Privacy Policy - London House Cleaning

Effective Date: This Privacy Policy applies to all London House Cleaning customers in the London area.

London House Cleaning is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your information when you use our cleaning services. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, London House Cleaning is the data controller for the personal data we collect and process in connection with our services. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal information.

This policy applies to all customers, prospective customers, and individuals whose personal data we process in connection with cleaning services provided in the London area.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the information necessary to provide, manage, and improve our cleaning services. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity data: your name and, where relevant, the name of another household contact.
Contact data: postal address, email address, and telephone number.
Service data: booking details, service preferences, instructions for access, cleaning requirements, and feedback.
Payment data: billing information, payment status, and transaction records. We do not store full card details if payment is processed by a third-party payment provider.
Communication data: correspondence with us, including enquiries, complaints, and service updates.
Technical data: limited information collected through our systems, such as device or browser information if you interact with digital booking tools.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you choose to provide it to us and it is necessary for service delivery, such as accessibility or health-related access instructions. If such data is provided, we will process it only where lawful and appropriate safeguards are in place.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide cleaning services and manage bookings;
to communicate with you about appointments, service changes, and invoices;
to process payments and maintain financial records;
to understand and meet your service preferences;
to handle complaints, queries, and customer support requests;
to maintain service quality and improve our operations;
to comply with legal, regulatory, and tax obligations;
to prevent fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access;
to defend or establish legal claims where necessary.

We will only use your data in ways that are compatible with the purposes described in this policy.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the situation, the lawful bases may include:

Contract

We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, delivering cleaning services, issuing invoices, and responding to service-related requests.

Legal Obligation

We may process your information where necessary to comply with legal requirements, including accounting, tax, and record-keeping obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include managing customer relationships, improving services, preventing fraud, and maintaining internal records.

Consent

Where required by law, we will rely on your consent. For example, if you voluntarily provide optional information that is not necessary for service delivery, we will process it only with your permission. You may withdraw consent at any time where consent is the basis for processing.

Vital Interests

In rare circumstances, we may process data to protect someone’s vital interests, such as in an emergency involving health or safety.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to use your data in accordance with our instructions and applicable data protection law.

Examples of processors may include:

Payment service providers: to handle card and electronic payments securely.
Booking or scheduling platforms: to manage appointments and service allocation.
Cloud storage and IT providers: to securely store customer records and operational data.
Email and communication providers: to send booking confirmations, invoices, and service messages.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers: to support financial administration and compliance.

We may also share your data with:

professional advisers, including accountants, insurers, or legal advisers;
regulators, law enforcement, or public authorities where required by law;
third parties involved in resolving disputes, claims, or complaints.

Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequate data protection agreements or approved transfer mechanisms.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, and reporting requirements.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason it is held. In general:

Customer service and booking records: kept for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards for administration and dispute handling.
Financial and transaction records: kept for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Complaints and correspondence: retained for as long as needed to resolve the matter and demonstrate compliance.
Marketing-related data: retained until you withdraw consent or opt out, where applicable.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices.

7. Security of Your Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access to personal data on a need-to-know basis.

While we take reasonable steps to safeguard your information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We will respond appropriately to any suspected personal data breach in accordance with legal requirements.

8. Your Data Protection Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may include:

Right of access: you can request confirmation of whether we process your data and receive a copy of it.
Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: in certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete your data.
Right to restrict processing: you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to data portability: where applicable, you can request your data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: if we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal limitations. If you exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding.

9. Children’s Data

Our cleaning services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidentally provided in service instructions or household records and only where necessary to deliver our services responsibly.

10. 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. The updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated to you.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

London House Cleaning is committed to handling personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently. We collect only what is needed, use it for clear and lawful purposes, retain it for no longer than necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We respect your rights and aim to maintain the trust of every customer across the London area.

This Privacy Policy is intended to provide clear information about our data protection practices and should be read alongside any service terms that may apply.