Gardeners Cheam Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Cheam collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Cheam customers and prospective customers in the Cheam area who contact us, request a quote, book our services, or otherwise interact with us in relation to our gardening and related services.

Who we are and scope of this policy

Gardeners Cheam is a gardening services provider operating in the Cheam area. In relation to the personal data described in this Privacy Policy, Gardeners Cheam acts as the data controller. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed, within the limits of applicable law.

This Privacy Policy covers personal data collected through any communication channels you use to contact us, such as in person, by post, or online forms, and through the delivery of our services at your property.

Personal data we collect

We collect and process personal data that is necessary to provide our services, run our business and meet our legal obligations. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, address, property location, and other contact details you provide.

Service and contract information, such as details of your gardening requirements, property access instructions where needed, service history, quotes provided, and records of agreements between you and Gardeners Cheam.

Communication records, such as details of queries, complaints, feedback, and other correspondence relating to our services and any follow up actions.

Payment and billing information, such as records of payments made to us, invoices, and billing history. We do not retain full payment card details where these are processed through a secure third party payment processor.

Technical and usage information, where relevant, such as basic information about how you reached us online, general device and browser information, and similar data generated during the use of any online tools we operate.

Photographic information, where necessary and proportionate, such as photographs of your garden or outdoor space taken to prepare quotes, record completed works, or plan ongoing maintenance.

Lawful bases for processing

We only process your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so under the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Depending on the situation, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract. We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into a contract with you or to perform a contract for gardening or related services. This includes handling enquiries, providing quotes, scheduling visits, delivering the services you have requested, and managing payments.

Legal obligation. We process certain personal data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements. This may include tax, accounting, and record keeping obligations, as well as responding to lawful requests from authorities where required.

Legitimate interests. We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests. This may include managing our relationship with customers, improving our services, handling complaints, preventing fraud, and protecting our staff and property.

Consent. In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain forms of direct marketing or where we wish to use photographs of your garden for promotional purposes. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time without affecting 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 respond to enquiries, provide quotes, and manage bookings.

To provide gardening and related services at your property, including planning work, carrying out visits, and completing projects.

To manage our relationship with you, including handling questions, feedback, and complaints.

To manage payments, invoices and accounts, and to maintain accurate records for accounting and tax purposes.

To improve and develop our services, for example by reviewing service histories and typical customer needs in the Cheam area.

To send service related communications, such as appointment reminders, updates about ongoing works, and important information about our services or terms.

To protect our legitimate interests, including the security of our staff and equipment, and to prevent or detect fraud and misuse of our services.

To send marketing communications about our services in accordance with data protection and electronic marketing laws and any preferences you may have expressed.

Data retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

In determining appropriate retention periods, we consider the nature and sensitivity of the data, the purposes for which we process it, potential risks from unauthorised use or disclosure, and legal or regulatory obligations.

Customer and service records are generally kept for the duration of our relationship with you and for a period afterwards to deal with any queries, complaints or disputes. Certain records, such as invoices and basic account information, may need to be retained for a longer period to comply with tax and accounting rules.

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

Data processors and other recipients

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors only process your data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Examples of processors we may use include:

Providers of payment processing services to handle secure card or online payments.

Providers of accounting or invoicing software used to manage our customer accounts and financial records.

Providers of customer relationship or scheduling tools used to manage bookings, reminders and communications.

IT, hosting and technical support providers who help us operate and secure our systems.

We require all processors to implement appropriate security measures to protect your personal data and to comply with applicable data protection laws.

We may also disclose personal data where required to do so by law, for example to tax authorities or law enforcement agencies, or in connection with legal proceedings. In such cases, we will only share the minimum information necessary and will ensure there is a lawful basis for the disclosure.

International transfers

Where any of our service providers or their systems are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we take steps to ensure that your personal data is given an equivalent level of protection. This may include using data transfer mechanisms recognised under data protection law, such as standard contractual clauses or relying on adequacy regulations where applicable.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have certain rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all Gardeners Cheam customers and prospective customers in the Cheam area, subject to some legal limitations and exemptions.

Right of access. You have the right to request confirmation of whether we hold personal data about you and, if so, to obtain a copy of that data and certain additional information.

Right to rectification. You have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data about you be corrected or updated.

Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you have the right to 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. You have the right in some cases to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data, for example while we investigate a concern you have raised about its accuracy.

Right to object. You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is needed for legal claims.

Right to object to marketing. You have an absolute right to object at any time to the use of your personal data for direct marketing. If you object, we will stop sending you marketing communications.

Right to data portability. In certain situations where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive the personal data you 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.

Right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority if you believe that your personal data has been processed in a way that does not comply with data protection laws.

Data security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect the personal data we hold from unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include access controls, secure storage and handling practices, and staff awareness of data protection responsibilities.

While we take reasonable steps to protect your personal data, no system can be completely secure. You should take care when sharing personal information with us and let us know promptly if you suspect any unauthorised use of your data connected with our services.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, how we process personal data, or legal and regulatory developments. Any updated version will apply to all Gardeners Cheam customers in the Cheam area from the date it is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to remain informed about how we handle your personal data.