Gardeners Goddington Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Goddington collects, uses, stores and shares personal data relating to our customers. It applies to all Gardeners Goddington customers in our service area, including prospective, current and past customers who contact us, request a quote, book a service or otherwise interact with our business.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a transparent and lawful manner, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act, together referred to in this document as GDPR.

Personal data we collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant to providing and managing our gardening and related services. The types of personal data we may collect include: your full name, home or site address, billing address, and details of your garden or outdoor space; contact information such as your preferred contact method and other communication details you provide; service information such as records of services requested or provided, site notes, photographs of the garden or outdoor area taken for quoting or work planning, and before and after images where relevant; financial and transaction information such as amounts charged, payment status, invoices and receipts, but not full payment card details, which are handled by secure payment processors; and communication records such as messages, enquiry details, booking confirmations, feedback, complaints and any other correspondence between you and Gardeners Goddington.

We may also collect limited technical information if you visit our online pages, such as your IP address, device type and basic usage data required to ensure security, prevent abuse and improve user experience. We do not use this information to identify you directly unless required for security or legal reasons.

How we collect your data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request information or a quote; make a booking or enter into a contract for our services; communicate with our team in person, by post, or via other communication methods you choose to use; provide feedback, reviews or respond to surveys; or make a payment for services.

We may also receive personal data indirectly if another person arranges services on your behalf, for example a family member, landlord, tenant, managing agent or other third party. In such cases, we treat the data in accordance with this Privacy Policy and, where appropriate, will confirm details directly with you.

Lawful basis for processing your data

We process your personal data only when we have a lawful basis under GDPR. Depending on the situation, the lawful basis will usually be one or more of the following: performance of a contract, where we need your data to provide a quote, carry out agreed work, issue invoices and manage ongoing services; legitimate interests, where we have a reasonable business interest that is not overridden by your rights, such as managing bookings, improving our services, maintaining records, preventing abuse and ensuring security; legal obligation, where we must process certain information to comply with laws, for example tax, accounting and health and safety requirements; and consent, where you choose to opt in to specific activities, such as receiving certain forms of marketing communications. Where consent is the lawful basis, you can withdraw your consent at any time.

How we use your personal data

We use personal data for the following main purposes: to provide, manage and deliver gardening and related services you request; to prepare and send quotes, confirmations, invoices and statements; to communicate with you about appointments, access arrangements and service updates; to maintain accurate internal records of customers, services, and site-specific notes; to handle enquiries, feedback, complaints and dispute resolution; to comply with legal, regulatory and tax requirements; to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of our services; and, where permitted, to inform you about updates to our services which may be of interest to you.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We only share your information where necessary for our operations or where required by law, as described below.

Sharing your data with processors and third parties

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These may include: payment processing providers that handle card and electronic payments securely; accounting or invoicing services used to manage our financial records; cloud or data storage providers that host our business data; communication and scheduling tools used to manage messages, reminders and bookings; and professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where necessary for business or legal reasons.

These processors only process your personal data on our instructions, for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, and are required to keep your information secure and confidential in line with GDPR. We do not authorise them to use your data for their own unrelated purposes.

We may also share your personal data with other third parties where required by law, regulation or court order, or where it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. If we are involved in a business restructuring, sale or similar transaction, your data may be transferred as part of the business, subject to appropriate safeguards.

Data retention and storage

We keep 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. The specific retention period will depend on the nature of the data and our obligations, but typically: enquiry and quote information is retained for a reasonable period in case you wish to proceed at a later date or for reference and quality purposes; customer and service records are retained while we provide services to you and for a defined period afterwards to handle queries, disputes or repeat work; financial and transaction records, including invoices and associated information, are retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to an identifiable individual. We take reasonable steps to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction, using physical, administrative and technical measures appropriate to the nature of the data and the risks involved.

Your data protection rights

Under GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all Gardeners Goddington customers in our service area, subject to certain legal limitations. Your rights include: the right of access, meaning you can request confirmation of whether we hold your personal data and ask for a copy; the right to rectification, meaning you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information; the right to erasure, sometimes referred to as the right to be forgotten, where you can request deletion of your data in certain circumstances; the right to restrict processing, meaning you can ask us to limit how we use your data in specific situations; the right to data portability, meaning in some cases you can request that we provide your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format or transfer it to another organisation; and the right to object, meaning you can object to processing based on our legitimate interests or to direct marketing.

Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdrew consent, but it may affect our ability to provide certain services if the data is necessary for that purpose.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, you can contact us using your preferred communication method. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. We aim to respond within the time limits set by GDPR.

International transfers

Where we use service providers located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, or where data is stored or accessed from other countries, we take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include the use of contractual clauses approved for data protection purposes, or ensuring that the destination country is recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection.

Children and vulnerable individuals

Our services are directed at adult customers responsible for property or garden maintenance. We do not knowingly enter into contracts directly with children. If personal data about children or vulnerable individuals is provided to us, for example to explain site access or safety considerations, we will treat that information with particular care and only process it where strictly necessary to provide our services safely and lawfully.

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 protection practices. When we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to inform our customers. The updated version will apply from the date it is made available and will supersede any earlier versions.

By continuing to use Gardeners Goddington services after any changes to this Privacy Policy, you acknowledge that the updated terms apply to your personal data, subject to your rights under GDPR.