Privacy Policy - Gardeners Aperfield

Gardeners Aperfield is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of all customers in the Aperfield area. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. It applies to all Gardeners Aperfield customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and individuals who have enquired about our services.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Gardeners Aperfield acts as the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. This means we determine why and how your data is processed when you use our gardening services, request a quotation, or communicate with us about a service.

We take data protection seriously and aim to handle personal data in a fair, lawful, transparent, and secure manner. This policy should be read together with any service terms or consent preferences you provide when engaging with us.

2. Information We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing gardening services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity details: name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact details: address, telephone number, and email address.
Service details: information about the gardening work requested, service history, property access notes, and preferences for appointments or site visits.
Payment and billing information: records of payments, invoices, and transaction references.
Communication records: emails, messages, notes from phone calls, and correspondence relating to enquiries, bookings, complaints, or feedback.
Technical information: basic website or device data if you interact with us online, such as IP address or browser details, where collected through standard security or analytics tools.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is absolutely necessary and there is a lawful basis for doing so. If such information is ever needed, we will handle it with additional care and only where permitted by law.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We process personal data for specific and legitimate purposes connected to our gardening services. These include:

responding to enquiries and providing quotations;
managing bookings and delivering gardening services;
maintaining service records and customer preferences;
issuing invoices, taking payments, and managing accounts;
handling complaints, queries, or service follow-up;
improving our service quality and customer experience;
meeting legal, accounting, and tax obligations;
protecting our business from fraud, misuse, or security risks.

Gardeners Aperfield will only use your personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably determine that we need to use it for a compatible purpose and such use is lawful.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on one or more of the following lawful bases under UK GDPR when processing personal data:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotations, scheduling gardening work, providing services, and managing payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data where needed to comply with legal requirements, such as tax, accounting, insurance, or record-keeping rules.

Legitimate Interests

We may process your information where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include maintaining service records, improving our services, preventing fraud, and ensuring network and information security.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, particularly for optional communications or certain non-essential uses of data. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We do not sell personal data. However, we may share your information with trusted third-party service providers, also known as processors, where necessary for business operations. These processors act on our instructions and are required to protect your data appropriately.

Examples of processors may include:

accounting and bookkeeping providers;
payment processing services;
IT support, cloud storage, and email hosting providers;
customer record management tools;
professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers, where necessary;
delivery or scheduling tools that assist with service coordination.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, regulation, court order, or lawful request from public authorities. Any sharing will be limited to what is necessary and handled with appropriate safeguards.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, including legal, accounting, and reporting obligations. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason it was collected.

In general, we may keep:

customer and service records for the duration of the relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards;
financial and tax records for the period required by law;
communication records for as long as needed to resolve disputes or maintain service continuity;
consent records until consent is withdrawn or the information is no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, disclosure, or alteration. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, and limiting access to information on a need-to-know basis.

While no method of transmission or storage is completely risk-free, we work to ensure that personal data is handled responsibly and securely. We also review our practices periodically to maintain a suitable level of protection.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to limitations, depending on the circumstances and legal requirements.

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 situations.
Right to restrict processing: you may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to data portability: you may request certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

We will respond to requests in accordance with applicable data protection law. To help us verify identity and protect your data, we may request additional information before acting on a request.

9. Complaints and Supervisory Authority

If you are concerned about how your personal data has been handled, we encourage you to raise the issue with us first so that we can address it promptly. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed.

We aim to treat all privacy concerns seriously and handle them in a fair, respectful, and timely manner.

10. 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 handling practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is made available. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.

Last updated: 2026

This Privacy Policy ensures that Gardeners Aperfield customers in the area understand how their data is collected, used, retained, and protected in a lawful and transparent way.