Gardeners Islington Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Islington collects, uses, stores and shares personal data about its customers in the Islington area. It is intended to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws. This Privacy Policy applies to all customers and prospective customers of Gardeners Islington whose personal data is processed in connection with gardening and related services in the Islington area.
Who we are and scope of this policy
Gardeners Islington is a gardening services provider operating in the Islington area. In this Privacy Policy, references to we, us or our mean Gardeners Islington as the organisation responsible for determining how and why your personal data is processed. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as a data controller in relation to the personal data described in this policy.
This Privacy Policy covers personal data relating to individual customers, prospective customers, people who make enquiries about our services, individuals who receive invoices and quotations, and individuals whose details are provided as on-site contacts for our work within the Islington area.
Personal data we collect
We collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us. This may include:
Identification and contact details, such as your name, residential or business address, and contact preferences.
Service and property information, such as details of your garden, access instructions, property type, photographs of areas to be worked on where necessary for quoting or planning, and records of services provided or requested.
Communication records, such as details of enquiries, quotes, bookings, feedback and complaints, and any correspondence you send to us.
Payment and billing information, such as invoice details, payment status, and method of payment. We do not store full payment card details when payment is made through third party payment processors.
Usage and technical data, where applicable, such as basic information about how you interact with our website or online booking tools, including the date, time and duration of visits and basic device and browser information.
How we collect your data
We collect personal data from you directly when you contact us to request a quote, book a service, or ask a question; when you provide information on-site to our gardeners or contractors; and when you communicate with us by phone, online forms or other means.
We may also receive personal data about you from third parties where this is necessary for us to provide our services. This may include property managers, landlords, letting agents, or family members who give us your details as a contact person for garden maintenance or related work.
Some technical data may be collected automatically when you use our website or online tools, for example through basic logging of visits and page views, in order to keep our services secure and functioning properly.
Lawful bases for processing
We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis to do so under data protection law. Depending on the context, the relevant lawful bases may include:
Contract: We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example to provide gardening services, prepare quotations, manage bookings and schedules, and issue invoices.
Legal obligation: We may process personal data where this is necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as record keeping for tax and accounting purposes.
Legitimate interests: We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and does not override your fundamental rights and freedoms. This may include planning and managing our business operations, improving our services, protecting our staff and customers, securing our systems and property, and handling enquiries and complaints.
Consent: In limited circumstances we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time and we will stop the relevant processing.
How we use your personal data
We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:
To provide and manage gardening and related services in the Islington area, including site visits, maintenance, landscaping, and follow-up work.
To respond to your enquiries, provide quotations, manage bookings and communicate with you about appointments, access arrangements and any changes to your services.
To manage billing, payments, refunds and related financial records.
To plan and improve our services, including assessing demand, organising schedules, and reviewing feedback.
To maintain the security and integrity of our operations, including managing health and safety information related to work at your property where necessary.
To comply with legal and regulatory obligations and to cooperate with lawful requests from public authorities when required.
Data processors and sharing of personal data
We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These service providers are only permitted to process your personal data in accordance with our documented instructions and are required to protect your data and keep it confidential.
Types of processors we may use include:
Information technology and hosting providers who supply systems and storage used for managing customer data, scheduling, and communication.
Payment service providers who process transactions on our behalf and banking providers who handle payments and refunds.
Accountants or professional advisers who assist with financial and regulatory obligations where personal data may appear in invoices or records.
We may also share your personal data where required by law, to protect our legal rights, or in connection with the sale or transfer of our business or assets, in which case we will take steps to ensure that your rights are protected.
International transfers
Where any of our service providers or systems involve transferring personal data outside the United Kingdom to countries that do not have the same level of data protection laws, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These safeguards may include the use of standard contractual clauses or other recognised mechanisms to ensure that your data remains protected.
Data retention and storage
We keep personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. This means:
Customer and service records are generally kept for as long as you remain a customer and for a period afterwards to handle queries, disputes or potential legal claims.
Financial and invoicing records are retained for the period required by applicable tax and accounting regulations.
Correspondence and enquiry records are retained for a reasonable period so that we can refer back to them if you contact us again or if any issues arise.
When personal data is no longer required, we will delete or anonymise it in a secure manner.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. These rights apply subject to certain conditions and exemptions.
Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to receive a copy of that data, along with certain information about how we use it.
Right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
Right to erasure: In some circumstances, you may have the right to request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or if you withdraw consent where consent was the basis for processing.
Right to restriction: You may have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as while we are verifying the accuracy of the data or considering an objection you have raised.
Right to object: You may have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including certain types of profiling, and we will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms or the processing is necessary for legal claims.
Right to data portability: Where processing is based on your consent or on a contract and carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to request that it is transferred to another controller where technically feasible.
You also have the right to withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent as our lawful basis for processing. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.
How to exercise your rights and complaints
If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have questions about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the usual contact details you use when arranging services with Gardeners Islington. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you believe that your personal data has been handled in a way that does not comply with data protection law. We would, however, welcome the opportunity to address your concerns directly in the first instance.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the way we process personal data, changes in the law, or developments in our services. Any changes will apply from the date they are published. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how Gardeners Islington protects your personal data.
