Privacy Policy - Cleaner Hackney

Cleaner Hackney is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of all customers in the Hackney area. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information when you use our cleaning services. It applies to all Cleaner Hackney customers in the area, including individual households, tenants, landlords, property managers, and business clients.

1. Who we are

For the purposes of data protection law, Cleaner Hackney acts as the data controller for the personal information we process in connection with our services. This means we decide why and how your personal data is used. We are committed to handling personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Personal data we collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact details such as email address, phone number, and service address.
Service information such as cleaning preferences, booking details, special instructions, and access notes.
Payment-related information such as billing details and transaction records, where needed for invoicing and accounting.
Communication records such as enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence.
Technical information if you contact us online, such as device or usage data supplied through our systems.

We generally do not collect special category data unless you choose to provide it to us voluntarily. If you do share such information, we will only process it where there is a valid legal reason and appropriate protection in place.

3. How we use your data

We use personal data only for legitimate business and service purposes. This includes:

Providing cleaning services and managing bookings.
Responding to enquiries and service requests.
Processing payments, invoices, refunds, and records.
Sending service-related updates and confirmations.
Managing customer relationships and handling complaints.
Maintaining internal records, quality control, and service improvement.
Meeting legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
Protecting our business, staff, customers, and property from fraud or misuse.

We will only use your information in ways that are compatible with the purpose for which it was collected, unless we reasonably believe we need to use it for another lawful purpose.

4. Lawful basis for processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. Cleaner Hackney relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract: We process your data to enter into and perform our cleaning services agreement, including booking, delivery, and billing.
Legal obligation: We may process data to comply with tax, accounting, insurance, employment, and other legal requirements.
Legitimate interests: We may process information to run our business efficiently, improve services, prevent fraud, and maintain secure records, provided these interests do not override your rights.
Consent: In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where you opt in to receive non-essential communications. Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time.

Where we process data on the basis of legitimate interests, we ensure that our interests are balanced against your privacy rights. If you want more information about this balancing test, you may request it from us.

5. Sharing your personal data

We only share personal data when necessary and appropriate. We may disclose information to trusted third parties who help us operate our services, including:

Payment providers for secure transaction processing.
Booking or scheduling systems that manage appointments and service administration.
IT and hosting providers that support storage, software, and communications.
Accountants or tax advisers for financial and compliance purposes.
Professional advisers such as legal or insurance advisers where needed.
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect rights, property, or safety.

We require processors and service providers to handle personal data securely, use it only for the agreed purpose, and comply with applicable data protection obligations. We do not sell personal data.

6. Processors

Where Cleaner Hackney uses third-party service providers to process personal data on our behalf, those parties act as processors. They are only allowed to process personal data under our instructions and must keep it secure. Examples of processors may include cloud storage providers, email service platforms, booking software providers, and payment service providers.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that any processor we engage offers appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data. If a processor is located outside the UK, we will only transfer personal data where appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with data protection law.

7. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and why it is held. In general:

Customer service and booking records are retained for as long as needed to provide services and manage business relationships.
Financial and accounting records are retained for the period required by tax and legal obligations.
Correspondence and complaint records are retained for a reasonable period to support service management and dispute resolution.
Data collected under consent is retained until consent is withdrawn, unless another lawful basis applies.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

8. Data security

We take the security of your personal data seriously. We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect it from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss, or destruction. These may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limiting data access to authorised personnel only.

Although we take appropriate steps to protect personal data, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, but we continually review and improve our safeguards.

9. Your rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal conditions and exemptions. They include:

Right of access: You can request 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 circumstances.
Right to restriction: You can ask us to limit how we use your data in some situations.
Right to object: You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: You can request that certain data be provided to you or another provider in a usable format.
Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data protection rights have been breached. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve any issue promptly.

10. Children’s data

Our cleaning services are not directed at children, and we do not intentionally collect personal data from children. If we become aware that personal data relating to a child has been collected without appropriate authority, we will take steps to delete or protect it as required by law.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data processing practices. Any updates will apply from the date they are published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers in the Hackney area to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how we handle personal data.

12. Our commitment

Cleaner Hackney is committed to using personal data responsibly and respectfully. We only collect information that is necessary for delivering reliable services, operating our business, and meeting our legal obligations. We aim to be transparent about what we do with your data and to uphold your rights at every stage.

By using Cleaner Hackney services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.