Swiss Cottage Cleaners Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Swiss Cottage Cleaners collects, uses, stores and protects personal data belonging to its customers in its service area. It is intended to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and applicable UK and EU data protection laws. This policy applies to all customers of Swiss Cottage Cleaners within the area where our services are offered, regardless of the service package or communication channel used.
Data Controller
Swiss Cottage Cleaners is the controller of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. As controller, we determine the purposes and means of processing personal data and are responsible for ensuring that such processing is carried out in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Personal Data We Collect
We collect and process different categories of personal data about our customers as necessary to provide cleaning services and manage our business operations. The types of personal data we may collect include:
Identification and contact details, such as name, postal address, service address, and any other contact details you provide to us when making an enquiry or booking a service.
Service and booking details, such as dates and times of appointments, type of cleaning service requested, access instructions, special requests, feedback, and communication history related to the services.
Billing and payment-related data, such as invoice details, payment status, services purchased, and amounts charged. We do not store full payment card details; where electronic payments are used, these are handled securely by our payment service providers.
Technical and usage data, such as information about how you interact with our website or online booking tools, including basic device and browser information and pages visited. This may include the use of cookies or similar technologies, where permitted by law.
Correspondence and communications, such as emails or messages you send to us and any notes we make to record the content or outcome of communications regarding our services.
How We Collect Personal Data
We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request information, obtain a quote, make a booking, or communicate with us in relation to ongoing or completed services.
We may also collect data indirectly when you use our website or online tools, or where third party service providers acting on our behalf share information that is necessary to manage your booking or payment.
Lawful Bases for Processing
We process personal data only where we have a valid lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the context, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:
Contract. We process your personal data when it is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract with you, or to perform a contract for cleaning services to which you are a party. This includes managing bookings, providing services, arranging access, issuing invoices, and handling related communications.
Legitimate interests. We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. Our legitimate interests include improving our services, managing our customer relationships, handling queries and complaints, protecting our business, and maintaining accurate records.
Legal obligation. We may process certain personal data to comply with legal obligations, such as tax and accounting requirements or obligations to law enforcement or regulatory authorities when lawfully requested.
Consent. In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional communications or the use of optional cookies or similar technologies. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
How We Use Personal Data
We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:
To provide, manage, and deliver cleaning services you have requested, including scheduling, access, and coordination with staff or contractors.
To communicate with you about your enquiries, quotes, bookings, changes to services, or any issues that arise before, during, or after service delivery.
To issue invoices, process payments through our payment service providers, and manage our financial records.
To respond to complaints, disputes, or requests, and to maintain a record of such matters for accountability and service improvement.
To improve our services, operations, and customer experience, including through analysis of service usage and feedback.
To comply with legal obligations and to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims when necessary.
Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by applicable laws and regulations.
Customer and service records are generally kept for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period thereafter to handle any follow-up queries, repeat bookings, or potential disputes. Financial and invoicing records may be retained for longer periods where required by tax, accounting, or other legal obligations.
When personal data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and no legal obligation requires its retention, we will securely delete, anonymise, or otherwise dispose of it in accordance with our data retention practices.
Data Sharing and Processors
We do not sell or trade your personal data. We may share your data with carefully selected third parties where necessary to provide our services or operate our business. These third parties act as processors under our instructions or, in some cases, as independent controllers.
We may use external service providers to support our operations, such as payment processing companies, accounting or administrative service providers, IT and hosting services, and customer management or booking tools. These processors are contractually required to protect your personal data, to use it only for the specified purposes, and to implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures.
We may also share personal data where required by law, regulation, or legal proceedings, or in response to lawful requests from public authorities, including law enforcement. In the event of a business reorganisation, merger, or transfer, personal data may be disclosed as part of that process, subject to appropriate safeguards.
International Data Transfers
Where any of our service providers or systems are located outside of the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, or where data is otherwise transferred internationally, we will ensure that such transfers comply with applicable data protection laws. This may include the use of adequacy decisions, contractual clauses, or other lawful safeguards to ensure that your data remains appropriately protected.
Data Security
We take data security seriously and implement technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, use of encryption or pseudonymisation where appropriate, regular review of security practices, and staff awareness measures.
While we take reasonable steps to protect your personal data, no system can be completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security of information transmitted to or stored by us.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under applicable data protection laws, including the GDPR, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal data processed by Swiss Cottage Cleaners:
The right of access, which allows you to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to receive a copy of that data, together with information about our processing.
The right to rectification, which allows you to request correction of inaccurate personal data or completion of incomplete data concerning you.
The right to erasure, also known as the right to be forgotten, which allows you to request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where the data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and there is no legal basis for continued processing.
The right to restriction of processing, which allows you to request temporary restriction of processing in certain circumstances, for example while we verify the accuracy of data or consider an objection.
The right to object to processing, which allows you to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to processing based on our legitimate interests. We will stop processing your data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or where processing is required for legal claims.
The right to data portability, which allows you to receive certain personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
Where we process data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
Exercising Your Rights and Contact
If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have questions regarding this Privacy Policy or our handling of personal data, you may contact us using the usual communication channels you use for our services. To protect your privacy, we may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority if you believe that your personal data has been processed in a way that does not comply with data protection laws. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can seek to resolve your concerns directly.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal obligations, or services. Any changes will be effective from the date of publication of the updated policy. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.
