Gardeners Bellingham Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Bellingham collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers in our service area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and other applicable data protection laws. This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Bellingham customers in the local area who use our gardening, maintenance, or related services, whether contacting us online, by post, or in person.

Who We Are and Scope of This Policy

Gardeners Bellingham is a gardening services provider operating in the Bellingham area. For the purposes of data protection law, Gardeners Bellingham is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed. This Privacy Policy applies to all customers and prospective customers located in our service area who interact with us in connection with our services. By engaging with Gardeners Bellingham, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Types of Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process only the personal data that is necessary to provide our services and run our business. The categories of data we may collect include identification and contact details such as your name, postal address, and any other basic contact information you choose to provide when you contact us about our services or make a booking. We also collect service information such as details about your garden or property that are relevant to the requested services, including visit dates, service history, and any preferences you tell us about how you want the work carried out.

In addition, we may collect communication records such as notes relating to enquiries, quotes, bookings, and feedback, including records of conversations where we need them to manage our relationship with you. We may also hold billing and payment records such as details of services provided, amounts charged, and payment status. We do not store full payment card details. Technical data may also be collected when you visit our website or contact us through online forms, including basic device or browser information and how you use our site, to help us improve our services. We do not intentionally collect special category data such as health information unless you choose to share it because it is relevant to how we provide our services, for example if you have accessibility needs. If you do share such information, we will handle it with extra care and only use it where strictly necessary.

How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a quote, make a booking, or ask a question about our services, and when you engage us to provide gardening or related services at your property. We may also collect data when you communicate with us during or after the provision of our services, such as providing feedback or requesting further work. In some cases, we may receive data about you from third parties where you have asked them to pass your details to us so we can contact you about our services. In all cases, we only collect data that is relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Lawful Basis for Processing Your Data

We process your personal data only when we have a lawful basis under data protection law. The main lawful bases we rely on are performance of a contract, legitimate interests, consent, and compliance with legal obligations. We use performance of a contract when we need to process your data to provide our services, respond to your enquiries, prepare quotes, manage appointments, and fulfil our agreement with you. We rely on legitimate interests for activities such as managing our day to day business operations, improving our services, and communicating with you about existing services where our interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.

We rely on consent where you have clearly agreed to a specific use of your data, for example, if you ask us to keep your details on file for future services or if you specifically opt in to receive certain communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. We also process personal data to comply with legal obligations, such as maintaining appropriate business and accounting records or responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data to provide and manage our gardening services, including arranging visits, preparing and sending quotes, delivering services at your property, and managing payments. We also use your data to communicate with you about appointments, changes to services, follow up work, and any questions you may have. In addition, personal data is used to manage our customer records and service history so that we can understand your preferences and provide a consistent service over time.

We may use aggregated or anonymised information to help improve our services, understand demand, and maintain the quality and safety of our operations. Where you have given consent or where we have a legitimate interest, we may contact you with information about services that are relevant to you, but we will always respect your preferences and any requests to opt out of such communications.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purpose of meeting any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. In general, we keep customer and service records for a reasonable period after the end of our relationship with you so that we can respond to queries, resolve disputes, or provide further services if requested. After this period, data will either be securely deleted or irreversibly anonymised so that it can no longer be linked back to you.

The precise retention period may vary depending on the nature of the data and our legal obligations. For example, financial records may be retained for a longer period to comply with applicable tax and accounting rules, while routine communications may be kept for a shorter period unless they are needed for an ongoing matter.

Data Processors and Third Parties

We may use trusted third party service providers, known as data processors, to help us deliver our services and run our business. These processors may provide services such as data storage, scheduling, or business administration tools. When we use processors, we ensure that they only process your personal data on our documented instructions and that they provide appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data in line with data protection law.

We do not sell your personal data. We will only share your personal data with third parties where it is necessary to provide our services, comply with the law, or protect our legitimate interests as a business, and always in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your rights.

Security of Your Personal Data

We take the security of your personal data seriously and use reasonable and proportionate technical and organisational measures to protect it against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those staff and processors who need it to perform their duties, and taking care when storing, transmitting, or disposing of information. While no system can be completely secure, we regularly review our practices to reduce the risk of unauthorised access or misuse.

Your Data Protection Rights

As a customer in our service area, you have certain rights under data protection law in relation to your personal data. These include the right to access your personal data and obtain a copy of the information we hold about you, subject to certain legal limitations. You also have the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data and to request the deletion of your personal data where there is no good reason for us to continue processing it, subject to our legal obligations and legitimate interests.

You have the right to object to certain types of processing, including where we rely on legitimate interests, and to request restriction of processing in certain circumstances. Where we rely on your consent to process your data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. You also have the right to request that your data be provided to you or another organisation in a structured, commonly used, and machine readable format where applicable. You are entitled to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, changes in the law, or improvements in how we handle personal data. When we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to inform you, where appropriate. The most current version of this Privacy Policy will always apply to the personal data we hold about you.