Privacy Policy – Harringay Cleaners

Effective for all Harringay Cleaners customers in the area

This Privacy Policy explains how Harringay Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to all customers in our service area. It applies to every individual who uses, enquires about, or receives services from Harringay Cleaners in the area, whether bookings are made in person, by phone, by email, or through any other channel. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Harringay Cleaners provides domestic and commercial cleaning services to customers in our area. For the purposes of data protection law, Harringay Cleaners is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for delivering our services, managing our customer relationships, and meeting our legal obligations. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity data such as your name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact data such as your address, email address, and phone number.
Service data such as cleaning preferences, booking details, property access instructions, and service history.
Payment data such as billing details, transaction records, and payment status.
Communication data such as correspondence relating to enquiries, complaints, feedback, or service changes.
Technical data if you interact with our digital systems, including basic device or usage information where applicable.
Special category data only where strictly necessary and typically only if you voluntarily provide information that may reveal health or access needs relevant to service delivery.

We do not seek to collect more data than is needed. If you provide information about allergies, mobility limitations, pets, security arrangements, or other property-related requirements, we will use it only to the extent needed to provide a safe and appropriate service.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and manage bookings.
To deliver cleaning services safely and effectively.
To process payments and maintain accounting records.
To communicate changes, reminders, or service-related updates.
To handle complaints, feedback, and service improvements.
To meet legal, regulatory, tax, and insurance obligations.
To protect our legitimate business interests, including fraud prevention and service quality management.

We will not use your data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons for which it was collected, unless we have a lawful basis to do so and, where required, we tell you about it first.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. Harringay Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract: We process data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a service agreement with you, such as taking bookings, delivering cleaning services, and managing payments.
Legitimate Interests: We may process data to run and improve our business, communicate with customers, prevent misuse, protect property, and maintain service records. When relying on legitimate interests, we consider whether your rights and freedoms override those interests.
Legal Obligation: We process certain data to comply with laws relating to accounting, tax, employment, health and safety, or insurance.
Consent: In limited situations, we may ask for your consent, for example where you choose to provide optional information or where consent is specifically required by law.

If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data only when necessary and only with trusted third parties acting as processors or independent controllers. Processors help us provide services and are contractually required to handle your data securely, use it only on our instructions, and comply with data protection law.

Examples of processors may include:

Payment service providers who process card or electronic payments.
Scheduling, invoicing, or customer management software providers.
IT and cloud hosting providers that store or support business systems.
Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, or legal advisers where necessary.
Insurance providers or claims handlers where an incident requires reporting.

We may also disclose data to public authorities, courts, or regulators if required by law, or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

We do not sell your personal data.

6. 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 may vary depending on the type of data and the reason we hold it.

Customer and booking records are generally retained for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterward to manage follow-up queries, disputes, or service history.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by applicable law.
Correspondence and complaint records may be retained for a period necessary to resolve issues and maintain evidence of our handling.
Marketing preferences are retained until you opt out or we no longer need the information.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so it can no longer identify you.

7. 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 obligations, and careful selection of processors.

While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we regularly review our practices and aim to protect personal information using reasonable and proportionate safeguards.

8. Your Rights Under GDPR

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal conditions and exemptions, these include:

Right of access: You can request confirmation of whether we process your data and ask for a copy of it.
Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure: In some circumstances, you can request deletion of your data.
Right to restriction: You may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object: You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: You may request that data you provided to us be transferred to you or another controller, where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Important: Exercising these rights does not affect processing we are legally allowed or required to carry out.

9. Automated Decision-Making

Harringay Cleaners does not normally use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects for customers. If this changes, we will explain the logic involved and the rights available to you.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect data from children except where it is unavoidably included in service-related communications, and only to the extent necessary and lawful. If we become aware that we have collected personal data improperly, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

11. International Transfers

If any processor stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place so your personal data remains protected to a standard required by law.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or services. Any updates will apply from the date they are published. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so you remain informed about how your data is used.

13. Contact and Complaints

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how your personal data is handled, you may raise them with us through the normal service channels used for Harringay Cleaners customers in the area. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

Summary of Key Commitments

We collect only the data needed to provide and manage cleaning services.
We process data on lawful bases including contract, legitimate interests, legal obligation, and consent where appropriate.
We retain data only for as long as necessary and then delete or anonymise it securely.
We use trusted processors under contract and never sell personal data.
We respect your GDPR rights and provide clear ways to exercise them.

Privacy, transparency, and accountability are central to how Harringay Cleaners handles personal data. We are committed to keeping customer information safe, using it fairly, and ensuring that this policy applies to all Harringay Cleaners customers in the area.