Gardeners Kew Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Kew collects, uses, stores and shares personal data when providing gardening and related services. It applies to all Gardeners Kew customers within our service area, as well as prospective customers who contact us to enquire about our services.

Gardeners Kew is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair and transparent manner in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and applicable data protection laws.

Personal data we collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data about you depending on how you interact with us and which services you use. This can include the following categories of data.

Identification and contact details, such as your name, postal address, property address, and any other contact details that you choose to provide to us when you make an enquiry or become a customer.

Communication data, such as information contained in messages you send to us, notes of conversations with you, and any feedback or complaints you provide. This can include details about your garden, property access arrangements and your preferences for how and when we contact you.

Service and contract data, such as records of the gardening or maintenance services you request or receive, schedules of visits, quotes, invoices, payment records and any related contractual information.

Technical and usage data, such as basic information about how you interact with our online pages or digital services, to the extent that such data is collected. This may include device information and general usage patterns where technically collected, but we do not seek to identify you from this data unless legally required to do so.

We generally obtain personal data directly from you, for example when you contact us by phone, in person or through online forms. We may also receive personal data about you from third parties where this is necessary to provide our services, such as referrals from existing customers or business partners, and only where such sharing is lawful.

Purposes of processing and lawful bases

We process your personal data only when we have a valid legal basis to do so. For each main purpose, our lawful basis is one or more of the following: performance of a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, legitimate interests, or your consent.

Providing services and managing our relationship with you. We use your personal data to provide gardening and related services, arrange appointments, prepare quotes, manage contracts, process payments and communicate with you about your services. The lawful basis for this is performance of a contract or taking steps at your request before entering into a contract.

Customer support and enquiries. When you contact us with questions, requests or complaints, we process your personal data to respond and resolve any issues. The lawful basis is our legitimate interests in operating our business and providing a high standard of customer service, and where related to a contract, performance of that contract.

Business operations and record keeping. We process personal data for internal administration, financial records, accounting, and to maintain accurate business records. The lawful basis is compliance with legal obligations, including tax and accounting requirements, and our legitimate interests in managing and improving our business.

Marketing and service updates. We may use your contact details to provide information about our services, service updates or offers that may be of interest to you. Where required by law, we will only send such communications with your consent. Where consent is not legally required, we rely on our legitimate interests in promoting and developing our services, and you can opt out at any time.

Security and legal requirements. We may process personal data to protect the security of our staff, customers and property, to prevent fraud, and to comply with legal obligations or respond to lawful requests from authorities. The lawful basis for this is our legitimate interests and compliance with legal obligations.

Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

In general, we retain customer records, including contact details, service history and related documents, for the duration of your relationship with Gardeners Kew and for a period after that relationship ends to enable us to respond to queries or disputes and to comply with legal obligations. The retention period will vary depending on the type of data and applicable laws, but we aim to keep personal data no longer than is reasonably necessary.

Where personal data is no longer required for the stated purposes, we will securely delete or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with you.

Data processors and sharing of personal data

We may share your personal data with third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and where permitted by law.

Service providers and processors. We may engage third-party companies to perform functions on our behalf, such as accounting support, payment processing, information technology and system administration, document storage or customer relationship management tools. These third parties act as data processors and are only permitted to process personal data in accordance with our written instructions and for the purpose of providing the contracted services. We require all processors to implement appropriate security measures to protect your personal data.

Professional advisers and authorities. We may share personal data with professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, where this is necessary for the provision of their professional services. We may also share data with regulatory or governmental authorities where required by law or to protect our legal rights.

Other third parties. In limited circumstances, such as the potential sale or restructuring of our business, we may share personal data with prospective buyers or partners, subject to appropriate confidentiality safeguards and only to the extent permitted by data protection law.

We do not sell your personal data. Any sharing of personal data is carried out with appropriate contractual and organisational safeguards in place.

International data transfers

Where we use data processors or service providers that are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that an adequate level of data protection is in place. This may include the use of standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities or other recognised transfer safeguards.

Your data protection rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data under data protection law. These rights apply to all Gardeners Kew customers within our service area, subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions.

Right of access. You have the right to request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and, if so, to request a copy of that data along with information about how it is processed.

Right to rectification. You have the right to request the correction of inaccurate personal data concerning you and to have incomplete data completed.

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

Right to restriction of processing. You may request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in specific situations, such as when you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our legitimate interests.

Right to data portability. Where processing is based on consent or on a contract and carried out by automated means, you may request to receive the personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and to have it transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.

Right to object. You have the right to object at any time to processing of your personal data that is based on our legitimate interests, including profiling based on those 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. You also have an absolute right to object to direct marketing at any time.

Rights in relation to automated decision making. Gardeners Kew does not make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you.

Exercising your rights and contacting us

If you wish to exercise any of your rights or have questions about how we handle personal data, you can contact Gardeners Kew using the contact details provided on our usual customer communications or on our official materials. We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests in order to protect your personal data.

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 law. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any concerns directly.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or operational needs. Any updated version will apply to all Gardeners Kew customers within our service area from the date it is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we process your personal data.