Privacy Policy - Gardeners Dartmouth Park

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Dartmouth Park collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to its customers and prospective customers in the Dartmouth Park area. It applies to all Gardeners Dartmouth Park customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about services, receive quotations, book appointments, or otherwise interact with our gardening services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, transparent, and secure manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

By engaging with our services, you acknowledge that your information may be processed as described in this policy. We only collect and use personal data where it is necessary for providing our services, managing our business, meeting legal obligations, and improving the customer experience. We do not sell personal data, and we do not use information in ways that are incompatible with the purposes set out below.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect personal data directly from you, from your use of our services, and in some cases from third parties where appropriate and lawful. The information we collect may include:

Identity details such as your name, title, and any preferred form of address.
Contact details such as phone number, email address, and service address.
Service information including details of the gardening work requested, property access information, preferred visit times, and service history.
Billing and payment information such as invoice records, payment status, and transaction references. We do not intentionally retain full card details where payment is processed securely by a third-party payment provider.
Communication records including emails, text messages, notes of calls, and messages sent through service channels.
Operational data such as scheduling details, appointment changes, complaint records, and feedback.
Technical data if you interact with digital systems, such as basic device, browser, or usage information used for security and functionality.

We aim to collect only the information that is necessary and proportionate. Where possible, we keep personal data up to date, relevant, and limited to the purpose for which it was gathered.

2. How We Use Personal Data

Gardeners Dartmouth Park uses personal data for several business and service purposes, including:

Providing quotations, bookings, and gardening services.
Managing customer accounts, records, and service histories.
Communicating about appointments, changes, access arrangements, and service delivery.
Processing payments, issuing invoices, and maintaining financial records.
Responding to queries, complaints, and requests for support.
Improving our services, planning resources, and monitoring quality.
Meeting legal, accounting, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
Protecting against fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access.

We only use data where the purpose is clear and where the use is compatible with the basis on which the data was collected. We do not use personal information for unrelated marketing purposes without an appropriate lawful basis and, where required, your consent.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, Gardeners Dartmouth Park must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. Depending on the context, we rely on one or more of the following bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking enquiries, preparing quotations, scheduling work, delivering services, managing bookings, and handling payment-related tasks.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain records where required by law, such as tax records, accounting information, or documentation needed to comply with lawful requests and regulatory responsibilities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This can include customer administration, service improvement, record keeping, business security, and the prevention of fraud or misuse. We always assess whether such processing is proportionate and necessary.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where explicit permission is needed for a particular type of communication or optional data use. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Vital Interests

Although uncommon in our services, we may process information if necessary to protect someone’s life or physical safety.

4. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to meet legal, accounting, and service-related requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data, the reason it was collected, and any legal obligation that applies.

In general:

Customer service records are kept for a reasonable period after the service ends so that we can manage follow-up queries, service history, or disputes.
Financial and invoicing records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Communication records may be kept for a shorter or longer period depending on their relevance to ongoing service, contractual obligations, or complaint handling.
Security and technical records are retained only as long as needed for operational safety and system integrity.

When data is no longer needed, we will either delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. We do not keep personal data indefinitely, and we periodically review what we hold to ensure it remains necessary.

5. Processors and Sharing of Data

We may share personal data with trusted processors and service providers who help us operate our business and deliver services. These parties process data only on our instructions and are required to protect it appropriately. Examples may include:

Payment service providers that handle secure transaction processing.
IT and hosting providers that support secure data storage, email, and operational systems.
Administrative software providers used for scheduling, invoicing, record management, or customer communications.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary for business administration and compliance.
Waste, recycling, or specialist service partners where subcontracted support is needed to complete a job.

We may also disclose information to public authorities, regulators, law enforcement, or courts where required by law or where necessary to protect our rights, customers, or the public. Any transfer of data is carried out with appropriate safeguards. If data is transferred outside the UK, we take steps to ensure suitable legal protection is in place.

6. Security of Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, destruction, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or unlawful access. These measures may include restricted access, secure storage, staff awareness, and controlled retention practices. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we continually review our safeguards to reduce risk and handle information responsibly.

We also expect any processors we use to maintain security standards that are suitable for the nature of the information they handle.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing:

Right of access – you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – you may request deletion of your data in certain situations.
Right to restriction – you may ask us to limit how we use your data in specific cases.
Right to object – you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – you may request transfer of certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has been mishandled. We encourage you to raise concerns promptly so that we can address them fairly and efficiently.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are generally directed to adult customers and property holders or occupiers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary for a specific service arrangement and is provided by an appropriate adult or legal guardian. If we become aware that we have collected information from a child inappropriately, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data protection practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers to review the policy periodically so that they remain informed about how their information is handled.

Gardeners Dartmouth Park is committed to respecting privacy and handling personal information with care. We process data only where we have a lawful basis, keep it only for as long as needed, use trusted processors under suitable safeguards, and uphold your rights under data protection law. Our approach is designed to ensure that customers in the Dartmouth Park area can use our services with confidence and transparency.