Privacy Policy

Gardeners Brent Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Brent collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers. It applies to all Gardeners Brent customers in our service area and to anyone who contacts us about our gardening services, whether by phone, in person, through our website, or by any other means.

We are committed to complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. We handle personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently, and we only collect data that is necessary for clear and specific purposes.

Who this Privacy Policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to all individuals in our service area who:

1. Use or have used Gardeners Brent gardening or related services.

2. Have made an enquiry or requested a quotation.

3. Visit our website or interact with us on digital platforms we manage.

4. Receive communications or marketing from us.

If you provide personal data to us about another individual, you are responsible for ensuring that the individual is aware of this Privacy Policy and that you have the authority to share their information.

Personal data we collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

1. Identity and contact details, such as name, postal address, service address, and general contact details.

2. Service information, such as details about your property or garden, photographs you share for quotation purposes, service history, and preferences about how and when we deliver our services.

3. Communication data, including records of communications you send to us or that we send to you, such as enquiries, feedback, or complaints.

4. Transaction and payment information, such as records of services provided, amounts charged, payment status, and basic invoicing information. We do not store full payment card details; where card payments are used, these are processed securely by third-party payment providers.

5. Technical and usage data, where applicable, such as information about how you use our website, including approximate location, device type and pages viewed. This may be collected through cookies or similar technologies, subject to your cookie preferences.

How we collect personal data

We collect personal data in several ways:

1. Directly from you when you contact us, request a quotation, book a service, or communicate with us in any way.

2. During the provision of services when we visit your property, assess your garden, or follow up about ongoing work.

3. From publicly available sources and third-party platforms, where you have made your information public or contacted us via those platforms.

4. Automatically through our website via cookies or similar technologies, where permitted by law and your browser settings.

Lawful basis for processing

We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis under the GDPR. The main lawful bases we rely on are:

1. Performance of a contract: We process your personal data to provide you with gardening services, to prepare quotations, to schedule and carry out work, to manage payments, and to communicate with you about your services.

2. Legal obligations: We may process and retain certain information to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as tax, accounting and record-keeping requirements.

3. Legitimate interests: We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your rights and freedoms are not overridden. This includes improving our services, managing our relationship with you, handling enquiries, and protecting our business against fraud or misuse.

4. Consent: In situations where none of the above bases apply, and where required by law (for example, certain types of direct marketing communications), we will seek your consent. You can withdraw consent at any time by contacting us using the details set out in this Privacy Policy or by following any unsubscribe instructions contained in our communications.

How we use your personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

1. To respond to enquiries, provide quotations and set up new customer accounts.

2. To schedule, manage and deliver gardening and related services at your property.

3. To manage billing, process payments and maintain accurate financial records.

4. To communicate with you about appointments, changes to services, updates to this Privacy Policy or our terms, and service-related information.

5. To improve our services, including monitoring quality, managing feedback and handling complaints.

6. To send you information about services that may be of interest to you, where permitted by law and in line with your communication preferences.

7. To protect our business, our staff and our customers, including fraud prevention, security, and the exercise or defence of legal claims.

Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

Retention periods depend on the type of data and the context in which it was collected, but generally we apply the following criteria:

1. Customer and service records: We typically keep customer records and service history for as long as you remain a customer and for a period after the last service to respond to any follow-up queries, legal claims or tax and accounting requirements.

2. Financial and transaction data: We retain financial records for the minimum period required by law for tax and accounting purposes.

3. Enquiries and communications: We may retain enquiry records and related communications for a reasonable period to manage our relationship with you and to understand the history of your interactions with us.

4. Marketing preferences: We retain records of your marketing preferences for as long as necessary to comply with your choices and any applicable legal requirements.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so it can no longer be linked to an identifiable individual.

Data processors and third parties

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to process your personal data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. They must implement appropriate security measures to protect your data.

Examples of such processors include:

1. Payment service providers who process payments made for our services.

2. Accounting or bookkeeping providers who assist us in maintaining our financial records.

3. IT and hosting service providers who support our website, email and data storage systems.

4. Communication service providers that help us manage customer communication and appointment reminders.

Where required by law, we may also share personal data with public authorities, regulators, law enforcement or legal advisers, for example where we need to comply with a legal obligation or to protect our legal rights.

We do not sell your personal data.

International transfers

If we transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data, such as using countries that have been recognised as providing an adequate level of protection or implementing standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities.

Security of your personal data

We take the security of your personal data seriously. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures are kept under review and may include access controls, secure storage and staff training on data protection responsibilities.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to certain conditions and exemptions, these include the right to:

1. Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how it is processed.

2. Rectification: Ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

3. Erasure: Request that we delete your personal data where there is no good reason for us to continue processing it, sometimes known as the right to be forgotten.

4. Restriction: Ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.

5. Data portability: Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party, where technically feasible and where the processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.

6. Objection: Object to our processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests, including for direct marketing purposes.

7. Withdraw consent: Where we process your data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before withdrawal.

To exercise any of your rights, or if you have questions or concerns about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details provided in our customer documentation or on our website. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection supervisory authority if you are unhappy with how we have used your data. We would, however, welcome the opportunity to address your concerns before you contact the authority, so please contact us first where possible.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or for other operational reasons. Any updates will apply from the date they are published. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.