Gardeners Merton Park Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Merton Park collects, uses, stores and protects personal information about individuals in connection with our gardening and related services. It applies to all Gardeners Merton Park customers in the Merton Park area, including prospective, current and former customers.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Who This Privacy Policy Applies To

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Merton Park customers and potential customers located in the Merton Park area who contact us, request a quotation, use our services, visit our premises where applicable, or otherwise interact with us in relation to our services.

Personal Data We Collect

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

Identification and contact details such as your name, postal address, property address where services are provided, and any other address you provide, as well as information needed to contact you such as your preferred communication method.

Service and contract information such as details of gardening or related services requested or provided, quotations, bookings, schedules, notes about your garden or property relevant to the services, and records of our communications with you.

Payment and transaction information such as records of payments made, amounts, dates, methods of payment, and related accounting information. We do not store full payment card details if you pay by card.

Usage and communication information such as details of enquiries you send us, feedback you provide, and any preferences you communicate to us about how and when you wish to be contacted.

Technical information where relevant such as basic device or browser information that may be logged when you access any online content we provide, to the extent this is necessary for security or service delivery.

How We Collect Your Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by any method, request a quote, make a booking, use our gardening services, make a payment, or communicate with us about our services.

We may also obtain limited information from publicly available sources, or from third parties who help us deliver our services, where this is necessary and lawful. In such cases we only receive information relevant to the provision and management of our services.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on the following lawful bases under data protection law for processing your personal data:

Contractual necessity: We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into and perform a contract with you, such as taking bookings, providing gardening services at your property, and handling payments.

Legitimate interests: We process personal data as needed to operate and improve our business, communicate with you about our services, manage our relationship with you, and maintain accurate records. We only do this where our legitimate interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Legal obligations: We process personal data where necessary to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including tax, accounting and record-keeping obligations, and to cooperate with competent authorities when required by law.

Consent: In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time by contacting us using the details provided in your service documentation or other communications we send you.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage gardening and related services you request, including visiting your property, carrying out work, and organising maintenance schedules.

To create and manage your customer records, prepare quotations, confirm bookings, and respond to enquiries and service requests.

To process payments, manage invoices, handle refunds where applicable, and maintain accurate financial and transaction records.

To communicate with you about appointments, service updates, changes to our terms and policies, and important information regarding your garden or property relevant to our work.

To manage our business operations, including planning workloads, monitoring service quality, training, and improving the services we offer.

To comply with legal and regulatory obligations and to establish, exercise or defend legal claims where necessary.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.

In general, we retain customer records, including contact details, service history and transaction data, for a period that allows us to respond to queries, manage ongoing or repeat services, and meet our legal obligations in areas such as tax and accounting.

When your personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to you. The specific retention period may vary depending on the type of data and the relevant legal and operational requirements.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf to help us deliver and manage our services.

These processors may include providers of administrative support services, accounting and bookkeeping services, payment processing services, information technology support, and other professional or technical services necessary for our operations.

Where we use processors, we ensure they only process your personal data in accordance with our written instructions, provide appropriate security measures, and comply with applicable data protection laws. They are not permitted to use your personal data for their own purposes.

We may also share personal data where required by law, in response to requests from competent authorities, or in connection with legal claims or proceedings.

International Transfers

If we transfer your personal data outside the United Kingdom, we will do so in accordance with data protection law and ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data. These safeguards may include recognised adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities.

How We Protect Your Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include restricting access to personal data to those who need it for legitimate business purposes and requiring those who handle personal data to observe confidentiality obligations.

While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, no data transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We continuously review and update our security measures in light of legal, technical and business developments.

Your Data Protection Rights

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

The right of access: You can request confirmation that we process your personal data and ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

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

The right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data. This is sometimes known as the right to be forgotten.

The right to restriction of processing: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we verify its accuracy or consider an objection you have raised.

The right to object: You can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue or we need the data for legal claims.

The right to data portability: Where our processing is based on your consent or on a contract, and is carried out by automated means, you may request that we provide your personal data in a commonly used, machine-readable format or that we transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

The right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent for processing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

How to Exercise Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details provided in your customer documentation or any recent communication from us. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request to protect your privacy and security.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or other factors. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we process your personal data.