Privacy Policy - Gardeners Barking

Gardeners Barking is committed to protecting personal data and respecting privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information when providing gardening services. It applies to all Gardeners Barking customers in the area, including individuals, households, landlords, businesses, and property managers who use our services.

We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is designed to be clear, fair, and transparent so that customers understand what happens to their information and what rights they have.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the information needed to provide and manage our gardening services. Depending on the service requested, this may include the following categories of personal data:

Identity information: name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact information: address, email address, telephone number, and service location.
Service details: booking preferences, job instructions, garden access notes, and records of completed work.
Payment information: billing records, transaction references, and payment status. We do not intentionally store full payment card details where a secure payment provider is used.
Communication records: messages, enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence.
Technical information: limited information collected through devices or systems used to manage appointments, such as log data and security records.

We may also receive information from third parties where necessary, such as property managers, tenants, suppliers, or payment providers. In such cases, we use the data only for the purpose for which it was provided.

2. How We Use Personal Data

Gardeners Barking uses personal information to deliver services efficiently and to maintain accurate business records. Common uses include:

responding to enquiries and preparing quotations;
booking and managing appointments;
carrying out gardening work at the correct property;
issuing invoices and managing payments;
keeping records of work completed;
handling complaints, queries, or service issues;
maintaining internal administration and business reporting;
meeting legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations;
protecting our staff, customers, property, and systems from fraud or misuse.

We only process information where there is a valid reason to do so. We do not sell personal data and we do not use customer information for unrelated purposes without a lawful basis.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, every use of personal data must be supported by a lawful basis. Gardeners Barking relies on the following lawful bases:

Performance of a contract

We process personal data where it is needed to provide a service requested by the customer, such as booking work, completing gardening tasks, or managing invoices.

Legitimate interests

We may process data to run and improve our business, manage customer relationships, prevent fraud, maintain security, and keep service records. When we rely on legitimate interests, we consider whether our use of the data is necessary and whether it affects the rights and freedoms of the individual.

Legal obligation

We may retain and use personal data where required to comply with tax law, accounting rules, regulatory duties, or lawful requests from authorities.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on consent, for example for optional communications or specific uses of information not covered by other lawful bases. Where consent is used, it can be withdrawn at any time.

Important: We do not rely on consent where another lawful basis is more appropriate. This ensures processing remains necessary, proportionate, and transparent.

4. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as it is needed for the purposes described in this policy. Retention periods depend on the type of information and why it was collected.

Customer and service records: kept for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and accounting records: retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Communication records: kept as long as necessary to handle enquiries, disputes, or follow-up service issues.
Security and technical records: kept for short periods unless needed for investigation or legal purposes.

When information is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify an individual. We regularly review records to ensure they are not kept longer than necessary.

5. Sharing Data and Processors

Gardeners Barking may share personal data with trusted third-party service providers who act as processors on our behalf. These processors only handle data under our instructions and must protect it appropriately.

Examples of processors may include:

booking and scheduling software providers;
payment processing services;
accounting or bookkeeping systems;
email, messaging, and document storage providers;
IT support and security service providers;
professional advisers such as accountants or insurers, where necessary.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, to prevent fraud, to protect legal rights, or in connection with a business transfer or restructuring. Where data is shared, we take steps to ensure it is handled securely and only for legitimate purposes.

We do not transfer personal data outside the UK or EEA unless appropriate safeguards are in place and the transfer complies with data protection law.

6. Security of Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, password protection, and restricted permissions.

While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection that is suitable to the nature of the information we hold. If a personal data breach occurs and poses a risk to individuals, we will respond in line with legal obligations.

7. User Rights

Individuals whose data we process have important rights under the UK GDPR. These rights may apply in full or in part depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing.

Right of access: you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure: you may ask us to delete personal data in certain situations.
Right to restriction: you may request that we limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: you may request that certain data be provided in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

We may need to verify identity before responding to a rights request. Some rights may be limited where we must keep data for legal, contractual, or legitimate business reasons.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a property visit or service arrangement and only where appropriate. If we become aware that data has been collected incorrectly, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, business operations, or data handling practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how personal data is used.

10. Summary of Our Privacy Commitments

Gardeners Barking only collects data needed to provide gardening services, uses it for clear and lawful purposes, keeps it only as long as necessary, and shares it only with carefully selected processors or where required by law. We respect individual rights and aim to handle all personal information with care, fairness, and accountability.

By using Gardeners Barking services in the area, customers acknowledge that their personal data may be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.