation.

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

7. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, staff confidentiality duties, and careful selection of processors. Although no system is completely secure, we work to reduce risk and respond appropriately to any security concern.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal exceptions and conditions.

Right of access – you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – in certain situations, you may request deletion of your data.
Right to restrict processing – you may ask us to limit how your data is used in certain circumstances.
Right to object – you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – where applicable, you may request that we provide your data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data has been handled unlawfully. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns first where possible.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary for a legitimate service-related purpose and is provided by an adult customer. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child without proper justification, we will take steps to delete it.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or operational practices. Any updates will take effect when published in the revised version. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their personal data is used.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Cleaners Swisscottage respects your privacy and is committed to responsible data handling. We collect only the data we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, share it only with trusted processors or where required by law, retain it for no longer than necessary, and support your rights under GDPR. This policy applies to all Cleaners Swisscottage customers in the area and reflects our ongoing commitment to protecting personal information with care, transparency, and accountability.