Privacy Policy - Gardeners East Finchley

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners East Finchley collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in relation to its gardening services. It applies to all Gardeners East Finchley customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about services, receive quotations, book appointments, or engage us for ongoing or one-off garden work. We are committed to handling personal information lawfully, fairly, transparently, and in a way that respects your privacy rights under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who this policy applies to

This policy applies to customers, prospective customers, and anyone who communicates with us about gardening services in East Finchley and the surrounding area. It covers data collected through calls, emails, messages, service requests, invoices, site visits, and other business interactions connected to our services. It also applies where a customer acts on behalf of a property owner, tenant, landlord, managing agent, or other authorised person.

2. Personal data we collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing our services. The information we may collect includes:

Identity details, such as your name and title.
Contact details, such as telephone number, email address, and service address.
Property and service details, including garden size, access arrangements, preferences, requested work, and notes relevant to the job.
Billing and payment information, such as invoice records, payment status, and transaction references.
Communication records, including messages, service instructions, feedback, complaints, and correspondence.
Technical data if you contact us electronically, such as limited device or message metadata needed to process enquiries securely.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it, for example if it is relevant to access needs or safety requirements. Where such information is shared with us, we will only use it when permitted by law and when it is required to deliver services safely and appropriately.

3. How we use your data

Gardeners East Finchley uses personal data to:

respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
arrange site visits and carry out gardening services;
manage appointments, schedules, and service updates;
issue invoices, record payments, and maintain accounts;
communicate about service changes, job completion, and follow-up matters;
handle complaints, disputes, and customer support requests;
meet legal, tax, insurance, and business record-keeping obligations;
improve service delivery, operational planning, and customer experience.

We use your information only for defined purposes and only to the extent needed for those purposes. We do not sell personal data and we do not use it for unrelated profiling.

4. Lawful basis for processing

We process personal data only when we have a valid lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the situation, our lawful bases include:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as providing a quote, completing gardening work, managing bookings, or issuing invoices.

Legitimate interests

We may process data for our legitimate business interests, such as responding to enquiries, keeping service records, improving operations, preventing fraud, and maintaining proper business administration, provided that these interests do not override your rights and freedoms.

Legal obligation

We may need to process and retain data to comply with legal duties, including tax, accounting, insurance, and regulatory requirements.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you choose to provide optional information that is not required for the service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing your data and processors

We may share personal data with trusted processors and service providers who help us run our business. These may include:

accounting and bookkeeping providers;
payment processing services;
IT, email, and cloud storage providers;
administrative support tools used for scheduling or record keeping;
professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or tax advisers where needed;
subcontractors or team members involved in carrying out the service.

All processors are required to handle personal data securely and only on our instructions. We take reasonable steps to ensure they provide appropriate data protection safeguards. We may also disclose information where required by law, court order, or regulatory obligation.

6. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. Retention periods depend on the type of information, the nature of the services provided, and any legal obligations that apply. In general:

customer enquiry data is kept for a limited period if no service is booked;
service and invoice records are retained for business, accounting, and tax purposes;
communication records may be retained where needed to resolve disputes, confirm instructions, or support service history;
data no longer required is securely deleted, anonymised, or archived where appropriate.

We regularly review the data we hold to make sure it is not kept longer than necessary. When data is no longer needed, we dispose of it in a secure manner.

7. Security of personal data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, or alteration. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, limiting access to authorised personnel, and careful handling of records. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to keep data protected in line with the nature of the information we hold.

8. Your rights

You have rights over your personal data under data protection law. These rights may include:

Right of access – to request a copy of the 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 in some cases.
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 can withdraw it at any time.

Please note that these rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal limitations. For example, we may need to retain some records to comply with tax or contractual obligations.

9. International transfers

If any of our processors store or access data outside the UK, we will take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. This may include using approved contractual protections or relying on adequacy regulations where applicable. We only transfer data where the necessary legal protections are available.

10. Children’s data

Our services are directed to adults and property-related customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidental and necessary for a service arrangement, and only with appropriate care. If we become aware that we hold data collected inappropriately, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, business practices, or service arrangements. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their information is used.

12. Summary of our privacy commitments

Gardeners East Finchley is committed to handling personal data with care, fairness, and accountability. We collect only what is needed, use it for clear and lawful purposes, share it only with appropriate processors or where legally required, and retain it only as long as necessary. We also respect your rights and aim to respond to privacy-related requests in a timely and responsible way.

By using our services, making an enquiry, or instructing us to carry out gardening work in East Finchley, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.