Privacy Policy
Gardeners South Kensington Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners South Kensington collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers in the South Kensington area. It applies to all individuals who enquire about, request or receive gardening and related services from Gardeners South Kensington, whether as one-off or ongoing customers.
We are committed to handling your personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and applicable data protection laws. By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Scope and data controller
This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners South Kensington customers and prospective customers located in the South Kensington area and to any personal data we process in relation to the provision of our services. Gardeners South Kensington is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy, meaning we determine the purposes and means of processing that data.
Personal data we collect
We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing our services and running our business. The categories of personal data we may collect include:
Identification and contact details, such as your full name, postal address, property address where services are provided, and other basic contact information needed to communicate with you.
Service and booking details, such as information about your property and garden, details of requested services, booking dates and times, access instructions, and notes relevant to carrying out the work safely and effectively.
Communication records, such as correspondence relating to enquiries, quotations, bookings, changes or cancellations, feedback, and any complaints or disputes.
Billing and payment information, such as the amounts charged, payment status, and limited payment-related details necessary for invoicing and financial record keeping. We do not store full payment card details when payments are processed through secure third-party payment providers.
Technical and usage information, such as basic information generated when you visit our website or interact with our online content, including date and time of access, pages viewed and general device or browser information, to the extent needed to operate and secure our website.
How we collect personal data
We obtain personal data directly from you when you contact us, request a quotation, make a booking, or interact with us by telephone, through any online forms we may provide, or in person. We may also generate personal data in the course of providing services, for example by creating service records, visit notes and invoices.
In limited cases, we may receive information about you from third parties where it is necessary for providing our services, for example if a landlord, letting agent or property manager provides your contact details to coordinate gardening services at a property you occupy, or when a customer refers a friend or neighbour to us. In such situations we will only use that information as described in this Privacy Policy.
Lawful bases for processing
We rely on several lawful bases under the UK GDPR to process your personal data, depending on the context:
Contract: We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, including responding to enquiries, providing quotations, scheduling and delivering gardening services, communicating with you about your booking, and handling payments and invoices.
Legal obligation: We process certain information to comply with legal obligations, such as maintaining financial and tax records, responding to lawful requests from authorities, and fulfilling health and safety requirements.
Legitimate interests: We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing our relationship with you, improving our services, preventing fraud or misuse, and maintaining security of our systems and premises.
Consent: In circumstances where none of the above lawful bases apply, or where the law requires your explicit permission, we will only process your personal data on the basis of your freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time, although this will not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before withdrawal.
How we use personal data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To respond to enquiries, provide quotations and advise on suitable gardening services.
To schedule and deliver services at your property, including communicating about access, timings, and any specific requirements.
To manage our ongoing relationship with you, including updates about your bookings, changes to our terms or policies, and essential service information.
To process payments, issue invoices and receipts, and maintain accurate business and accounting records.
To monitor and improve the quality and safety of our services, including handling feedback, resolving complaints and training our staff or contractors.
To protect our business, our staff, contractors and customers, including preventing and investigating potential fraud, misuse or damage to property.
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations and to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
Data sharing and processors
We do not sell your personal data. We only share it when necessary and appropriate. Where needed, we share personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These may include:
IT and communications providers who support our email, website hosting, and data storage systems.
Payment processing and invoicing services that securely handle transactions and financial records.
Professional advisers such as accountants or legal professionals, where needed for business governance, financial compliance or legal matters.
Service partners or subcontractors, where they assist in delivering our services at your property, and only to the extent necessary to perform the agreed work.
These third parties are required to process personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure and confidential, and to comply with data protection law. We may also share limited information when required to do so by law, for example with law enforcement or regulatory authorities.
Data retention
We keep personal data only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purpose of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
In general, we retain customer and service records for a period aligned with our contractual relationship and for a reasonable time afterwards to deal with queries, disputes or potential legal claims. Financial and invoicing records are typically retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
When personal data is no longer needed, we will either securely delete or anonymise it, so that it can no longer be linked to an identifiable individual.
Security of personal data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those who have a genuine business need to know it, using secure systems for storing and transmitting data, and training individuals who handle personal data on their responsibilities.
While we take reasonable steps to safeguard your information, no system can be completely secure. If you believe that your personal data has been compromised in connection with our services, you should contact us using your usual communication channels with us.
Your data protection rights
Under the UK GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. These include:
Right of access: You can request confirmation that we process your personal data and receive a copy of the data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal obligation to retain it.
Right to restriction of processing: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in specific situations, for example while we are verifying its accuracy or assessing an objection you have raised.
Right to object: You can object to processing based on our legitimate interests in certain circumstances, on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue or need the data for legal claims.
Right to data portability: Where processing is based on consent or on a contract and carried out by automated means, you may request that we provide you with your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or that we transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before your consent was withdrawn.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority 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 any concerns directly.
Updates to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, the way we process personal data, or legal requirements. Any revised version will apply to all customers and prospective customers in the South Kensington area 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.
