Privacy Policy - Deep Cleaning Balham

This Privacy Policy explains how Deep Cleaning Balham collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Deep Cleaning Balham customers in the area, including individuals, households, landlords, tenants, and business clients who use our services or interact with us in relation to our services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Deep Cleaning Balham provides professional cleaning services to customers in Balham and surrounding local areas. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller when we decide why and how your personal data is processed. This means we are responsible for ensuring your data is handled properly and for responding to your rights under applicable law.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations. Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of data:

Identity details such as your name.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information such as the property address, preferred cleaning date, special instructions, and service history.
Payment information such as billing details and transaction records. We do not store more payment data than is necessary to process payments securely.
Communication records including messages, complaints, feedback, and correspondence about bookings or service issues.
Technical data such as basic website usage information if you interact with our online services, including device and browser details, where applicable.
Legal and compliance information where we need to verify identity, resolve disputes, or maintain records required by law.

We do not intentionally collect special category personal data unless it is provided by you and is necessary for a specific service request or legal purpose. If such information is shared with us, we will handle it carefully and only where a valid legal basis exists.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage cleaning services.
To schedule appointments and confirm bookings.
To communicate with customers about service arrangements, changes, and follow-up queries.
To process payments and keep financial records.
To handle complaints, disputes, and service recovery.
To improve our services and customer experience.
To maintain internal records and business administration.
To comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.

We use data only for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes. We do not use your information in ways that are incompatible with those purposes.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. Depending on the situation, we rely on one or more of the following bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. This includes managing bookings, delivering cleaning services, and processing payments.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include improving our services, managing internal administration, preventing fraud, and keeping appropriate business records.

Legal Obligation

Some data must be processed to meet legal obligations, such as accounting, tax, insurance, consumer protection, and regulatory requirements.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for certain optional communications or where special category data is involved. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. How We Share Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where this is necessary and lawful. These parties may act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service they provide. We only share the minimum information required.

Payment service providers to process transactions securely.
IT and software providers that support booking, storage, communication, and record-keeping systems.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where needed.
Regulatory, law enforcement, or public authorities where disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect rights and safety.
Subcontractors or cleaners who need limited information to deliver a booked service.

When we use processors, we ensure they only process data on our instructions and are subject to appropriate confidentiality and security obligations. We do not sell personal data.

6. Processors and Data Security

We may appoint external service providers to help us operate efficiently. These processors may include cloud storage providers, accounting software providers, customer management systems, secure payment platforms, and communication tools. We choose processors carefully and require them to implement appropriate technical and organisational safeguards.

We take reasonable measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure systems, staff confidentiality obligations, and data minimisation. While no online or electronic system can be guaranteed to be entirely secure, we work to protect your data using suitable safeguards.

7. 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 information and the reason it is held.

Booking and service records are retained for the period needed to manage customer relationships and resolve issues.
Financial and tax records are kept for the legally required period.
Communication records are retained for a reasonable period to manage queries, disputes, and service history.
Complaint and legal records may be kept longer where needed to defend legal claims or meet statutory obligations.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention procedures.

8. Your Rights

You have rights regarding your personal data under data protection law. These rights may apply in different circumstances, and some may be subject to legal exceptions.

Right of access – you can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – you can ask us to delete your data where there is no valid reason to keep it.
Right to restrict processing – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing where applicable.
Right to data portability – you can ask for certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits set by law.

9. International Transfers

If any of our processors store or access data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information. This may include contractual protections or other lawful transfer mechanisms required under data protection law.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

If we use a website or digital tools, they may employ cookies or similar technologies to support functionality, security, and basic analytics. Where consent is required, we will seek it before placing non-essential cookies. You can manage cookie preferences through your browser settings or any consent tool provided.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging cleaning services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a household service arrangement and provided by an adult customer. If we become aware that we have collected data inappropriately, we will take steps to delete it where appropriate.

12. 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 from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

Deep Cleaning Balham is committed to using personal data fairly, securely, and transparently. We collect only what is needed, use it for clear purposes, keep it for no longer than necessary, and respect your legal rights. Our approach is based on privacy by design and a responsible, lawful handling of customer information throughout every stage of service delivery.