Privacy Policy - Tree Surgeons Deptford

This Privacy Policy explains how Tree Surgeons Deptford collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data when providing tree surgery and related services. It applies to all Tree Surgeons Deptford customers in the area, including residential, commercial, and public-sector clients who request quotations, book services, or otherwise interact with us. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Tree Surgeons Deptford provides tree care services such as pruning, dismantling, stump grinding, site clearance, surveys, and other related arboricultural work. In the course of delivering these services, we may act as a data controller for the personal information you provide to us. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the information necessary to manage enquiries, deliver services, meet legal obligations, and maintain accurate business records. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identity details, such as your name or the name of your business or organisation.
Contact details, such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Property and service information, including details about the site, trees, access requirements, and work requested.
Billing and payment records, where relevant to invoicing and account management.
Communications, including enquiries, instructions, feedback, complaints, and correspondence.
Technical information, such as limited website or device data if you interact with our digital systems, where applicable.
Photographs and site records, when needed to assess work, document completion, or support safety and compliance.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and there is a lawful basis to do so. If such data is ever shared with us incidentally, we will treat it with additional care and only process it where appropriate safeguards are in place.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To arrange, manage, and deliver tree surgery services.
To assess site conditions, safety requirements, and access arrangements.
To issue invoices, process payments, and manage accounts.
To keep records of work carried out and customer instructions.
To meet legal, regulatory, insurance, and tax obligations.
To handle complaints, claims, or disputes.
To improve service quality, internal administration, and operational planning.

We only use personal information for the purposes described in this policy or for purposes that are reasonably compatible with them.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis before processing your personal data. The lawful bases we rely on may include:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, or to perform a contract for tree surgery or related services. This includes providing quotes, scheduling work, and managing service delivery.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data where required to comply with legal duties, including accounting, tax, health and safety, insurance, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include maintaining business records, improving services, protecting against fraud, and managing customer communications.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you have actively agreed to receive certain non-essential communications. Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing Your Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties, but only where necessary and appropriate. These may include:

Processors who support our business operations, such as bookkeeping, administrative, IT, or storage services.
Insurance providers and professional advisers, where needed for claims or compliance.
Regulatory authorities, law enforcement, or other public bodies where disclosure is required by law.
Subcontractors or specialist service providers involved in delivering part of the work, where relevant.

Where we use third-party processors, they are only permitted to act on our instructions and must implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures. They are not allowed to use your data for their own purposes.

6. International Transfers

We aim to keep personal data within the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area where possible. If data is transferred outside these regions, we will take steps to ensure an adequate level of protection, such as using approved contractual safeguards or relying on an adequacy decision, where applicable.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of record and the reason it was created.

Customer enquiry records may be retained for a limited period to manage follow-up and service history.
Contract and invoice records are typically kept for legal, tax, and accounting purposes.
Site notes, job records, and photographs may be retained where needed to demonstrate work completed, support safety, or deal with claims.

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

8. Data Security

We take appropriate measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and limited sharing on a need-to-know basis. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to apply safeguards that are suitable to the nature of the information we process.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may include:

The right of access to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
The right to rectification to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
The right to erasure in certain circumstances, also known as the right to be forgotten.
The right to restrict processing where you want limits placed on how we use your data.
The right to data portability in certain situations, allowing you to receive your data in a usable format.
The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Rights in relation to automated decision-making, where applicable.

These rights are not absolute and may depend on the legal basis for processing and other legal requirements. We will respond to valid requests in accordance with applicable law.

10. How to Exercise Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please provide enough information for us to verify your identity and locate the relevant data. We may need to keep a record of your request and our response for compliance purposes. Requests are handled within the time limits set by law, usually within one month, unless the matter is complex or there are multiple requests.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are directed to adults, businesses, property owners, and authorised representatives. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary for a service request and provided by a responsible adult or lawful guardian. If we become aware that we have collected a child’s data inappropriately, we will take steps to delete it or handle it in line with legal requirements.

12. Complaints

If you are concerned about how your data has been handled, we encourage you to raise the issue so it can be reviewed and addressed. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s supervisory authority for data protection matters.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how your personal data is used.

Tree Surgeons Deptford values your privacy and is committed to processing personal data responsibly, securely, and only where there is a valid reason to do so. By using our services, you acknowledge that your information may be handled as described in this policy and in accordance with applicable data protection law.