Privacy Policy

Gardeners Newington Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Newington collects, uses, stores and protects personal data for all customers and prospective customers in our service area. It is designed to comply with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws. By using our gardening and related services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Who We Are and Scope of This Policy

Gardeners Newington is a gardening services business providing services such as garden maintenance, landscaping and related activities to residential and commercial customers in the Newington area and nearby locations that we serve. This Privacy Policy applies to all personal data we process about our customers, potential customers, and individuals who contact us in relation to our services within our service area.

In this Privacy Policy, personal data means any information that can identify you directly or indirectly, such as your name, address, contact details or information about your property when linked to you.

Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing and managing our gardening services. The types of personal data we may collect include the following categories.

Identity and contact details. This includes your name, title, and preferred contact information such as your postal address for the property we attend, and other contact details you choose to provide to us for communication about our services.

Service and property details. This includes information about the type of garden or outdoor space, access instructions, details of requested works or regular maintenance plans, notes about particular preferences or instructions you provide, and records of services we have carried out at your property.

Billing and transaction information. This includes records of services provided, amounts charged, payment status, and any relevant invoicing details required for our accounts and tax records. We do not store full payment card details; where payments are taken by card, this is handled through secure payment processors.

Communication records. This includes information you provide when you contact us, for example in conversations, messages or written correspondence related to quotations, bookings, service updates, feedback or complaints.

Website and usage data. If you visit our website, we may collect technical information about your visit such as pages viewed, the time and date of access, and basic device or browser information. This is used to maintain and improve our website and services. We do not use this information to identify you personally unless it is combined with other data you provide.

Lawful Basis for Processing Your Data

We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the situation, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases.

Contract. We process your personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, scheduling visits, delivering gardening services, communicating about appointments, and handling payments.

Legal obligation. We process certain data to meet our legal and regulatory obligations, for example maintaining accounting records for tax purposes or complying with requests from competent authorities where required by law.

Legitimate interests. We may process your personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include managing and improving our services, keeping records of work carried out, responding to enquiries, and protecting our business from fraud or misuse.

Consent. In limited cases we may rely on your consent, for example where we send you direct marketing communications that are not based on legitimate interest. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We may use your personal data for the following purposes.

To provide gardening and related services, including arranging visits, completing work at your property, and keeping you updated about bookings and service status.

To create and manage your customer record, including service history so that we can understand your preferences and deliver a consistent and reliable service.

To prepare quotations, estimates and invoices, process payments through our chosen payment processors, and manage any queries or disputes about charges.

To communicate with you, including responding to enquiries, sending service related notifications, requesting feedback, and dealing with complaints or concerns.

To maintain our business records, manage our accounts and meet our tax and other legal obligations.

To improve and develop our services and website, including internal analysis of how our services are used in our service area, and to enhance customer experience.

Data Retention and Storage

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

Customer and service records are typically kept for a period that reflects the nature of the services and any potential legal limitation periods for claims that may arise. Financial and invoicing records are retained for at least the minimum period required by tax and accounting laws.

When we no longer need your personal data, we will securely delete or anonymise it. If we anonymise data, it will no longer identify you and may be used for statistical or analytical purposes to help us improve our services.

Sharing Your Personal Data and Use of Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where this is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy or where required by law.

Service providers and processors. We may use external companies to provide certain services on our behalf, such as payment processing, accounting support, information technology and website hosting. These organisations act as data processors and only process your personal data on our instructions. They are required to keep your data secure and confidential and are not allowed to use it for their own purposes.

Professional advisers. We may share data with professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where this is necessary for the management of our business or to protect our rights.

Authorities and legal requirements. We may disclose personal data where we are required to do so by law, regulation or court order, or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, the rights of our customers, or the safety of individuals.

Where data is shared with third parties, we take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards and contractual protections are in place.

International Transfers

Our primary operations and data storage are intended to be within the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area. If, in limited circumstances, your personal data is processed in or transferred to a country outside this area, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as using standard data protection clauses or relying on an adequacy decision, so that your data remains protected to standards that are comparable to those under applicable data protection law.

Your Data Protection Rights

As a customer or individual in our service area whose personal data we process, you have several rights under data protection law. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and exemptions.

Right of access. You can request confirmation that we process your personal data and ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

Right to rectification. You can ask us to correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where the data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal obligation to retain it.

Right to restriction. You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we check its accuracy or where you have objected to our processing.

Right to object. You can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as the lawful basis. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests or we need to continue processing for legal reasons. You also have the right to object to direct marketing at any time.

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

Right to withdraw consent. 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 does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed. We encourage you to contact us first so that we have the opportunity to address any issues directly.

Security of Your Personal Data

We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those employees and service providers who genuinely need it to perform their roles, using secure systems where possible, and taking reasonable steps to ensure that any processors we use protect your data to appropriate standards.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, how we handle personal data, or changes in applicable law. The updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data as a customer or prospective customer of Gardeners Newington in our service area.