Privacy Policy - Gardeners Barbican

Gardeners Barbican is committed to protecting the personal data of all customers in the Barbican area and handling it in a lawful, fair, and transparent way. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and safeguard personal information when you request or receive our gardening services. It also explains the rights available to you under data protection law. This policy applies to all Gardeners Barbican customers in the area.

1. Who This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to individuals who use, enquire about, or receive services from Gardeners Barbican in the Barbican area. It covers personal data collected from customers, prospective customers, property owners, tenants authorised to arrange services, and anyone who communicates with us in relation to a gardening job, booking, or service request.

We aim to ensure that all processing of personal data is lawful, fair, and transparent. We only collect information that is needed for legitimate business purposes, and we do not use personal data in ways that are incompatible with the reasons it was provided.

2. Data We Collect

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

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the name of the property owner or authorised person.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information including details about the gardening work requested, property access notes, preferences, and appointment history.
Payment-related information where needed to process invoices, receipts, and account records.
Communication records including emails, messages, service requests, complaints, and feedback.
Technical and usage data if you interact with us through digital systems, such as basic device or session information collected for security and performance purposes.

We do not seek to collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and permitted by law. If such information is ever provided to us, we will handle it with enhanced care and only where a valid legal basis exists.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote or booking;
communicate with us about a service;
provide instructions or access information for a property;
submit feedback, a complaint, or a query;
make or receive payment-related arrangements.

We may also receive information from third parties where necessary, such as from an authorised tenant, property manager, or another person arranging services on your behalf. In limited cases, we may receive information from processors or service providers acting under contract.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. Gardeners Barbican relies on the following legal grounds:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, carrying out gardening services, sending invoices, confirming appointments, and responding to service-related requests.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, improving services, maintaining records, preventing fraud, and ensuring the safety and security of our operations.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain records where required to comply with legal duties, such as tax, accounting, or regulatory obligations.

Consent

In limited situations, we may ask for your consent, for example where it is required for a specific communication preference or optional service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

5. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide gardening services and manage bookings;
to communicate about quotations, service changes, and appointments;
to invoice customers and manage payment administration;
to maintain service records and improve quality;
to handle complaints, disputes, or claims;
to comply with legal and accounting obligations;
to protect against misuse, fraud, or unauthorised access.

We will only use personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably determine that another compatible purpose is permitted by law.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These processors are only allowed to use data according to our instructions and must protect it under appropriate contractual safeguards.

Examples of processors may include:

administrative support providers;
billing or invoicing service providers;
secure data storage and IT providers;
communication and message delivery tools;
professional advisers who assist with accounting or legal compliance.

We may also share information where required by law, court order, or regulatory authority, or where it is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Gardeners Barbican, our customers, or others.

We do not sell your personal data.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law. Retention periods depend on the type of information and the reason it is held.

Service and booking records are usually kept for a reasonable period to support customer administration, follow-up, and dispute resolution.
Financial and accounting records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Communication records may be retained for as long as needed to manage queries, complaints, or service history.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

8. Your Rights

Under GDPR, you have important rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal conditions and exemptions.

Right of access – you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – you may request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – you may ask us to limit how your data is used in certain situations.
Right to object – you may object to processing based on legitimate interests, where applicable.
Right to data portability – you may request a copy of certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise concerns with a data protection supervisory authority if you believe your rights have been infringed.

9. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, limited staff access, and regular review of data handling practices. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take reasonable and proportionate steps to reduce risks.

10. International Transfers

If personal data is processed outside the UK or EEA, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual protections or other legally recognised transfer mechanisms. We only transfer data where permitted by law and where adequate protection can be ensured.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging gardening work for residential or commercial properties. We do not knowingly collect children’s personal data unless it is incidentally included in communications and is necessary for service administration. If we become aware that we have collected such data inappropriately, we will take steps to delete it or otherwise handle it lawfully.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, operational practice, or service arrangements. Any updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how personal data is handled.

Summary of our approach: Gardeners Barbican collects only the personal data needed to deliver services, uses it under clear lawful bases, retains it for appropriate periods, shares it only with trusted processors or where required by law, and respects your GDPR rights at every stage.

This policy is designed to support privacy, accountability, and trust for all Gardeners Barbican customers in the Barbican area. We treat personal data as a responsibility and use it only in ways that are necessary and proportionate.