Privacy Policy - Cleaninghouse

This Privacy Policy explains how Cleaninghouse collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing cleaning services to customers in the area. It applies to all Cleaninghouse customers in the area, including residential clients, landlords, tenants, and business customers who use our services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent way, in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, as well as other applicable data protection laws.

1. Who we are

Cleaninghouse is a cleaning services provider that arranges and delivers cleaning-related services to customers in the area. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal information we collect and use in connection with our services, unless we are acting on behalf of another organisation under a separate arrangement.

2. Personal data we collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing our services, managing customer relationships, meeting legal obligations, and improving service quality. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identity information such as name, title, and, where relevant, company name.
Contact details such as address, email address, telephone number, and service location.
Service information such as booking details, cleaning preferences, instructions, access arrangements, and service history.
Payment information such as payment method details, billing records, invoices, and transaction status. We do not intentionally store full card details unless this is required by a secure payment processor.
Communications such as emails, messages, notes from customer support, complaints, feedback, and survey responses.
Technical or usage information where applicable, such as basic device, browser, or interaction data used for website security, fraud prevention, or performance monitoring.

We do not seek to collect unnecessary sensitive data. If you choose to provide information that is particularly sensitive, we will only process it where there is a lawful basis and a clear need for it.

3. How we use personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To manage enquiries, quotes, and bookings.
To deliver cleaning services at the agreed location and time.
To maintain service records and customer preferences.
To process payments, invoices, refunds, and account administration.
To communicate about appointments, changes, service issues, or complaints.
To improve service quality, training, and customer experience.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory requirements.
To protect our business, staff, customers, and property, including fraud prevention and security monitoring.

We will only use personal data in ways that are compatible with the purposes for which it was collected, unless we have a lawful basis to use it for another compatible purpose.

4. Lawful basis for processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Cleaninghouse relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, carrying out cleaning services, managing service changes, and processing payments.

Legal obligation

We process certain personal data to comply with legal duties, including tax records, accounting requirements, and other obligations under applicable law.

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 service improvement, customer support, administrative efficiency, business security, preventing misuse, and internal record-keeping.

Consent

Where required, we will rely on consent for specific activities, such as certain marketing communications or optional processing. When we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

Vital interests and public task

These bases are not normally used in the ordinary course of our cleaning services, but may apply in rare circumstances if necessary to protect someone’s life or where required by law.

5. Sharing personal data and processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to provide our services, operate our business, or meet legal requirements. These parties may act as processors or, in some cases, as independent controllers.

Processors may include:

Payment processors that handle secure payment transactions.
IT and software providers that support scheduling, customer administration, data storage, or communication systems.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that help manage invoices, tax records, and financial administration.
Customer support or communication tools that help us manage messages and service requests.
Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary.
Regulators, authorities, or law enforcement where disclosure is required by law or needed to protect rights, safety, or security.

We require processors to protect personal data through appropriate technical and organisational measures and to process data only on our instructions, unless they are independently responsible for their own processing.

We do not sell personal data. If we ever need to transfer data outside the UK or European Economic Area, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses where applicable.

6. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. The exact retention period depends on the type of data and the reason for keeping it.

In general:

Booking and service records are retained for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards for administration, dispute handling, and service history.
Financial and tax-related records are retained for the period required by law.
Customer communications and complaints may be retained for as long as needed to resolve issues and maintain accurate records.
Technical or security logs are retained only as long as necessary for security, troubleshooting, and operational needs.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or otherwise dispose of it in a safe manner.

7. Security of your data

We take the protection of personal data seriously. Cleaninghouse uses appropriate technical and organisational measures to reduce the risk of loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure systems, data minimisation, staff training, and appropriate confidentiality obligations.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the nature of the data we process.

8. Your rights

As a data subject, you have several rights under data protection law. These rights may be subject to certain legal limitations, but we will always respond fairly and transparently. Your rights include:

Right of access

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

Right to rectification

You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

Right to erasure

In some circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal data. This right is not absolute and may not apply where we must keep the data for legal reasons.

Right to restriction

You can request that we limit how we use your personal data in certain situations.

Right to object

You can object to processing based on legitimate interests, and you can object at any time to direct marketing.

Right to data portability

Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may request a copy of your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.

Right to withdraw consent

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Right to complain

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

9. Children’s data

Cleaninghouse services are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidental to providing services requested by an adult customer or where required for household administration. If we learn that we have collected data from a child inappropriately, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

10. Automated decision-making

We do not normally use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects. If this changes, we will update this policy and provide any required information about how such processing works and the rights available to you.

11. 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 protection practices. Any updates will take effect when published or communicated through appropriate channels. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

12. Summary of our commitments

Cleaninghouse is committed to processing personal data in a way that is lawful, fair, transparent, and secure. We collect only the information needed to provide and manage our cleaning services in the area, use it only for clear purposes, retain it only as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We also respect your rights and will work to respond promptly and properly to any valid request.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Cleaninghouse customers in area and is intended to give you a clear understanding of how we handle personal data in connection with our services.