Privacy Policy
Gardeners Kingston Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Kingston collects, uses, stores, and shares personal data about its customers and prospective customers in the Kingston service area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws. This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Kingston customers and to anyone who contacts us or uses our services within the Kingston area.
Who we are
Gardeners Kingston is a local gardening and grounds maintenance business serving residential and commercial customers in the Kingston area. For the purposes of data protection law, Gardeners Kingston is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy, meaning we decide how and why your personal data is used.
Personal data we collect
We collect personal data that is necessary to provide our gardening services, manage our business, and communicate with you. The types of personal data we may collect include:
Identification and contact details, such as your name, postal address, service address, and any other address relevant to the provision of services, and your preferred contact details such as email or other messaging contact details where you choose to provide them.
Service and contract information, such as details of the services you request or receive, property details relevant to the work to be carried out, visit dates and times, instructions and preferences, and any related correspondence with us.
Billing and payment information, such as records of payments made, payment method details as required for invoicing, and accounting records. We do not store full card details when payments are processed securely through third-party payment processors.
Communication data, such as enquiries, feedback, complaints, and any other communications you send to us or that we send to you in the course of providing our services.
Technical and usage information, where relevant, such as basic information about how you interact with our online content or digital tools we use to manage bookings or communications. This may include log data or device information as provided by your browser or device.
How we collect your data
We collect personal data from you directly when you contact us to request a quote, make a booking, or ask a question about our services; when you enter into a contract with us; when you communicate with us in person, by phone, by written communication, or via any online tools we use; and when you provide feedback or a testimonial.
We may also receive personal data about you from third parties where this is necessary for us to provide our services, such as referrals from existing customers or where a landlord, letting agent, or property manager passes us your details to arrange gardening services at a property.
Lawful bases for processing your data
We rely on one or more of the following lawful bases under data protection law when we process your personal data:
Contract. We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as when you request a quote, make a booking, or we provide gardening services at your property.
Legal obligation. We process certain data to comply with our legal obligations, including accounting, tax, and record-keeping requirements and responding to lawful requests from regulatory or enforcement authorities.
Legitimate interests. We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes managing our customer relationships, improving our services, handling enquiries and complaints, maintaining business records, and protecting our business from fraud or misuse.
Consent. In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent to process your personal data, for example where you choose to receive optional updates or communications about our services that are not strictly necessary for providing the services you have requested. Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time.
How we use your personal data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To provide and manage our gardening services, including creating and managing bookings, attending your property, carrying out the agreed work, and following up where needed.
To respond to your enquiries and communicate with you about quotes, appointments, and ongoing work.
To manage billing and payment, including issuing invoices, processing payments via third-party payment processors, and maintaining financial records.
To manage our relationship with you, including dealing with feedback, complaints, or disputes and keeping a history of the services we have provided to you.
To operate, maintain, and improve our business processes, including scheduling, staff allocation, and service quality monitoring.
To comply with legal and regulatory obligations and to protect our legal rights, for example in connection with the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.
Sharing your personal data
We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where this is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy:
Service providers and processors who act on our behalf, such as payment processors, accounting or bookkeeping services, cloud storage providers, scheduling or customer management tools, and other suppliers who support our business operations. These processors are only allowed to use your personal data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes we specify, and they must protect your personal data appropriately.
Professional advisers, such as accountants, auditors, or legal advisers, where this is necessary to obtain professional services or comply with our legal obligations.
Public authorities, regulators, law enforcement, or courts, where we are legally required to share information or where sharing is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.
We do not sell your personal data and we do not share your personal data with third parties for their own independent marketing purposes.
International transfers
Some of our trusted processors or service providers may operate outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area. Where your personal data is transferred internationally, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with data protection law, such as using standard contractual clauses or ensuring the recipient is in a country with an adequate level of protection.
Data retention
We keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, including to fulfil our contractual obligations to you, meet legal and accounting requirements, and resolve disputes.
In general, we retain customer records for as long as you remain a customer and for a reasonable period afterwards where we may need the information in connection with our services or any potential legal claims. Accounting and financial records are kept for the period required by law. Where we no longer need personal data, we will delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to you.
Security of your data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those employees and contractors who need it for their work, using secure systems and tools, and keeping our procedures under review. While we take reasonable steps to protect your data, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
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 to all Gardeners Kingston customers in our service area and may be subject to certain conditions and legal exemptions.
Right of access. You have the right to request confirmation that we process your personal data and to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification. You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you have the right to 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 obligation to retain it.
Right to restrict processing. You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example while we verify its accuracy or where you have objected to our use of it.
Right to object. You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests as our lawful basis and you believe your interests or fundamental rights override our interests.
Right to data portability. In certain situations, you have the right to receive the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine readable format and to request that we transfer that data to another controller where this is technically feasible.
Where we rely on 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 any processing carried out before you withdrew your consent.
Exercising your rights and contacting us
If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, or if you have any questions or concerns about how Gardeners Kingston uses your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details provided on our main service information or booking materials. When you make a request, we may need to ask you for information to confirm your identity before we respond, in order to protect your privacy.
Complaints
If you are concerned about how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve your concern. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority in the United Kingdom or in the country where you live or work.
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 legal requirements. When we make changes, we will update the date of the latest version and take reasonable steps to make the updated policy available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.
