Privacy Policy
Gardeners Harrow Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Harrow collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers in our service area. It also sets out your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy applies to all Gardeners Harrow customers and individuals who contact or interact with Gardeners Harrow in connection with our services in the local area.
Who We Are
Gardeners Harrow is a gardening and grounds maintenance service provider operating in the Harrow area. For the purposes of data protection law, Gardeners Harrow is the data controller in relation to the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data.
Personal Data We Collect
We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing our services and managing our business. The types of personal data we may collect include:
Identification and contact details, such as your name, home address, job site address, and any alternative contact address you provide.
Communication details, such as your preferred contact method and the content of emails, messages, and other communications you send to us.
Service information, such as details of the garden or outdoor area, property access instructions, work requested, visit notes, and before and after job records.
Billing and transaction information, such as information related to invoices, payment dates, amounts, payment status, and basic payment confirmations. We do not store full payment card details.
Usage and enquiry data, such as information you provide when you fill in enquiry forms, request a quote, sign up to updates, or give feedback or reviews about our services.
Technical and usage data about how you interact with our website or online content, which may include IP address, browser type, and basic analytics information, where this is collected through cookies or similar technologies and where you have provided any necessary consent.
How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, in person, by post, through our website, or through any other communication method you choose to use. We may also receive personal data indirectly when a third party contacts us on your behalf, for example a landlord, tenant, letting agent, or family member who books work to be carried out at your property. In such cases we treat that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Lawful Bases for Processing
We will only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the context, we rely on the following lawful bases:
Contract: We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example to provide gardening services, schedule visits, prepare quotes, and manage billing and payments.
Legitimate interests: We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include managing and improving our services, keeping appropriate business records, handling customer enquiries, and protecting our business against fraud or misuse.
Legal obligation: We process personal data when this is necessary for us to comply with legal obligations, such as accounting, tax, and record-keeping requirements.
Consent: In limited cases we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of marketing communications or for non-essential cookies or analytics on our website where required. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time by contacting us or using the unsubscribe or preference options we provide.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:
To provide and manage gardening and related services you request, including site visits, regular maintenance schedules, and one-off projects.
To prepare and send quotes, estimates, invoices, and payment reminders, and to manage any changes or queries relating to those documents.
To communicate with you about appointments, access to your property, service updates, and any issues or questions you raise.
To manage our business operations, including planning workloads, allocating staff, managing suppliers, and maintaining accurate records of work carried out.
To improve our services and customer experience, including using feedback or reviews you choose to provide.
To keep appropriate financial and tax records as required by law.
To protect our business and customers, for example by preventing misuse of our services, handling disputes, or responding to legal claims or requests from authorities where we are required to do so.
Data Retention
We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and to meet any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The exact retention period will depend on the nature of the information and the context in which it was provided.
Customer and service records, including contact details, job details, invoices, and payment records, are generally retained for a period consistent with tax and accounting requirements. Communications relating to enquiries, quotes, and bookings are retained for a reasonable period to enable us to manage follow-up queries, repeat work, and any disputes that may arise.
Where we have relied on consent, for example for specific marketing communications, we will stop using your data for that purpose if you withdraw your consent. We may retain a minimal record of your contact details solely to record that you opted out and to ensure that your preferences are respected in the future.
At the end of the relevant retention period your personal data will be securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise removed from our systems.
Data Processors and Sharing Your Data
We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to process your personal data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. They are required to keep your data secure and to comply with applicable data protection laws.
Examples of such processors include:
Service management and scheduling tools used to organise appointments, maintain work records, and manage customer information.
Accounting and invoicing systems used to issue invoices, record payments, and prepare accounts.
IT, hosting, and cloud storage providers who enable us to run our website, store electronic records, and maintain secure backups.
Professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, where access to limited personal data is necessary to provide their services.
We may also need to share personal data in the following limited situations:
Where required to comply with a legal obligation, regulatory request, or court order.
Where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
In connection with a potential business transfer involving Gardeners Harrow, in which case we will ensure that any sharing of data is carried out lawfully and with appropriate safeguards.
We do not sell your personal data.
International Data Transfers
Some of the service providers or systems we use may be located outside the United Kingdom or may store data in other countries. Where this results in a transfer of your personal data to a country that does not provide the same level of data protection as the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include using standard contractual clauses or relying on an adequacy decision by the relevant data protection authority, to ensure that your rights and protections travel with your data.
Security of Your Personal Data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those who have a genuine business need to know it, using reliable systems and tools, and providing guidance to staff and contractors on their data protection responsibilities.
While we take reasonable steps to protect your personal data, no system can be completely secure. If we identify a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the relevant regulator where we are legally required to do so.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to certain conditions and exemptions, these rights include:
The right of access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to obtain information about how we use it.
The right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to correct inaccurate personal data or to complete incomplete data.
The right to erasure: In certain circumstances you have the right to ask us to delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no other lawful basis to continue processing it.
The right to restrict processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, such as while we are considering a request for rectification or an objection.
The right to data portability: Where we process your personal data based on your consent or on a contract with you, and the processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive the personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and to have it transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.
The right to object: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or where processing is needed for legal claims.
The right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
Contact and Complaints
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, you can contact Gardeners Harrow using the usual contact details you use for our services.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority if you are unhappy with how we use your personal data. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly before you contact a regulator, so we encourage you to get in touch with us in the first instance.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, our practices, or legal requirements. The updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.
