Privacy Policy - Sutton Cleaners

Sutton Cleaners is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of all customers in the Sutton area. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information when you use our cleaning services. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This policy applies to all Sutton Cleaners customers in the area, including individual households, landlords, tenants, and business clients who engage our services.

1. Who We Are

Sutton Cleaners provides professional cleaning services to customers in and around Sutton. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal information we collect and use in connection with our services. This means we decide why and how your personal data is processed.

2. Information We Collect

We collect only the personal information that is necessary to provide our services, manage our business, and meet our legal obligations. The categories of information we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the name of your household, company, or property manager.
Contact details such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information including cleaning preferences, property access instructions, appointment times, service notes, and special requirements.
Billing and payment details such as invoicing records, payment status, and transaction references.
Communication records including emails, messages, complaint details, quotes, booking requests, and service feedback.
Technical information if you contact us electronically, such as device or message metadata that may be generated during communication.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it. For example, if you tell us about allergies, mobility needs, or health-related access considerations to help us perform a service safely, we will treat that information with extra care and limit its use to the specific purpose for which it was shared.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide, schedule, and deliver cleaning services.
To respond to enquiries, quotes, complaints, and service requests.
To manage customer accounts and maintain booking records.
To process payments, issue invoices, and keep financial records.
To improve our services, training, and customer support.
To comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
To protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or security incidents.

We only use your data where we have a valid legal basis to do so, as described below.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Sutton Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes booking services, confirming appointments, managing access instructions, and completing the work you requested.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include handling customer enquiries, improving service quality, maintaining business records, preventing fraud, and managing operational communications.

Legal Obligation

We process certain information when required by law, including tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping obligations.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily provide optional information that is not needed to provide the service. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. How We Share Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties only when necessary and only for legitimate business purposes. These third parties may act as processors or independent controllers, depending on the service they provide. Examples include:

Payment providers who process transactions and payment confirmations.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who help manage invoicing, financial records, and tax compliance.
IT and software service providers who support email, scheduling, storage, communication, or customer management systems.
Insurance providers where information is needed to manage a claim or verify coverage.
Professional advisers such as legal or financial advisers when advice is required.
Authorities where disclosure is required by law or to protect our legal rights.

We require processors to handle personal data securely, only on our instructions, and in line with applicable data protection law. We do not sell your personal data.

6. International Transfers

Where a processor or service provider stores or processes personal data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms. We take reasonable steps to ensure your data remains protected wherever it is processed.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason it was collected. As a general approach:

Service and booking records are retained for as long as needed to manage the customer relationship and resolve any issues.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by applicable law.
Communication records are kept for a reasonable period to help us answer queries, manage disputes, and maintain service history.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices.

8. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality requirements, and limited access to records based on business need.

Although no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take data protection seriously and regularly review the steps we use to protect information.

9. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal limits, these may include:

The right to be informed about how your data is used.
The right of access to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
The right to rectification to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
The right to erasure in certain circumstances, sometimes called the right to be forgotten.
The right to restrict processing in certain situations.
The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
The right to data portability for information you provided to us, where applicable.
The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, your request will be handled in accordance with data protection law. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

10. Automated Decision-Making

Sutton Cleaners does not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects. If this changes in the future, we will update this policy and explain the logic involved, the significance, and the possible consequences for you.

11. Cookies and Similar Technologies

If we use a website or digital tools that place cookies or similar technologies on your device, we will do so only where permitted by law. Such tools may be used to support site functionality, remember preferences, or measure performance. Any non-essential cookies would be managed in line with applicable consent requirements. This section is included for transparency and may not apply to every service interaction.

12. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in a household or property access context and provided by an adult customer. Where we become aware that information relating to a child has been collected unintentionally, we will take appropriate steps to delete or protect it, unless retention is required by law.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our data handling practices. The latest version will always apply to the personal data we hold. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their information is used.

14. Summary of Key Points

Sutton Cleaners collects only the personal data needed to provide cleaning services, manage bookings, handle payments, and meet legal responsibilities. We rely on lawful bases such as contract, legitimate interests, legal obligation, and, where appropriate, consent. We retain data only as long as necessary, share it only with trusted processors and relevant parties, and protect it with appropriate security measures. You also have important rights over your personal data, including access, correction, deletion, objection, and restriction.

By using our services, you acknowledge that this Privacy Policy explains how your personal data is handled by Sutton Cleaners in the Sutton area.