Privacy Policy - Tree Surgeons Morden

This Privacy Policy explains how Tree Surgeons Morden collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Tree Surgeons Morden customers in the area, including people who request quotations, book services, receive arboricultural work, or otherwise interact with us in connection with tree surgery services.

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

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the information needed to provide tree surgery and related services, manage customer relationships, fulfil legal obligations, and operate our business effectively. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity information: your name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact details: address, email address, and telephone number.
Property and service information: site address, access details, descriptions of trees or hedges, photographs of the work area, and notes about requested services.
Quotation and booking records: details of requested work, pricing, appointment dates, and service history.
Payment and invoicing information: billing details, payment status, and transaction records.
Communications: emails, messages, call notes, and any other correspondence related to enquiries or services.
Technical data: limited website or device information, such as IP address, browser type, and usage data where relevant to security and website performance.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you choose to provide it. If such information is shared with us incidentally, we will handle it with enhanced care 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 site visits and deliver tree surgery services;
to manage contracts, invoices, and payments;
to keep records of completed work and service history;
to handle customer support, complaints, and follow-up queries;
to comply with health and safety, tax, accounting, and legal requirements;
to maintain business records and protect against fraud or misuse;
to improve the quality and efficiency of our services.

We will only use your personal data where the law allows us to do so. Our processing is based on one or more lawful bases under UK GDPR.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on the following lawful bases for processing personal data:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotes, scheduling work, completing tree surgery services, issuing invoices, and communicating about the service you requested.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain information where required to comply with legal obligations, such as tax laws, accounting rules, insurance requirements, or health and safety regulations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights do not override those interests. This may include managing customer records, improving our services, maintaining security, preventing fraud, and keeping an internal audit trail of completed work.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example if we need permission to use certain optional information. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

4. Sharing Your Information and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These third parties act as data processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We only share information where necessary and always aim to use organisations that provide appropriate security and data protection safeguards.

Examples of processors or recipients may include:

IT and cloud service providers used for data storage, email, scheduling, and document management;
accounting and invoicing systems used to prepare financial records;
payment service providers used to process transactions securely;
professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers when necessary;
subcontractors or specialist contractors where additional expertise is needed for a job;
regulators, authorities, or insurers if disclosure is required by law or to protect our rights.

All processors are expected to process personal data only on our instructions, keep it secure, and not use it for their own unrelated purposes. Where data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

5. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of record and the nature of the service provided.

In general:

quotation and enquiry records may be kept for a reasonable period to manage follow-up and customer service;
service and contract records may be retained for the duration of the business relationship and afterward for legal protection;
financial and tax records are usually kept for the period required by law;
health and safety related records may be retained where necessary to demonstrate compliance and manage risk.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete it, anonymise it, or archive it in line with our retention practices. We do not keep personal data longer than necessary.

6. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights concerning your personal data. Subject to legal limitations, these rights may include:

the right of access to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
the right to rectification to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
the right to erasure to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances;
the right to restriction to limit how we process your data in certain situations;
the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
the right to data portability to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format;
the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how your data is handled.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with applicable law and may ask for information to verify your identity before taking action. These rights are important and we respect them.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, alteration, misuse, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and careful management of electronic and paper records.

Although no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take reasonable steps to safeguard your information and review our practices regularly. Where a data breach poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will take appropriate action in line with legal requirements.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adult customers, property owners, agents, and businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidentally provided in relation to a service request and there is a lawful basis to process it. If we become aware that we have collected child data without a valid reason, we will take steps to delete or anonymise it where appropriate.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or how we process personal data. The latest version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage customers to review the policy periodically so they remain informed about how their information is used.

10. Summary of Our Commitments

In summary, Tree Surgeons Morden processes customer data for clear and limited purposes, on valid lawful bases, and with respect for your rights. We only share information with trusted processors when necessary, keep it for no longer than needed, and protect it using appropriate safeguards. This policy applies to all Tree Surgeons Morden customers in area and reflects our commitment to handling personal information responsibly and transparently.

Privacy, confidentiality, and accountability are central to how we manage customer records, and we aim to ensure every stage of processing is carried out in a lawful and proportionate manner.