Gardeners Norbiton Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Norbiton collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers within our service area. It is intended to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. By using our gardening services, requesting a quote, or otherwise providing your personal data to us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Scope and Data Controller

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Norbiton customers and prospective customers in our operating area, including individuals who contact us to request information or estimates for services. Gardeners Norbiton is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy, which means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data.

Types of Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you, depending on how you interact with us and which services you use:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, postal address, and general contact details you choose to provide in order to communicate with us.

Service and property details, such as information about your garden, property access arrangements that you choose to communicate, service history, and any instructions or notes that you provide in relation to the work you ask us to carry out.

Communication records, such as notes of your enquiries, details of quotes we have prepared for you, and records of your communications with us in relation to booking, changing, or cancelling services.

Billing and payment information, such as records of invoices issued and payments received for completed work. We do not store full payment card details; where electronic payments are used, these are processed through secure third party payment services.

How We Collect Your Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a quote, make a booking, or ask a question about our services. This may be when you speak with us, when you provide details in writing, or when you respond to our communication relating to existing or upcoming bookings.

We may also generate personal data about you in the course of providing services, such as creating records of the work we have carried out, the dates of visits, and any follow up that may be required. We do not obtain personal data about you from third parties for marketing purposes.

Lawful Bases for Processing Your Data

We process your personal data only when we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the situation, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract: We process personal data that is necessary to enter into a contract with you, provide our gardening services, respond to your enquiries about our services, schedule and manage bookings, and handle invoicing and payment.

Legal obligation: We process personal data where necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as record-keeping for tax and accounting purposes.

Legitimate interests: We may process your personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing our relationship with you, improving our services, and maintaining records of our work and communications to handle questions or disputes.

Consent: In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example if you explicitly ask us to keep you informed about certain services beyond what is reasonably expected as part of an ongoing customer relationship. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:

To provide gardening services, including assessing your requirements, preparing quotes, scheduling visits, carrying out work, and communicating with you before and after visits.

To manage our business relationship with you, including keeping records of work completed, handling queries, rebooking services, and dealing with any issues or complaints.

To process payments and maintain financial records for accounting, taxation, and audit purposes, and to prevent or detect fraud or misuse of our services.

To improve and develop our services, including reviewing how our services are used, understanding customer preferences, and maintaining accurate internal records.

To meet our legal and regulatory obligations and to cooperate with law enforcement or regulatory authorities where required by law.

Data Retention

We keep your 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.

Customer and service records, including your contact details and information about work we have carried out, are typically retained for a reasonable period after the end of your relationship with us so that we can respond to queries, provide follow up services if requested, and keep the records required for tax and accounting laws.

Where personal data is no longer needed for the original purpose, and we are not required by law to retain it, we will take steps to delete or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to an identifiable individual.

Sharing Your Personal Data and Use of Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf, strictly for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

These processors may include providers of secure electronic payment services, accounting or bookkeeping services, information technology and data storage services, and professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where required.

Where we use processors, we ensure there is an appropriate written agreement in place that requires them to process your personal data only on our documented instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with applicable data protection laws. They are not allowed to use your personal data for their own independent purposes.

We may also need to share personal data where required by law, for example with law enforcement agencies, courts, or regulators, or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

International Transfers

Our intention is to store and process personal data within the United Kingdom or in locations that offer an equivalent level of protection under data protection laws. If we ever need to transfer your personal data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as using standard contractual clauses or relying on an adequacy decision, in order to protect your information.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures may include controlled access to records, secure storage solutions, and limiting access to personal data to those personnel or service providers who need it for the purposes described in this policy.

While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, no transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. However, we regularly review our security arrangements and practices to reduce risks to your personal data.

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 can request confirmation that we process your personal data and ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

The right to rectification: You can request that we correct or complete any personal data that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.

The right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, or where you withdraw consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.

The right to restriction of processing: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we are investigating a concern you have raised about its accuracy or our use of it.

The right to object: You can object to our processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests as our lawful basis, and you believe that your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms override those interests.

The right to data portability: In certain circumstances, you can ask us to provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, or to transfer it to another organisation where this is technically feasible.

You also have the right to withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent as the lawful basis for processing. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent.

Exercising Your Rights and Complaints

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or raise a question or concern about how we handle your personal data, you can contact Gardeners Norbiton using your usual communication methods with us. We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access or change your personal data.

If you are not satisfied with our response or believe that we are not processing your personal data in accordance with data protection laws, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office in the United Kingdom. Details of how to do this can be found directly from the Information Commissioner's Office.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, how we handle personal data, or changes in legal requirements. Any updates will be effective from the date of publication. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your personal data.