Gardeners Gospel Oak Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Gospel Oak collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data. It also explains your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, known as GDPR, and how you can exercise them. This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Gospel Oak customers and prospective customers in the Gospel Oak area who use our gardening services or otherwise interact with us.

Who this Privacy Policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to individuals in the Gospel Oak area who are private householders, tenants, landlords, property managers, or representatives of local businesses who contact Gardeners Gospel Oak, request a quote, enter into a contract for services, or otherwise communicate with us in relation to our gardening services.

What personal data we collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. The types of data we may collect include the following.

Identity and contact details such as name, postal address, service address, billing address, and general location within the Gospel Oak area.

Communication details such as the content of enquiries, messages, feedback, and any notes we make when we speak with you about your garden or the services you require.

Service and contract information such as details of the gardening services requested, schedules and appointments, access instructions for the property, before and after notes relating to work carried out, and records of quotes and invoices.

Payment related information such as records of payments received, payment method used, and payment status. We do not store full card details if you use card payment services managed by third party payment processors.

Technical and usage information such as basic information about how you interact with any online forms or digital tools we may provide, limited to what is necessary to deliver those tools securely and efficiently.

How we collect your personal data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request information, ask for a quote, book a visit, or enter into a contract for gardening services. This may be done in person, over the phone, or through online messages and forms.

We may also create or generate personal data about you in the course of providing our services, such as notes about your service preferences, records of work carried out at your property, and internal records of our communications.

On occasion, we may receive limited personal data from third parties, such as when a landlord, letting agent, or property manager provides your details to arrange gardening services at a property you occupy, or when an existing customer recommends you to us and you then confirm that you wish to proceed.

Lawful bases for processing your data

Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. Gardeners Gospel Oak relies on the following lawful bases.

Contract. We process your data where it is necessary to enter into a contract with you or to perform a contract for gardening services. This includes taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, such as providing quotes and visiting your property to assess the work.

Legal obligation. We process your data where it is necessary to comply with legal obligations, such as maintaining accounting records and complying with tax law.

Legitimate interests. We process your data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. Our legitimate interests include managing our business, planning and improving our services, handling customer queries and complaints, and ensuring the security of our operations.

Consent. In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example if we wish to send you certain types of optional marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes.

To respond to enquiries, provide quotes, and communicate with you about requested services.

To plan and deliver gardening services at your property in the Gospel Oak area, including scheduling visits and managing our work on site.

To issue invoices, process payments, maintain business and financial records, and comply with accounting and tax requirements.

To manage our relationship with you, including handling feedback, resolving complaints, and updating you on any significant changes to our services or terms.

To improve and develop our services, for example by analysing patterns in the types of work requested or the time required to complete certain jobs, provided that any analysis is carried out in a way that respects your privacy.

To protect our business, staff, and customers, for example by keeping records of property access arrangements and past visits.

Sharing your personal data and use of processors

Gardeners Gospel Oak does not sell your personal data. We only share your information where it is necessary and lawful to do so.

We may share personal data with carefully selected service providers who act as data processors on our behalf. These may include payment processing providers, accounting and bookkeeping services, and providers of digital tools that help us manage appointments or store records securely.

Where we use processors, we ensure that there is a written contract in place requiring them to process your personal data only in accordance with our instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with applicable data protection laws. We only engage processors that can demonstrate appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data.

We may also need to share personal data where required by law, for example with tax authorities or law enforcement agencies, or where it is necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Data retention and storage

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, and to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Service and contract records, including quotes, invoices, and details of work carried out, are generally retained for a period that aligns with legal limitation periods and tax record keeping requirements. This is typically up to seven years from the end of the relevant financial year, unless a longer retention period is required for legal reasons.

Routine enquiry records where no contract is formed are retained for a shorter period, which may be up to two years, to allow us to answer follow up enquiries and manage our business records, after which they are securely deleted or anonymised.

Where we rely on your consent for specific forms of communication, any related data will be retained until you withdraw your consent or until it is no longer needed, whichever is sooner, subject to any overriding legal obligations.

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access.

Your data protection rights

As a data subject under GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data that we hold about you. Your rights include the following, subject to certain conditions and exemptions.

The right of access. You have the right to request confirmation that we process your personal data and to obtain a copy of that data, along with information about how we use it.

The right to rectification. You have the right to ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

The right to erasure. In some circumstances, you have the right to request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or where you withdraw consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.

The right to restriction of processing. In certain cases, you may request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, for example while we verify the accuracy of the data or consider an objection you have raised.

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

The right to object. You have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will stop processing your data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds to continue that outweigh your interests, rights, and freedoms, or where processing is required for legal claims.

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

Exercising your rights and contacting us

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have questions about how Gardeners Gospel Oak handles your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details made available to you when you engage our services or through our usual communication channels. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. We aim to respond without undue delay and within the time limits set by GDPR.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, changes in the law, or improvements in how we manage privacy and data protection. Any updated version will apply to all Gardeners Gospel Oak customers in the Gospel Oak area from the date it is published. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your personal data.