Privacy Policy - Bromley Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Bromley Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Bromley Carpet Cleaners customers in the Bromley area, including prospective customers, existing customers, and anyone who contacts us for carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, stain removal, or related services.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, Bromley Carpet Cleaners is the data controller in relation to the personal data described in this policy. This means we decide why and how your personal data is processed.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing our services, managing customer relationships, meeting legal obligations, and improving service quality. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name;
Contact details such as your phone number, email address, and service address;
Service information such as booking details, cleaning instructions, property access notes, and service preferences;
Payment information such as billing records, transaction references, and payment status;
Communication records including emails, messages, call notes, and complaint details;
Technical data if you interact with our digital systems, such as IP address, device type, browser type, and basic usage information;
Marketing preferences where you choose to receive or refuse updates and offers;
Special instructions relating to stains, allergies, pets, access issues, or household requirements that may be relevant to delivering a safe service.

We do not intentionally collect more data than is needed. We also do not seek to collect special category data unless it is clearly necessary and provided by you for a legitimate reason, such as an accessibility requirement or a safety issue. Where such information is shared, we treat it with additional care and confidentiality.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect data in the following ways:

Directly from you when you request a quotation, make a booking, or communicate with us;
From third parties acting on your behalf, such as property managers or household representatives;
Automatically through the systems we use to manage services, payments, and records;
From service providers that help us process bookings, payments, or communications.

4. Why We Use Your Data

We use personal data only for lawful and legitimate purposes. These include:

Providing carpet cleaning and related services;
Managing bookings, quotations, and appointments;
Processing payments and issuing invoices or receipts;
Responding to customer enquiries and complaints;
Keeping internal service records;
Meeting tax, accounting, insurance, and legal obligations;
Improving our service delivery, training, and customer experience;
Sending marketing messages where permitted and where you have not opted out;
Protecting our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or abuse.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each type of processing. We rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. For example, we need your name, address, and contact details to deliver the service you requested, arrange access, and confirm the booking.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information to comply with legal requirements, such as accounting, tax, audit, fraud prevention, or record-keeping rules.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, improving services, maintaining business records, and protecting our operations. When we rely on legitimate interests, we assess the impact on your privacy and only use the data in ways that are reasonable and proportionate.

Consent

Where required by law, we will ask for your consent, particularly for certain marketing communications. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect processing already carried out before consent was withdrawn.

6. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with carefully selected third parties, known as processors, who help us run our business. These processors only act on our instructions and must protect your information. They may include:

Payment service providers for secure payment handling;
Booking and administrative software providers used to manage service appointments and records;
Email and communication providers used to send service-related messages;
IT support and cloud storage providers that help secure and maintain our systems;
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where needed;
Public authorities where we are required to do so by law or to protect our legal rights.

We do not sell personal data. We do not share it for unrelated commercial exploitation. Where a processor handles data on our behalf, we ensure that appropriate contractual and technical safeguards are in place.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. The retention period may vary depending on the type of information and the reason we hold it.

Customer and booking records are generally kept for a reasonable period after the service is completed in case follow-up, complaint handling, or warranty-related issues arise;
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law;
Communication records may be kept for a limited period to manage customer care and resolve disputes;
Marketing preferences are kept until you change your preferences or ask us to stop sending updates.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. We review retention periodically to make sure we do not keep information for longer than necessary.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality expectations, and reasonable system safeguards. Although no method of transmission or storage is completely risk-free, we work to reduce the likelihood and impact of any security incident.

9. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK GDPR, you have certain rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and any legal exemptions. Your rights include:

Right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
Right to rectification – to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
Right to erasure – to ask us to delete your data where there is no valid reason for keeping it;
Right to restrict processing – to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances;
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format;
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you make a rights request, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to deal with requests within the required legal timeframe.

10. Marketing Preferences

We may send occasional service updates or promotional messages where permitted by law. You may opt out of marketing at any time. If you choose to opt out, we will stop sending marketing communications but may still contact you about bookings, service updates, legal notices, or matters directly connected to a service you have requested.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults responsible for arranging cleaning services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children as a primary purpose. If any information relating to a child is shared incidentally, we will only use it where necessary for service delivery or safety and in accordance with applicable law.

12. International Transfers

Where a processor or system supplier stores or accesses data outside the UK, we take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. This may include standard contractual protections or equivalent legal mechanisms designed to protect your information.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, technology, or our business practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

14. Summary of Our Commitment

Bromley Carpet Cleaners is committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We only collect information that is relevant to delivering our services, we use it for clear and legitimate purposes, we retain it only as long as necessary, and we protect it with appropriate safeguards. We also respect your rights and aim to make data protection straightforward, responsible, and consistent with UK GDPR requirements.

Last updated: June 2026