Gardeners Friern Barnet Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Friern Barnet collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers in the Friern Barnet area. It is intended to provide clear information about our data practices and your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Friern Barnet customers and prospective customers in the Friern Barnet area.

Who this Privacy Policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to individuals in the Friern Barnet area who contact Gardeners Friern Barnet, request a quotation, book gardening services, enter into a contract with us, or otherwise interact with us in relation to our gardening services. It covers data collected directly from you and data we may receive indirectly through third party service providers acting on our behalf.

Types of personal data we collect

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

Identification and contact details such as your full name, home address, billing address, and general location within the Friern Barnet area.

Contact preferences and communication details such as your preferred method and time of contact and records of correspondence with you, including notes of telephone conversations and details of any enquiries or complaints.

Service details such as information about your garden or outdoor space, property access instructions you choose to provide, photographs of the garden taken with your knowledge for quoting or planning purposes, and records of services provided or requested.

Payment related information such as confirmation that payment has been made, payment method type, and invoices or receipts. We do not store full payment card details; where card payments are processed, this is done through a secure third party payment processor.

Website and usage information where applicable, such as basic technical information gathered through standard web server logs, limited to what is necessary for security and to ensure our online presence works correctly. We do not seek to identify individual visitors through this information unless required for security or legal reasons.

How we collect your personal data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by telephone, in person, or through any online or written enquiry, when you request a quotation, when you agree to a service, or when you provide feedback or make a complaint. We may also collect data from publicly available sources only to the extent necessary to confirm address details or to comply with legal obligations.

Lawful bases for processing your personal data

We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis to do so under UK data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract. We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract for gardening services with you, for example to provide quotations, schedule visits, carry out the work, issue invoices and manage payments.

Legitimate interests. We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests as a gardening service provider, and those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. These interests include managing and improving our services, maintaining accurate records, responding to enquiries and complaints, and ensuring the security of our staff and customers.

Legal obligation. We may process personal data where it is necessary to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as record keeping, tax, accounting, and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Consent. In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain forms of direct marketing that are not otherwise covered by legitimate interests. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotations, plan, deliver and manage gardening services at your property.

To communicate with you about appointments, changes to services, and any issues relating to your garden or contract.

To handle payments, invoicing, and any queries about charges or billing.

To maintain internal records, including service history, for operational and administrative purposes.

To improve our services, for example by using feedback you provide to refine our processes.

To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including accounting and tax obligations.

To protect our rights, property, and safety, and that of our customers and staff, including the prevention and detection of fraud or misuse of services.

Sharing your personal data with processors and other recipients

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with trusted third parties that act as processors on our behalf. These may include:

Payment processors that handle card or electronic payments securely.

Accountants or bookkeepers who assist with financial record keeping and tax compliance.

IT and system support providers that maintain our digital tools, devices or software used for scheduling, record keeping and communications.

These processors are only permitted to use your personal data in accordance with our written instructions and are required to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data.

In some situations, we may also need to share data with other recipients, such as professional advisers, insurers, or public authorities where required by law or where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

International transfers

Where any of our service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or may process data in another country, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data, in line with UK data protection laws. This may include relying on adequacy regulations or using standard contractual clauses or equivalent legal mechanisms.

Data retention and storage

We keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying legal, accounting or reporting requirements. The specific retention period will depend on the nature of the data and our relationship with you.

In general, contact and service information will be kept for as long as you are an active customer and for a reasonable period afterwards, typically up to six years, to allow for queries, legal claims or accounting obligations.

Data that is no longer required will be securely deleted or anonymised so that it can no longer be linked to you. We review our retention practices periodically to ensure that data is not kept longer than necessary.

Security of your personal data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those who need it for the performance of their duties, using secure methods for storing and transferring data, and maintaining up to date software and security practices.

Your data protection rights

Under UK data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and exemptions. They include:

The right of access. You can request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and, if so, request a copy of that data together with certain additional information.

The right to rectification. You can request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you is corrected or updated.

The right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where the data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and there is no legal reason for us to continue processing it.

The right to restrict processing. You can request that we limit the way we use your personal data in certain situations, for example while we are considering a request to rectify your data.

The right to data portability. In some cases, you can request that we provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and that we transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

The right to object. You can object to certain types of processing based on our legitimate interests, and you can always object to direct marketing.

The right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent to process data, you can withdraw that consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, you can contact us using the contact details provided on our main customer communications or website. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request and will respond within the time limits set by law.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how Gardeners Friern Barnet handles your personal data, we encourage you to contact us in the first instance so that we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection supervisory authority if you believe your rights have been infringed.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, our data processing practices, or legal requirements. Any updated version will apply to all Gardeners Friern Barnet customers in the Friern Barnet area from the date it is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use and protect your personal data.