Privacy Policy - Removal Company Hackney

This Privacy Policy explains how Removal Company Hackney collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with our moving, packing, storage, delivery, and related removal services. It applies to all Removal Company Hackney customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who communicates with us in relation to our 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.

By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal information may be processed as described in this Policy. We aim to keep our practices clear and proportionate, collecting only the information needed to deliver and improve our services.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process different categories of personal data depending on the service requested and the way you interact with us. This may include:

Identity information: name, title, and, where necessary, proof of identity.
Contact details: address, email address, telephone number, and correspondence preferences.
Service information: details about the items being moved, moving dates, access instructions, inventory lists, and service requirements.
Payment information: billing details, transaction records, and payment status. We do not retain full card details unless required for payment processing through secure systems.
Communication records: emails, messages, notes from calls, complaint records, and feedback.
Technical information: basic website or device usage data if you contact us through digital channels, such as IP address, browser type, and cookies where applicable.
Special categories of data: only where strictly necessary and usually not sought. If such information is incidentally provided, for example in relation to access needs or vulnerability considerations, we process it with additional care and safeguards.

We do not intentionally collect more data than is required to provide a reliable removal service. Please do not share unnecessary sensitive information unless it is relevant to the service or essential for safety and planning.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotations and assess service requirements;
to arrange, manage, and deliver removal services;
to communicate with you about bookings, schedules, access, and service changes;
to process payments, issue invoices, and maintain accounting records;
to respond to enquiries, complaints, and claims;
to improve our operations, staff training, and service quality;
to comply with legal and regulatory obligations;
to detect and prevent fraud, misuse, or security incidents;
to maintain internal records and service history.

We use personal data only for specified and legitimate purposes. Where we need to use your data for a new purpose that is not compatible with the original reason, we will ensure a lawful basis exists and, where required, provide further notice.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must identify a lawful basis for processing your personal data. Depending on the activity, we rely on one or more of the following:

Performance of a Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to prepare for or perform our contract with you. This includes providing quotes, arranging moves, transporting goods, handling bookings, and administering payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process data to comply with legal requirements, including tax, accounting, insurance, employment, and record-keeping obligations.

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 business administration, service improvement, fraud prevention, customer support, and managing claims. We always assess whether our interests are proportionate and relevant.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where you choose to receive certain optional communications or where consent is required for specific data uses. Where consent is relied upon, you may withdraw it at any time.

Vital Interests

In rare situations, we may process data to protect someone’s vital interests, such as an emergency relating to health or safety during a move.

We do not use personal data for unrelated automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties only where necessary and lawful. These third parties act either as processors or, in limited cases, as independent controllers. Processors handle data on our behalf and only according to our instructions.

Typical processors or service providers may include:

Payment processors for secure transaction handling;
IT and cloud storage providers that support document storage, email, and operational systems;
Accounting and bookkeeping providers for financial administration;
Insurance and claims service providers where a claim or incident must be assessed;
Professional advisers such as legal or tax advisers;
Subcontracted service partners assisting with certain aspects of a move, where required.

All processors are required to keep data secure, process it only for authorised purposes, and implement appropriate technical and organisational safeguards. We do not sell personal data. If data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and dispute-resolution requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason it is held.

Customer and booking records: kept for the duration of the service relationship and a reasonable period afterwards for administration and dispute handling.
Financial records: retained in line with tax and accounting laws.
Correspondence and complaint records: retained for as long as needed to manage the matter and demonstrate proper handling.
Operational data: deleted or anonymised when no longer needed for business purposes.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in a controlled manner. Retention is based on necessity, not convenience.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate security measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure systems, staff confidentiality obligations, and data minimisation practices. Although no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we regularly review our controls and take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal limits, you may have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you;
Rectify inaccurate or incomplete data;
Erase your data in certain circumstances;
Restrict processing in certain situations;
Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
Data portability for data provided by you and processed by automated means under certain conditions;
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data rights have been infringed.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a rights request. Some rights may not apply in every situation, particularly where we must retain information to meet legal obligations or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

8. Third-Party Information and Special Circumstances

In the course of arranging removal services, you may provide information about other people, such as family members, tenants, landlords, building managers, or emergency contacts. If you share third-party personal data with us, you should ensure that you have the authority to do so and, where appropriate, that those individuals are aware of the processing.

Where moves involve vulnerable persons, restricted access, or sensitive property considerations, we may process extra information only to the extent needed to plan and carry out the service safely and responsibly. We apply the same privacy principles of minimisation, security, and necessity to such information.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our data handling practices. Any revised version will take effect when made available. We encourage customers to review this Policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is used.

10. Our Commitment

Removal Company Hackney is committed to processing personal data responsibly and transparently. We aim to balance efficient service delivery with strong privacy protections. If you use our services in the Hackney area, this Policy applies to you and explains how your information is handled throughout the customer journey.

By keeping our collection limited, our processing lawful, and our retention proportionate, we work to protect your privacy while providing dependable removal services. We respect your rights, safeguard your information, and only use it where there is a clear and legitimate purpose.