Man with Van Swiss Cottage Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Man with Van Swiss Cottage collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to individuals who use our services in the Swiss Cottage area and surrounding locations. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the EU General Data Protection Regulation, together referred to in this document as GDPR.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Man with Van Swiss Cottage customers in our service area, as well as prospective customers who contact us to enquire about our services.

Who we are and scope of this policy

Man with Van Swiss Cottage is a local removal and transport service provider. In the context of GDPR, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and process about our customers and potential customers. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data.

By using our services or by contacting us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, and any changes will apply from the date they are published.

Personal data we collect

We collect and process only the personal data that is necessary to provide and manage our services. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details such as full name, address, collection and delivery addresses, and other contact information you choose to provide.

Service and booking details such as requested dates and times for moves, details of the items to be moved, access information, and any special instructions you provide.

Communication records such as messages, enquiries, and any information you provide when you contact us to ask questions, request a quote, or make a booking.

Payment and transaction details such as the amount charged, payment status, and basic payment confirmations. We do not store full card details if you pay by card; these are handled securely by our chosen payment processor.

Technical and usage information such as basic information about how you reached our website, device and browser types, and general usage data, where this is collected through cookies or similar technologies. Any such collection is limited to what is necessary for the operation and security of our website and to understand general service usage.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our services including handling enquiries, preparing and sending quotes, confirming bookings, planning routes, and completing moves.

To communicate with you including responding to your questions, confirming booking details, providing updates about your move, and handling any after-service queries or complaints.

To process payments and manage accounts including issuing invoices or receipts, handling payment queries, and maintaining appropriate records for our accounting and tax obligations.

To improve our services including reviewing feedback, analysing general usage trends, and maintaining the security and performance of our website and systems.

To comply with legal and regulatory obligations including obligations relating to tax, accounting, health and safety, and the prevention and detection of fraud or other unlawful activities.

Lawful basis for processing

Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. The main lawful bases we rely on are:

Contract. We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as when you request a quote, confirm a booking, or engage us to provide removal or transport services.

Legal obligation. We process certain information because we are legally required to do so, for example for tax, accounting, and regulatory compliance purposes.

Legitimate interests. We process some personal data for our legitimate business interests, such as improving our services, ensuring the security of our systems, and dealing with customer enquiries or complaints. When relying on legitimate interests, we consider your rights and interests and ensure that they do not override our own.

Consent. In some limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example if we choose to send you certain types of marketing communications. Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

Data retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and in line with legal and regulatory requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the context in which it was provided.

In general, we will retain booking and transaction data for a period required by law for accounting and tax purposes. Communication records and enquiry details may be kept for a reasonable period to allow us to respond to queries, manage disputes, and improve our services.

After the relevant retention period has expired, we will either delete or anonymise your personal data in a secure manner.

Data sharing and processors

We do not sell your personal data and we do not share it with third parties for them to use for their own independent marketing purposes.

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These include:

IT and hosting providers who help us operate our website, email systems, and other digital tools.

Payment processors who handle card payments and other electronic payment methods securely on our behalf.

Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers, where necessary for the operation of our business and compliance with legal obligations.

Where we use data processors, we ensure there are appropriate contracts in place that require them to process your personal data only according to our instructions, to provide adequate security, and to comply with applicable data protection laws.

We may also disclose personal data where required to do so by law or where we reasonably believe that such action is necessary to comply with legal proceedings, respond to requests from public authorities, or protect our rights, property, or safety or that of our customers or others.

International transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we take steps to ensure that an adequate level of protection is in place, for example by using standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards, in accordance with GDPR requirements.

Security of your personal data

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access.

Measures may include restricted access to personal data, secure storage, encryption for certain types of information, and regular review of our security procedures. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Your data protection rights

Under GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. These include:

Right of access. You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data, and to request a copy of that data, together with certain information about how it is used.

Right to rectification. You have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you is corrected or completed.

Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, or where you have withdrawn consent and we have no other legal basis for processing.

Right to restriction. You may request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we consider an objection you have raised.

Right to object. You have the right to object to processing of your personal data based on our legitimate interests, and we will stop such processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or where the processing is for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.

Right to data portability. Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and to transmit it to another controller, where technically feasible.

Right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you can withdraw your consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before it was withdrawn.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority if you believe that your rights have been infringed. In the United Kingdom, this is the Information Commissioners Office. If you are located elsewhere, you may contact your local supervisory authority.

Contact and further information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, about how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, you can contact us using the contact details provided on our website or other service communications.

This Privacy Policy is intended to provide clear and concise information about how we handle personal data for all Man with Van Swiss Cottage customers in our service area. We encourage you to review it regularly so that you remain informed about how we protect your privacy.