Privacy Policy - Landscaping Hendon

This Privacy Policy explains how Landscaping Hendon collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Landscaping Hendon customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and former customers who have interacted with us for landscaping, garden maintenance, design, installation, or related services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Landscaping Hendon acts as the data controller for the personal information collected in connection with our services. This means we decide why and how your personal data is used. We take our responsibilities seriously and aim to ensure that all personal information is processed only when there is a valid reason to do so.

2. Information We Collect

We collect only the information needed to provide our services, manage our business, and meet legal obligations. The categories of personal data we may collect include:

Identity information, such as your name and title.
Contact details, such as your address, phone number, and email address.
Service details, including the type of landscaping work requested, job notes, property access details, and preferences.
Payment information, such as billing records and transaction details, where necessary for invoicing and accounting.
Communication records, including messages, emails, quotes, complaints, and service updates.
Site and property information, such as garden measurements, photographs, or notes relevant to the work being carried out.
Technical data, if you interact with us electronically, such as device details or basic usage information generated by our systems.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you have provided it, or we are legally permitted to do so. Special category data may include information about health, ethnicity, or other sensitive personal details. If such information is ever provided to us, we will handle it with additional care and only where legally justified.

3. How We Use Your Data

Landscaping Hendon uses personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotations, surveys, and landscaping services.
To arrange appointments, deliveries, and site visits.
To communicate with customers about current or future work.
To issue invoices, process payments, and manage accounts.
To maintain records of services completed and customer preferences.
To respond to questions, complaints, and requests.
To improve our services, scheduling, and customer experience.
To meet tax, accounting, and other legal obligations.
To protect our business from fraud, misuse, or legal claims.

We will only use your information for the purposes outlined above or for compatible purposes that you would reasonably expect. We do not sell your personal data.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for every use of personal data. Landscaping Hendon relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, delivering services, handling billing, and managing customer accounts.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is in our legitimate interests to run and improve our business, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include keeping service records, managing customer communications, improving operations, and protecting against fraud or misuse. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the impact on your privacy carefully.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain personal data to comply with legal obligations, such as accounting rules, tax requirements, and record-keeping duties.

Consent

In some situations, we may ask for your consent to process certain data, especially where it is not necessary for a contract, legal obligation, or legitimate interest. If we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This will not affect any processing already carried out before withdrawal.

5. Sharing Your Information

We may share personal data with trusted third parties when necessary to deliver our services or meet our obligations. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the context. We only share information that is necessary and take steps to ensure it is handled securely and lawfully.

Examples of processors and recipients may include:

Accounting and bookkeeping providers for invoicing, financial records, and tax compliance.
IT and cloud storage providers that store or support our business systems.
Payment service providers that process transactions securely.
Administrative support services that help manage communications and records.
Professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, where necessary.
Public authorities where we are legally required to provide information.

We require processors to use your data only on our instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with applicable data protection laws. If personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, or as required by law. The retention period depends on the type of data and the context in which it was collected.

Customer service and contract records are generally retained for the duration of the relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by applicable law.
Communications and correspondence may be kept for as long as needed to manage the relevant matter.
Data collected with consent is kept until consent is withdrawn or it is no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so it can no longer identify you. We regularly review the information we hold to ensure it is not kept for longer than necessary.

7. Keeping Your Data Secure

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include restricted access, secure storage, password protection, and staff awareness procedures. Although no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to reduce risks as much as reasonably possible.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights regarding your personal data. These rights may apply in different circumstances and may be subject to legal limits.

Right of access: You can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: You can ask us to delete your data in certain situations.
Right to restriction: You can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object: You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: You can request your data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the time limits required by law. We may need to verify your identity before responding, to protect your information from unauthorised access.

9. Automated Decision-Making

Landscaping Hendon does not use automated decision-making or profiling in a way that produces legal or similarly significant effects on customers. If this changes, we will update this policy and explain your rights in relation to such processing.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and property owners, tenants, landlords, and authorised representatives. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidental and necessary for service delivery, such as access arrangements or household communication. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child without appropriate basis, we will take steps to delete it.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or how we process personal data. Any updates will take effect when published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Landscaping Hendon is committed to processing personal data responsibly, securely, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, retain it only as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We respect your rights and aim to make it easy for you to understand how your data is used.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Landscaping Hendon customers in the area.