Rubbish Removal Kingston upon Thames Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Rubbish Removal Kingston upon Thames collects, uses, stores and protects personal data about customers and prospective customers located in Kingston upon Thames and the surrounding area. It also describes your rights under UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
By contacting us, requesting a quotation or using our rubbish removal and related services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Scope and Data Controller
This Privacy Policy applies to all Rubbish Removal Kingston upon Thames customers and service users in the Kingston upon Thames area, including individuals, households, landlords, letting agents and local businesses who engage us for rubbish removal and associated services.
Rubbish Removal Kingston upon Thames acts as the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data.
Types of Personal Data We Collect
The personal data we collect will depend on how you interact with us and which services you request. We may collect and process the following categories of data:
Contact and identity details such as your name, address, email address, telephone number and any other details you provide when you contact us.
Service information such as property type, access instructions, appointment dates and times, details of the rubbish or items to be removed, photographs you choose to send us to assist with quotations, and records of services provided.
Account and payment details such as billing address, payment status, payment method details as necessary to process transactions, and records of invoices and receipts. We do not store full card details when payments are processed through secure third party payment providers.
Communication records including emails, messages, call notes and any complaints, feedback or enquiries you submit to us.
Marketing preferences such as whether you wish to receive marketing communications and how you prefer to be contacted.
Technical data such as IP address, device information and basic usage data where you interact with our online services. This is collected to ensure the security and proper functioning of our website or online tools, where used.
How We Collect Your Data
We may collect personal data from you directly when you contact us by telephone, email or online form to make an enquiry, request a quotation or book a service.
We collect data when we provide services at your property, for example when our team records service details and completion notes.
We may also receive personal data indirectly from third parties who refer work to us, such as letting agents, landlords, estate agents, commercial partners or online advertising platforms. In such cases, we only receive the information necessary to provide our services.
Lawful Bases for Processing
We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following lawful bases:
Contract. We process your personal data to provide quotations, schedule and deliver rubbish removal services, manage your bookings, take payment and fulfil our contractual obligations to you.
Legal obligation. We process certain information to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including tax and accounting rules, waste disposal regulations and health and safety obligations.
Legitimate interests. We may process your personal data for our legitimate business interests, such as managing and improving our services, handling enquiries and complaints, preventing fraud and ensuring the security of our systems and staff. We always balance these interests against your rights and freedoms.
Consent. In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of marketing communications where required by law. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.
Purposes for Which We Use Your Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To respond to enquiries and provide quotations for rubbish removal and related services.
To schedule, manage and deliver our services, including contacting you about access, timings and service updates.
To issue invoices, process payments and maintain accurate financial and service records.
To manage customer relationships, including handling feedback, complaints and service queries.
To maintain the safety and security of our staff, customers and property.
To improve our services and operations, including internal training, planning and quality control.
To send you service related communications and, where permitted, relevant marketing or promotional messages about our services.
To meet legal, regulatory and insurance requirements, including record keeping and reporting obligations.
Data Sharing and Processors
We may share your personal data with third parties where necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, or where required by law. In all cases we only share the minimum data necessary.
Service providers and processors. We may use carefully selected third party providers to support our operations, such as payment processors, accountants, waste transfer facilities, IT and communication service providers and customer management systems. These providers act as data processors and are required to process your data only on our instructions and to protect it appropriately.
Professional advisers. We may share personal data with professional advisers such as legal advisers, accountants or insurers when necessary to obtain professional advice or manage legal or insurance matters.
Authorities and law enforcement. We may disclose data to public authorities, regulators or law enforcement agencies where required by law or where necessary to protect our rights, property, safety or that of others.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties. If our business structure changes, for example through a merger or transfer of operations, your data may be transferred as part of that process, in which case you will be informed where required by law.
International Transfers
Where we use service providers located outside the United Kingdom, your personal data may be transferred to and processed in other countries. In such cases, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent mechanisms, to protect your data in line with UK data protection law.
Data Retention
We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
Service and transaction records relating to rubbish removal services are generally retained for up to seven years to meet tax, accounting and contractual obligations.
Enquiry information where no service is ultimately provided is retained for a shorter period, typically up to two years, unless you request earlier deletion where feasible.
Marketing data and contact preferences are retained until you opt out or withdraw consent, or until we determine that the data is no longer needed, whichever occurs first.
When data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymise it so that you can no longer be identified.
Data Security
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include controlled access to systems, staff training, secure storage of records and the use of reputable service providers with suitable security standards.
While we work hard to protect your data, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If we become aware of a data breach that may pose a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will inform you and the relevant supervisory authority where required by law.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under UK data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights are subject to certain conditions and exemptions. You have the right to:
Access your personal data and obtain a copy of the information we hold about you, together with certain details about how we process it.
Rectify inaccurate or incomplete personal data. You can ask us to correct or update any information you believe is incorrect or incomplete.
Erase your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal obligation to retain it.
Restrict the processing of your data in specific situations, such as while we verify the accuracy of the data or assess an objection you have raised.
Object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including certain direct marketing activities. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue that override your interests and rights, or where processing is required for legal claims.
Data portability in respect of certain information you have provided to us, where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means. You may request this data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format.
Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on your consent to process your data. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdraw.
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details published on our main contact channels. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.
Complaints and Supervisory Authority
If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you are encouraged to contact us so we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK supervisory authority for data protection, the Information Commissioner's Office.
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 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 handle your personal data.
