Gardeners Millbank Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Millbank collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to its customers and prospective customers. It is intended to provide clear information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and relevant data protection laws.

This policy applies to all Gardeners Millbank customers in the area, including individuals, households and businesses that use or enquire about our gardening and related services.

Who we are and scope of this policy

Gardeners Millbank is a gardening services business providing maintenance, landscaping and related services to customers in the local area. For the purposes of data protection law, Gardeners Millbank is the data controller in respect of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy covers personal data we collect in the course of providing our services, responding to enquiries, managing our customer relationships and running our business operations.

Personal data we collect

We may collect and process the following types of personal data about you when you contact us, request a quote, enter into a contract with us, use our services or otherwise interact with Gardeners Millbank:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, postal address, billing address, property address, and other similar contact details you provide to us.

Communication details and records, such as information you provide in emails, letters, messages, or during phone calls and conversations with us about your garden, property and service requirements.

Service and contract information, such as details of the services you request or receive, the size and type of your garden or outdoor space, visit schedules, quotes, contracts, invoices and payment records.

Payment and transaction information, such as records of payments received, payment method details that you choose to share with us and related accounting information, to the extent necessary for billing and financial administration. We do not store full payment card details where third party payment processors are used.

Technical and usage information, where applicable, such as basic technical data provided by your browser if you visit our website or communicate with us online. This may include device type, approximate location, and information about how you interact with our website or online content.

Preference information, such as your preferred contact method and time, your preferences for particular services, products or schedules, and any other preferences you choose to share with us.

How we collect your data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, in person, by post or through online forms, and when you use our services. We may also receive personal data from third parties where you have authorised this or where it is necessary to provide our services, for example from contractors we work with who assist with providing gardening or maintenance services at your property.

Lawful bases for processing your data

We only process your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so under applicable data protection law. Depending on the specific situation, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract. We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as to provide gardening services, respond to your service requests, issue quotes, invoices and manage your account.

Legal obligation. We process certain information where it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, for example record-keeping for tax and accounting purposes or responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate interests. We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, and where these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This can include managing our customer relationships, improving our services, scheduling visits, ensuring the security of our staff and customers, and defending legal claims.

Consent. In some cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where we send certain types of marketing communications or retain information beyond usual retention periods at your request. Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To communicate with you, respond to your enquiries, provide quotes and arrange site visits or consultations.

To provide, manage and deliver gardening and related services, including scheduling work, accessing your property where agreed, maintaining records of services provided and managing any ongoing service arrangements.

To administer our business relationship with you, including maintaining customer records, preparing and sending invoices, processing payments, dealing with queries or complaints and updating your preferences.

To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, including record-keeping, tax and accounting requirements and responding to lawful requests from relevant authorities.

To improve our services and operations, including planning our workload, allocating staff, monitoring service quality and developing new or improved services.

To send necessary service updates and information about changes to our terms, services or policies that may affect you.

Data sharing and processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with third parties in the following limited circumstances:

Service providers and processors who act on our behalf, such as IT and cloud service providers, payment processors, accountants or administrative support services, where they need the data to perform their services for us. These providers are required to use your personal data only as instructed by Gardeners Millbank and to keep it secure.

Professional advisers, such as accountants, legal advisers and insurers, where this is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or in connection with our legitimate business needs.

Public authorities or law enforcement agencies, where we are required by law to disclose personal data, or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.

Other third parties, where you have specifically requested or consented to such sharing, or where it is necessary for the performance of our contract with you.

International transfers

Where we use service providers located outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, or where data may be stored or accessed from outside these regions, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data in line with data protection laws. Such safeguards may include adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities.

Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, to comply with legal, accounting or reporting requirements, and to resolve disputes or enforce our agreements.

In general, customer and service records will be retained for as long as you remain a customer and for a reasonable period thereafter, typically up to six years after our last interaction, to comply with legal obligations and for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. In some cases, different retention periods may apply, for example where the law requires longer retention or where shorter retention is appropriate.

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

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have certain rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all Gardeners Millbank customers in the area, subject to legal limitations and exemptions. Your rights include:

Right of access. You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of your personal data, together with other information about how we use it.

Right to rectification. You can ask us to correct or complete personal data that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.

Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the original purpose or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.

Right to restriction of processing. You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as where you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our use of it.

Right to object. You can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests, including any direct marketing activities. We will stop processing your data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms or where processing is required for legal claims.

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

Right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Security of your personal data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction. These measures include restricting access to personal data to those employees, contractors and service providers who need it for the purposes described in this policy and requiring them to keep it secure and confidential.

Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations or data protection best practices. Any changes will take effect when the updated policy is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we process your personal data.