Privacy Policy - Tree Surgeons Tottenham

This Privacy Policy explains how Tree Surgeons Tottenham collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to our customers, prospective customers, and website or service users in Tottenham and the surrounding area. It applies to all Tree Surgeons Tottenham customers in the area, whether you contact us for advice, request a quotation, book a site visit, or receive tree surgery services from us.

We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy sets out what information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have over your data.

1. Information We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for delivering our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations. The information we may collect includes:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the name of your organisation or property manager.
Contact details such as your phone number, email address, and service address.
Property and service information including details about trees, site access, photos you provide, and service requirements.
Payment and billing information needed to process invoices, payments, and records of transactions.
Communication records including enquiries, quotes, complaints, feedback, and correspondence.
Technical data such as limited website usage data, if applicable, including device and browser information collected through standard analytics or security tools.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you choose to provide it and it is strictly necessary for a specific service request. If such information is shared with us, we will handle it carefully and only where a lawful basis applies.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To arrange inspections, consultations, and tree surgery appointments.
To deliver our services safely and effectively.
To manage billing, accounts, and payment processing.
To keep records of work completed and customer communications.
To comply with legal, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
To protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.
To improve service quality, scheduling, and operational efficiency.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another compatible purpose. If we need to use your data in a materially different way, we will explain the reason and, where appropriate, seek your consent.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. Depending on the situation, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes handling enquiries, preparing quotations, scheduling work, completing services, and issuing invoices.

Legal Obligation

We process data where required to meet legal and regulatory responsibilities, such as tax, accounting, insurance, health and safety, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, maintaining service records, preventing fraud, improving operations, and securing our systems.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you ask us to use certain optional data or where the law requires consent for a particular activity. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share it with trusted third parties where necessary for the delivery of our services or for compliance purposes. These third parties act as processors or independent data controllers, depending on the circumstances.

Processors may include:

Payment processors that help us process card or electronic payments securely.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that help us manage invoicing, financial records, and tax obligations.
IT and cloud service providers that support secure data storage, email, and business administration.
Scheduling or customer management tools used to organise appointments and service records.
Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors where necessary.

Where we use processors, we ensure they only act on our instructions, keep data secure, and comply with applicable data protection standards. If data is shared with any external party in a legal or safety context, that party will process it under its own obligations.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of information and the reason it is held.

Enquiry and quotation records are generally retained for a limited period after the enquiry ends.
Customer and service records may be retained for the duration of the relationship and for a reasonable period after completion of work.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Complaint, dispute, or claim records may be kept longer where necessary to resolve issues or defend legal claims.

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

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality expectations, and careful vetting of service providers.

While we work hard to protect your information, no system is completely risk-free. If a data incident occurs, we will act promptly to investigate, mitigate harm, and notify affected individuals or regulators where required by law.

7. Your Rights

You have important rights regarding your personal data. Subject to legal limits, these rights may include:

Right of access to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure in certain circumstances, also known as the right to be forgotten.
Right to restriction to limit how we use your data in some situations.
Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability for data you provided to us in certain structured, commonly used formats.
Right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will review your request and respond within the time allowed by law. We may need to verify your identity before responding to protect your data.

8. International Transfers

In most cases, your data is processed within the UK. If any service provider stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place so that your information remains protected to the standard required by data protection law.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are not aimed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a property, family, or guardianship arrangement and lawful processing conditions are met. Where relevant, we handle such data with extra care.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal duties, or data handling practices. The most current version will apply to your use of our services. We encourage customers in Tottenham and the surrounding area to review this policy periodically.

11. Summary of Our Commitments

We collect only the data needed to provide tree surgery services and manage our business.
We process data lawfully, fairly, and transparently.
We keep data only for as long as necessary.
We use trusted processors under appropriate safeguards.
We respect your data protection rights and respond to valid requests.

Tree Surgeons Tottenham is committed to protecting your privacy and treating your information with care. This policy applies to all customers in the Tottenham area and is designed to ensure your personal data is handled responsibly at every stage of our service relationship.