Gardeners Hornsey Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Hornsey collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to its customers and potential customers in the Hornsey area. It also explains the lawful bases we rely on, how long we keep data, when we use external processors, and the rights you have under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all individuals and organisations who use, or enquire about, gardening and related services provided by Gardeners Hornsey within the Hornsey area. By contacting us, requesting a quote, or entering into a contract for our services, you acknowledge that your personal data will be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Data Controller

Gardeners Hornsey is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. As data controller, we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal information and are responsible for ensuring that such processing complies with applicable data protection laws.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us. This may include:

Identification and contact details: name, address, property location, billing address, and other relevant contact details required for providing quotes, arranging visits and delivering services.

Communication details: information you provide when you contact us by post, in person, or through any other communication channel, including queries, feedback, or complaints.

Service details: information about the type of gardening services requested or provided, such as lawn care, planting, maintenance schedules, access requirements and job history.

Billing and payment information: details necessary to issue invoices, record payments, and maintain basic financial records. We do not store full payment card details if card processing services are used.

Usage and technical information: limited technical or usage information that may be generated when you visit our website or interact with our online content, such as basic log data, device type and approximate location, to the extent this is necessary for security and site functioning.

Images and property information: photographs or notes of your garden or outdoor areas, taken only as needed for planning and quoting works, for health and safety reasons, or to document completed projects where relevant.

How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us for a quote, request or receive our services, or communicate with us in any way about our gardening services. We may also receive data from third parties where you have given them permission to share your information with service providers, such as letting agents or property managers who engage us to carry out work at your property.

Lawful Bases for Processing

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

Contract: to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, and to perform a contract with you for gardening and related services. This includes issuing quotes, managing appointments, carrying out work, and handling invoicing and payments.

Legitimate interests: to pursue our legitimate business interests in operating and improving Gardeners Hornsey services, while respecting your rights and freedoms. This includes managing our customer records, scheduling work efficiently, maintaining accurate financial records, and responding to queries and complaints.

Legal obligation: to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including tax and accounting obligations and any health and safety or insurance-related requirements.

Consent: where required by law, for specific activities that are not necessary for providing our services or for our legitimate interests. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time, and we will explain how you can do this at the point your consent is obtained.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotations, plan and deliver gardening services, including visiting your property, carrying out agreed work, and managing any follow-up or maintenance visits.

To communicate with you about appointments, changes to services, access requirements, and other operational matters.

To manage our customer relationship, including handling enquiries, complaints or disputes, and recording job history for reference and quality control.

To issue invoices, process payments, keep accounting records, and meet our tax obligations.

To improve and develop our services, including reviewing customer feedback and analysing service usage trends at a general level.

To protect our business, staff and customers, for example through health and safety measures, insurance purposes and, where strictly necessary, to prevent or detect fraud or misuse of our services.

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, for purposes that are necessary for running our business. Such processors may include:

IT and hosting providers who support our business systems and data storage.

Accounting or bookkeeping service providers who assist us with invoicing, payment recording, and financial compliance.

Subcontractors or specialist tradespeople, where required to complete a job at your request, and only to the extent necessary for them to perform their part of the work.

Professional advisers such as legal or insurance professionals, where this is necessary for advice, claims or compliance.

Where we engage processors, we ensure they only process personal data on our documented instructions, provide appropriate security measures, and comply with applicable data protection laws.

We may also share personal data with public authorities or law enforcement where required by law or where necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.

International Transfers

Where any of our service providers are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, or store data in a location outside these areas, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data, such as recognised adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses, in accordance with data protection law.

Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and to meet any legal or regulatory requirements.

Customer records and service history are generally retained for up to seven years after our last interaction with you, to comply with tax and accounting obligations and to manage any queries or disputes that might arise.

Enquiries that do not lead to a contract are usually retained for up to two years, unless a shorter or longer period is justified by our legitimate interests or required by law.

Images or notes relating to your property are retained only for as long as needed for planning or documenting works, or as part of your general service record. Where possible, we will anonymise or delete such data earlier if it is no longer required.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, alteration or disclosure. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those who have a business need to know, using secure methods of storage where possible, and keeping our systems and records under review. While no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, we aim to reduce risks to a reasonable level in line with industry practice.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data held by Gardeners Hornsey. Subject to certain conditions and exemptions, these include:

Right of access: you can request confirmation that we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data along with certain information about how it is used.

Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

Right to erasure: in certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.

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

Right to object: you can object to processing based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is required for legal claims.

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

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, you can contact us using the usual contact methods you use for our services. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. We aim to respond within one month, or within any extended period permitted by law where the request is complex.

Complaints and Contact

If you have concerns about how Gardeners Hornsey processes your personal data, we encourage you to contact us in the first instance so we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority in the United Kingdom.

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 processing practices. Any updated version will apply to all Gardeners Hornsey customers and enquirers in the Hornsey area 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.