Rubbish Collection Balham Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Rubbish Collection Balham collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers located in our service area. It also explains the lawful bases we rely on under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, how long we keep your data, when we share it with processors, and the rights you have in relation to your personal information.

This Privacy Policy applies to all customers and prospective customers of Rubbish Collection Balham within our operating area, including individuals, households, landlords, letting agents and businesses that contact us, request a quote, make a booking, or use any of our rubbish removal services.

Who We Are

Rubbish Collection Balham is a rubbish removal and waste collection service operating in the Balham area. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the data controller in relation to the personal data we collect and process about you. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used and are responsible for looking after it.

Personal Data We Collect

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

Contact details such as your name, address, email address and telephone number when you request a quote, make a booking or contact us with an enquiry.

Service details such as the service address, access instructions, preferred dates and times, details of the waste to be collected, and any special instructions relevant to completing the service.

Account and billing information such as your invoice address, payment status, and records of payments made. Card payment details are handled by our payment processor and are not stored in full by us.

Communication records including emails, text messages, telephone call notes and any other correspondence between you and Rubbish Collection Balham relating to our services.

Website and usage data where relevant, such as information you provide through online contact forms and basic technical information from your device that is necessary to deliver our online services.

Operational data including job sheets, collection notes, and photographs of waste and collection locations where these are reasonably required to carry out or evidence a service.

How We Collect Your Data

We typically collect personal data directly from you when you:

Contact us by phone, email or text message.

Request a quote or book a service.

Provide details at the time of a collection.

Communicate with us about an existing or past service.

In some cases we may receive your information from third parties, for example from a landlord, tenant, letting agent or business contact who books a service on your behalf, or provides your details as the relevant site contact.

Lawful Bases for Processing

We will only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, the lawful bases we rely on include:

Contract: We process your personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, confirming bookings, delivering our rubbish collection services, issuing invoices and handling related communications.

Legal obligation: We may process your personal data where this is necessary for us to comply with our legal obligations, for example record keeping, accounting, or cooperating with lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate interests: We may process your personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes managing our relationship with you, improving our services, scheduling collections efficiently, handling enquiries and complaints, and maintaining records of past services.

Consent: In limited situations we may rely on your consent, for example where you specifically ask us to keep your details for future quotes or non-essential communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time by contacting us using the details provided in this Privacy Policy.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide you with quotes and estimates for rubbish collection and related services.

To set up, manage and fulfil bookings for collections, including arranging access, scheduling teams and confirming service details.

To issue invoices, process payments and manage any outstanding balances.

To communicate with you about your enquiries, bookings, changes to services, complaints or feedback.

To plan and improve our routes, staffing and service quality within the Balham area.

To maintain accurate business and financial records.

To comply with legal, regulatory and tax obligations that apply to our operations.

To protect our rights, property and safety and that of our customers, for example in the event of disputes about the completion of a collection.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to use your data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Processors we may use include:

Payment processing providers to securely handle electronic payments and card transactions.

IT and software providers who supply systems used for email, scheduling, quoting, invoicing and secure data storage.

Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers where this is necessary for our business operations and compliance.

In some cases, we may also need to share personal data with third parties acting as independent controllers, such as authorities, regulators or law enforcement agencies, where this is required by law or necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.

Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

As a general rule:

Basic customer and service records, including invoices and job details, are typically retained for up to seven years to comply with legal and tax requirements.

Routine enquiry information and quotes that do not lead to a booking may be kept for up to two years so we can respond to follow-up queries and keep a record of our communications.

Where we rely on consent and you withdraw that consent, we will stop using your personal data for the relevant purpose, but may retain limited information to record your request and to comply with our legal obligations.

When we no longer need your personal data, we will delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with you.

International Transfers

Our main operations and data storage are based in the United Kingdom. If any of our processors transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as using standard contractual clauses or relying on an adequacy decision, to ensure your data is protected to a standard equivalent to that in the United Kingdom.

How We Protect Your Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. These measures include restricting access to personal data to those employees and processors who need to know it for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, securing our systems and regularly reviewing our data handling practices.

Your Rights Under Data Protection Law

As an individual in the Balham area whose personal data we process, you have a number of rights under data protection law. Subject to certain conditions and exceptions, these include:

The right of access: You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data.

The right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

The right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal data.

The right to restrict processing: You can request that we limit the way we use your personal data in certain situations.

The right to data portability: You can ask us to provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

The right to object: You can object to our processing of your personal data based on legitimate interests, in which case we will stop such processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue.

Where we rely on consent as the lawful basis for processing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Exercising Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, or you have any questions about how Rubbish Collection Balham handles your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details provided on our website or in your service documentation. We may need to verify your identity before we respond to your request to ensure we protect your information appropriately.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office if you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data. We would encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve any concerns directly.

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 best practice. Any updates will apply from the date they are made available. You should review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.