Privacy Policy - Gardeners Kew

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Kew collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data belonging to customers in the area. It applies to all Gardeners Kew customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about services, request quotations, book gardening work, manage ongoing maintenance, or otherwise interact with our business. We are committed to processing personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We recognise that privacy is important. This policy is designed to give clear information about what data we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and the rights available to you in relation to your personal information.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the personal data necessary to provide our gardening services, manage our customer relationships, and operate our business effectively. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name and title.
Contact details such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
Service information such as details of the gardening work requested, service preferences, and property access instructions.
Billing and payment information such as invoice records, payment status, and transaction details. We do not store full card details where payment processing is handled securely by a third party.
Communication records such as correspondence by phone, email, or message, including complaints, feedback, and service updates.
Site and job information such as notes about garden condition, work completed, and scheduling history.
Technical information if you use digital systems connected to us, including basic device or browser data where relevant.

We may also collect limited information from third parties where necessary to carry out our services, for example from property managers, family members acting on behalf of a customer, or payment providers. Where possible, we will make sure this information is kept accurate and relevant.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotations and respond to enquiries.
To arrange and deliver gardening services.
To manage bookings, schedules, and access requirements.
To issue invoices and process payments.
To maintain service records and customer history.
To communicate about appointments, changes, or service-related matters.
To handle complaints, disputes, and customer support requests.
To meet legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations.
To improve our services, internal procedures, and customer experience.
To protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud or misuse.

We only use personal data for specific, legitimate purposes and do not use it in ways that are incompatible with those purposes without a lawful basis to do so.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. Gardeners Kew relies on the following bases:

Contract

We process data when it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform a contract with you. This includes quotations, bookings, service delivery, invoicing, and customer account administration.

Legal Obligation

We process certain data where required by law, such as for tax records, financial compliance, insurance purposes, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is reasonably necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include maintaining service records, managing operations, improving service quality, preventing fraud, and ensuring the security of our business systems.

Consent

In some situations, we may ask for your consent, for example where it is appropriate to send certain types of optional communications or use data beyond the original service purpose. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us run our business. These organisations act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We only share the minimum information necessary and require appropriate safeguards.

Examples of processors may include:

IT and software providers who host booking, email, document, or record-keeping systems.
Accounting and invoicing providers who help manage financial records and tax compliance.
Payment processors who securely handle transactions.
Customer communication services used to send service-related messages.
Storage and backup providers that maintain secure business data.

We may also disclose personal data where necessary to:

comply with legal obligations;
respond to lawful requests from courts, regulators, or law enforcement;
protect the rights, property, or safety of Gardeners Kew, our staff, customers, or others.

Where a processor is used, we ensure that a written contract is in place requiring the processor to act only on our instructions, keep data secure, and process it in line with data protection law.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. The retention period depends on the type of data and the reason it is held.

In general:

Customer service and booking records are kept for a period necessary to manage services and resolve any queries or disputes.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Communication records may be retained for a reasonable time to maintain accurate business history and customer support.
Consent-based records are kept until consent is withdrawn or the data is no longer needed.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, destroy, or anonymise it. We review retention on a regular basis to avoid keeping data longer than necessary.

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, password protection, secure storage, limited staff access, and regular review of data handling practices.

Although we take reasonable steps to protect your data, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work continuously to reduce risks and respond promptly to any suspected incident.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal limits and exemptions, these may include:

Right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent.

You also have the right to raise concerns with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been breached. We encourage you to contact us first so we can address any issue quickly and fairly.

8. Children’s Data

Gardeners Kew does not intentionally collect personal data from children as part of its services. If any information relating to a child is provided incidentally, for example as part of property access or household arrangements, we will handle it carefully and only as necessary.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.

10. Summary of Our Commitments

Gardeners Kew is committed to handling personal data responsibly and in accordance with applicable data protection laws. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, retain it for no longer than necessary, and work with trusted processors under appropriate safeguards. We respect your rights and aim to process all personal data in a way that is fair, secure, and transparent.

By using Gardeners Kew services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this Privacy Policy.