Gardeners Cudham Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Cudham collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers within our service area. It also sets out your rights under applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. By engaging with our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Cudham customers and prospective customers within our service area who interact with us, whether in person, by post, by telephone, via electronic communication, or through any other communication channel we may use from time to time.

Who we are and how we act as data controller

Gardeners Cudham is the organisation responsible for determining how and why your personal data is processed in connection with our gardening and related services. For the purposes of data protection legislation, Gardeners Cudham is the data controller of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy.

Personal data we collect

We collect and process personal data that is necessary for us to provide our services, manage our relationship with you, and operate our business. The categories of personal data we may collect include the following.

Identification and contact details such as your name, postal address, billing address, and communication preferences.

Service and property information such as details of your garden or outdoor space, access instructions, photographs you provide to us relating to your property, and records of services requested or provided.

Communication records such as correspondence and notes of conversations with you, including enquiries, quotes, bookings, feedback, and complaints.

Transaction and payment information such as records of services purchased, amounts charged, payment status, and basic payment references. We do not store full payment card details where payments are processed through third party payment providers.

Technical and usage information where relevant, such as information you provide or that is generated when you make enquiries or interact with us electronically. This may include device information, dates and times of contact, and related interaction details where they are necessary for the provision of our services or for security and record keeping.

How we collect your personal data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a quote, make a booking, ask a question, provide feedback, or otherwise communicate with us. We may also collect data when we visit your property to provide services or prepare an estimate, or when you respond to any marketing or service update communications that we send.

In some cases, we may receive information about you from third parties, for example if a friend, neighbour, landlord, or managing agent provides your details to arrange services at your property. Where appropriate, we will inform you of the source of your personal data when we first communicate with you.

Lawful bases for processing your data

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

Performance of a contract where processing is necessary to provide our gardening services to you, to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, or to manage our ongoing contract with you, including arranging appointments, issuing invoices, and handling related communications.

Compliance with legal obligations where we are required to process personal data to comply with applicable laws, such as accounting, tax, or health and safety requirements.

Legitimate interests where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests or those of a third party, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. For example, we may rely on legitimate interests to manage and improve our services, keep internal records, prevent fraud or misuse, and respond to enquiries and complaints.

Consent where we rely on your explicit agreement to process personal data for a specific purpose, such as sending you certain marketing communications where consent is required by law. You can withdraw your consent at any time, although this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

How we use your personal data

We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes.

To provide and manage gardening and related services, including arranging visits, planning work, and keeping records of services performed at your property.

To prepare and provide estimates, quotes, and invoices, and to process payments for services.

To communicate with you regarding bookings, service updates, changes to our terms, and any queries or issues you raise.

To maintain and improve our business operations, including scheduling, quality control, staff training, and customer service.

To comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including record keeping, tax reporting, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

To protect our rights, property, and safety, and the rights, property, and safety of our customers and others, including for the prevention and detection of fraud or misuse of our services.

Data processors and third party recipients

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors may include providers of payment processing services, accounting and invoicing systems, secure data storage and backup services, and information technology support services.

Where we use processors, we only engage organisations that provide sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data. We ensure that data processing agreements are in place which require processors to act only on our instructions and to keep your data secure.

We may also share limited personal data with other third parties where this is necessary, for example with professional advisers, insurers, or public authorities when required by law or to exercise or defend legal claims. We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

International transfers

Where any of our processors or service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, or store data in locations outside those regions, we will ensure that suitable safeguards are in place. These may include standard contractual clauses or other mechanisms approved by data protection authorities to ensure that your personal data is afforded a level of protection essentially equivalent to that provided under UK law.

Data retention and storage

We retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The specific retention period may vary depending on the type of data and the context in which it was provided.

For active customers, we generally retain personal data for the duration of our relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards to handle any queries regarding past work or services. For financial and transaction records, we may retain data for a longer period where required by law or regulatory guidance.

When personal data is no longer required, we will either delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with you.

How we protect your personal data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your 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 business need to know it, using secure systems and storage methods where appropriate, and reviewing our practices periodically to maintain suitable levels of security.

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 may be subject to certain conditions and legal exemptions.

Right of access You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and, if so, to receive a copy of that data and certain other information.

Right to rectification You have the right to ask us to correct personal data that is inaccurate or to complete information that is incomplete.

Right to erasure In some circumstances, you may request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.

Right to restriction of processing You may request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as while we verify the accuracy of the data or assess an objection you have raised.

Right to object You may have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests or those of a third party, as well as to processing for direct marketing purposes.

Right to data portability Where processing is based on your consent or on a contract and is carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine readable format and to request that we transmit it directly to another controller where technically feasible.

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

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.

Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, our services, or applicable laws and regulations. Any revised version will apply from the date it is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your personal data.