Gardeners Belvedere Customer Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Belvedere collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers in our service area. It also describes your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws. By using our gardening and related services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all customers and prospective customers of Gardeners Belvedere within our service area, including individuals who contact us to request a quote, make a booking, or otherwise enquire about our services. It covers personal data collected through any communication method such as in person contact, post, online forms, and other electronic means.

Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing and managing our gardening services. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details such as name, postal address, service address, and general location information related to your property.

Communication details such as your preferred contact methods and records of communications you send to us and that we send to you.

Service-related information including details about your garden or outdoor space, access instructions, service preferences, job history, and any photographs taken to document work done or required.

Billing and payment details such as information needed to issue invoices and record payments. We do not store full card details if you pay using a card processor; these are handled directly by the payment service provider.

Technical and usage information where applicable, such as basic information about how you interact with any online forms we may use, limited to what is necessary for security and service delivery.

We do not intentionally collect special category data such as health, religious, or biometric data. If you voluntarily provide such information, for example in relation to accessibility needs or safety considerations at your property, we will treat it with additional care and only use it for the specific relevant purpose.

How We Collect Personal Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a quote, book a service, ask a question, or provide feedback. We may also collect data when we visit your property to assess or provide services, including notes or photographs relating to the work.

In some cases we may receive personal data about you from third parties where this is lawful, for example if another household member or property manager provides your details to arrange services on your behalf.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only when we have a lawful basis under data protection law. The main lawful bases we rely on are:

Contract: We process your personal data where it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, or to perform a contract for gardening or related services with you. This includes handling bookings, providing quotes, delivering services, and managing payments.

Legitimate interests: We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights. This can include managing our relationship with you, improving our services, maintaining records of work completed, safeguarding our staff and property, and pursuing or defending legal claims.

Legal obligation: We may process personal data where it is necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including record-keeping, tax, and accounting obligations.

Consent: In limited situations we may rely on your consent, for example if we wish to send you certain types of marketing communications that are not covered by legitimate interests. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

How We Use Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide, manage, and complete gardening and related services at your property, including scheduling visits, planning work, and confirming job details.

To prepare and issue quotes, invoices, and payment confirmations, and to administer any refunds or adjustments.

To communicate with you about services, including responding to enquiries, confirming bookings, notifying you of any changes, and dealing with complaints or feedback.

To maintain accurate internal records of customers, service history, and completed work.

To manage our business operations, including staff deployment, health and safety, training, and quality monitoring.

To comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from regulatory or enforcement authorities where required.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We only share it where necessary and lawful, as described in this section.

We may share personal data with third party service providers acting as data processors who assist us in running our business, for example providers of payment processing, accounting or bookkeeping services, secure data storage or document management, and information technology support. These processors are only permitted to process personal data on our documented instructions and are required to maintain appropriate security and confidentiality measures.

We may also share personal data with professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where this is necessary to obtain professional services, to protect our rights, or to manage disputes.

In certain circumstances we may share personal data with law enforcement or other public authorities where we are required to do so by law, or where this is necessary to prevent or investigate fraud, crime, or safety incidents.

Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The exact retention period may vary depending on the type of data and the context in which it was collected.

Customer and service records, including basic contact details, job history, and invoices, are typically retained for a period that allows us to manage our relationship with you, handle any queries or disputes, and comply with tax and accounting rules. After these periods expire, data is securely deleted or anonymised so that it can no longer identify you.

Where we have relied on your consent for a particular use of your data, we will generally stop processing that data for the consented purpose if you withdraw consent or if we determine that the data is no longer needed, subject to any legal obligations to retain it.

Data Security

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 business need to know it, using secure storage methods, and providing guidance to staff and contractors on handling personal data responsibly.

While we take reasonable steps to safeguard personal data, no system can be completely secure. If we become aware of a data breach that may pose a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will take steps to investigate and, where legally required, notify you and the relevant supervisory authority.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These include:

The right to be informed about how your personal data is collected and used, which this Privacy Policy is intended to address.

The right of access to obtain confirmation that we process your personal data and to receive a copy of that data, subject to certain legal exemptions.

The right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete personal data that we hold about you.

The right to erasure in certain circumstances, for example where the data is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected, or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.

The right to restrict processing in specific situations, such as where you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our legitimate interests.

The right to data portability, allowing you in some cases to receive personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used format and to transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

The right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests or for direct marketing. Where you object to direct marketing, we will stop processing your data for that purpose.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority if you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so we can attempt to resolve your concerns.

International Transfers

Our primary processing activities are carried out within the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area. If we ever need to transfer personal data to a country outside these areas that does not provide an equivalent level of data protection, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place as required by data protection law.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data protection practices. Any changes will take effect when the updated version is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle personal data.