Gardeners East Finchley Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners East Finchley collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers within East Finchley and the surrounding area. It also explains your rights under applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This Privacy Policy applies to all customers and potential customers of Gardeners East Finchley in our service area, whether you contact us online, by post, or in person, and whether you purchase our services once or on an ongoing basis.

Who we are and scope of this policy

Gardeners East Finchley is a gardening and garden maintenance service provider operating in East Finchley and nearby areas. For the purposes of data protection law, Gardeners East Finchley is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used.

This policy covers personal data relating to individual customers, prospective customers, and individuals who contact us about our services. It does not cover information relating solely to limited companies or other organisations, except where such information identifies an individual.

Types of personal data we collect

We only collect personal data that we need in order to provide and manage our gardening services and to run our business. The personal data we may collect includes:

Identification and contact details, such as name, postal address, and general contact details you choose to provide when contacting us or making a booking.

Service and property details, such as property type, garden size, access details, photographs you provide of the garden or outdoor area, and notes about the services you request.

Contract and transaction information, such as records of services requested and provided, dates of visits, invoices and payments, and communications relating to your bookings.

Marketing preferences, such as whether you wish to receive information about our services, offers, or updates, and your communication preferences.

Technical and usage data, where applicable, such as basic information about how you interact with our website or online profiles, including pages viewed and general device information collected through standard analytics tools.

How we collect your personal data

We collect personal data in a variety of ways, including:

When you contact us directly to request a quote, make a booking, or ask a question about our services.

When you engage us to provide gardening or maintenance services at your property.

When you respond to any advertising or information we publish and provide your details for a follow-up.

Through routine administration, such as creating invoices, scheduling appointments, or recording details of work carried out at your property.

From third parties, where you are referred to us by another customer or by a third party service platform, and that platform provides us with your details so we can respond to your enquiry or fulfil your booking.

Lawful bases for processing your data

We only process your personal data when we have a lawful basis under data protection law. These include:

Contract necessity. We use your personal data to provide our services and manage our relationship with you. This includes responding to your enquiries, providing quotes, carrying out gardening work, issuing invoices, and handling any queries or complaints.

Legitimate interests. We may use your data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. For example, maintaining records of work carried out, improving our services, managing our business operations, and preventing misuse of our services.

Legal obligations. We may process certain personal data to comply with legal requirements, such as tax, accounting, and record keeping obligations.

Consent. In some cases, we will rely on your consent, for example where you choose to receive marketing communications from us. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us using the contact methods provided when you gave consent or by following any opt out instructions we provide.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our gardening and maintenance services, including visiting your property, carrying out agreed work, and keeping a record of services provided.

To prepare quotes, estimates, and recommendations tailored to your property and requirements.

To manage billing and payments, including issuing invoices and keeping appropriate financial records.

To communicate with you regarding appointments, ongoing work, changes to services, or issues that may arise in relation to your property or our business.

To send you service updates, news, or marketing communications where you have chosen to receive them or where we are otherwise permitted to do so under applicable law.

To manage our business operations, including planning work schedules, managing staff or contractors, maintaining safety and security, and protecting our legal rights.

To comply with applicable laws and regulations, respond to lawful requests from public authorities, and handle any legal claims or disputes.

Data sharing and processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf and only process your personal data according to our instructions and this Privacy Policy.

These third parties may include:

Service providers that support our business operations, such as companies providing scheduling tools, customer management systems, document storage, or accounting and invoicing services.

Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers, where this is necessary for us to obtain professional advice or comply with our legal obligations.

Technology and hosting providers that support our website, email, or data storage systems.

We may also share your personal data where required by law or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

When we use data processors, we require them to implement appropriate security measures and to process your data only for the purposes we specify and in accordance with data protection laws.

Data retention

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

In general, we will retain customer and service records for as long as you are a customer and for a reasonable period afterwards, for example to respond to any questions about past work, to maintain accurate financial records, or to meet our legal obligations. Information held for accounting and tax purposes may be kept for longer periods as required by law.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymise it so that it no longer identifies you.

Data security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include secure storage, restricted access, password protection, and appropriate staff or contractor training on data protection responsibilities.

While we take reasonable steps to protect your data, no transmission or storage system can be fully guaranteed as secure. We therefore cannot promise absolute security but we work to reduce risks to a reasonable level appropriate to the nature of the data and the processing involved.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may include:

The right of access. You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you, together with certain information about how we use it.

The right to rectification. You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

The right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal reason to keep it.

The right to restrict processing. You can ask us to restrict the use of your personal data in certain situations, such as while we investigate a concern you raise about its accuracy.

The right to object. You may have the right to object to certain types of processing, including processing based on legitimate interests and processing for direct marketing.

The right to data portability. In some cases, you can ask us to provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine readable format or to transfer it directly to another organisation where this is technically feasible.

Where we rely on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdraw your consent.

How to exercise your rights and complaints

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have any questions about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details you normally use to reach Gardeners East Finchley.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority responsible for data protection in the United Kingdom if you are concerned about how we have handled your personal data. We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns before you approach the authority, so we encourage you to contact us first.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, our business practices, or applicable law. Any updates will take effect when the revised version is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.