Privacy Policy - Streatham Cleaner

This Privacy Policy explains how Streatham Cleaner collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing cleaning services to customers in Streatham and the surrounding area. It applies to all Streatham Cleaner customers in the area, including private households, landlords, tenants, businesses, and any person who enquires about, books, receives, or manages services on behalf of a customer.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Data We Collect

We collect only the information needed to provide and manage our services. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identity data: name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact data: address, email address, telephone number, and service location details.
Service information: booking details, cleaning preferences, access instructions, special requests, and appointment history.
Billing data: invoice details, payment status, and transaction references.
Communication data: messages, complaints, feedback, and notes relating to service delivery.
Technical data: basic website or device information if you contact us through digital channels, such as IP address or browser details, where applicable.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you voluntarily provide it and it is necessary for a specific service request, for example, information about accessibility needs. If such information is provided, we will treat it with extra care and only use it where required.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide cleaning services and manage bookings;
to communicate about appointments, changes, cancellations, and service updates;
to process invoices, payments, refunds, and account records;
to record customer preferences and instructions for future visits;
to handle complaints, questions, and customer support;
to maintain business records and meet legal and tax obligations;
to improve our service quality, training, and internal processes;
to prevent fraud, misuse, and security incidents.

We only use personal data for the purposes stated above or for compatible purposes that a customer would reasonably expect.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the situation, Streatham Cleaner relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, providing cleaning services, issuing invoices, and managing your account.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where your interests and rights do not override those interests. This may include service administration, internal record keeping, customer communication, quality control, and business improvement.

Legal Obligation

We process certain personal data to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, record-keeping, and regulatory requirements.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example, if you voluntarily agree to receive certain non-essential communications or provide information that is not necessary for the service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

We will always ensure that the chosen lawful basis is appropriate to the particular processing activity.

4. Sharing Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us run our business. These parties act as data processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We only share data when necessary and we require appropriate safeguards.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

payment processors to handle card or online payments;
accounting or bookkeeping providers to manage invoices and tax records;
customer communication tools used to send booking confirmations and updates;
IT and data storage providers that host business records securely;
software providers supporting scheduling, administration, and customer management.

These processors are only permitted to use personal data on our instructions and must keep it secure and confidential. We do not sell personal data. We do not share customer information with third parties for their own marketing purposes without a lawful basis.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, court order, or lawful request from public authorities.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Customer and booking records: retained for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards to manage queries or disputes.
Financial and accounting records: retained in line with legal and tax obligations, which may require storage for several years.
Communication records: retained for as long as needed to resolve issues, maintain service history, or support legitimate business interests.
Consent-based records: retained until consent is withdrawn or the data is no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer required, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or archived in a protected form where appropriate.

6. Data Security

We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, staff confidentiality expectations, and regular review of our internal procedures.

Although no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to minimise risks and to respond quickly if a data issue arises.

7. User Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal limitations, but we will always assess and respond to requests carefully.

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 data.
Right to erasure: you may ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing: you may ask us to limit the way we use your data in certain situations.
Right to data portability: you may ask for data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used format, where applicable.
Right to object: you may 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.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with applicable data protection law.

8. International Transfers

Where data is stored or processed outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful mechanisms designed to protect personal data to an equivalent standard.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is provided by an adult customer for a service-related reason. If we become aware that we have collected data improperly, we will take steps to delete it where required.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, operational, or service changes. Any revised version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers to review it periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

11. Contact for Data Protection Matters

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, our data handling practices, or your rights, you may raise the matter through our standard customer communication channels. We will address privacy concerns in line with applicable data protection requirements.

Summary of our commitment: Streatham Cleaner only collects data needed to deliver cleaning services, uses it under a valid lawful basis, keeps it securely for appropriate periods, shares it only with trusted processors, and respects customer rights.