Privacy Policy - Waste Removal London

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Removal London collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Waste Removal London customers in the area, including individuals, households, landlords, tenants, and business customers who use our waste collection, removal, disposal, and related services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Waste Removal London acts as the data controller for personal data we collect directly from customers, prospective customers, and website users where applicable. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data. We take our obligations seriously and maintain appropriate policies, procedures, and technical safeguards to protect the information entrusted to us.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity data such as your name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact data such as your address, phone number, and email address.
Service details such as property access notes, collection preferences, waste type, booking history, and service instructions.
Payment data such as billing address, transaction records, and partial payment details. We do not store full card details where a payment processor handles them on our behalf.
Communication data such as messages, call records, complaints, and customer support correspondence.
Technical data where applicable, including device information, IP address, and usage information when you interact with our digital services.
Legal and compliance data such as records required for tax, accounting, insurance, licensing, or regulatory purposes.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you have provided it in a lawful context, or it is otherwise required for a specific legal purpose. Please avoid sharing sensitive personal information unless it is essential to your enquiry or service request.

3. How We Use Your Data

We process personal data only when we have a valid legal reason to do so. We may use your data to:

provide waste removal and related services;
manage bookings, scheduling, and service delivery;
communicate with you about appointments, changes, or service issues;
issue invoices, take payments, and manage accounts;
respond to customer queries, complaints, and claims;
maintain business records and support internal administration;
meet legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory requirements;
protect our business, staff, customers, and property from fraud or misuse;
improve our services and customer experience.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, every processing activity must have a lawful basis. Waste Removal London relies on the following lawful bases, depending on the context:

a) Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to perform our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. This includes processing booking details, service addresses, and payment-related information needed to deliver the service.

b) Legal Obligation

We may process data where necessary to comply with legal obligations, including accounting, tax, record-keeping, waste transfer documentation, and other regulatory requirements.

c) Legitimate Interests

We may process data for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include service improvement, fraud prevention, internal administration, and handling customer enquiries. We always consider whether the processing is necessary and proportionate.

d) Consent

Where required by law, we rely on your consent. If we ask for consent, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These third parties act as processors when they process data on our instructions, or as independent controllers where they decide their own purposes. We only share data where necessary and ensure appropriate contractual protections are in place.

Processors and service providers may include:

Payment processors that handle secure payment transactions;
IT and hosting providers that support secure data storage, email systems, or operational software;
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that support invoicing and financial records;
Customer support and communications tools used to manage service enquiries;
Professional advisers such as lawyers, insurers, and auditors where required;
Regulatory or public authorities where we are legally required to disclose information.

All processors are required to protect personal data, act only on our instructions, and implement appropriate security measures. We do not sell your personal data.

6. International Transfers

If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms permitted under UK data protection law.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, insurance, and reporting requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

In general:

customer and service records are kept for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterward;
financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law;
complaints, claims, and dispute records may be retained for longer where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims;
data no longer needed is securely deleted, anonymised, or destroyed.

We regularly review retention needs to ensure we do not keep personal data longer than necessary.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal limits or exemptions depending on the circumstances.

Right of access – you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – in some cases, you can ask us to delete your data.
Right to restriction – you can request that we limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to data portability – you can ask for data you provided to us to be transferred to you or another controller where applicable.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing where relevant.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing relies on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with applicable law and may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

9. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and supplier due diligence. While no system is completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the risks involved.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where a parent, guardian, or lawful representative provides information as part of arranging a service. If we become aware that we have collected data inappropriately, we will take steps to delete it where required.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or operational practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Waste Removal London is committed to protecting your privacy and processing your personal data responsibly. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, retain it for no longer than necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We also respect your rights and aim to make our data handling transparent, fair, and secure at every stage.