Privacy Policy
We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and the rights you have under UK data protection law.
Your privacy is important to us. Apex Gardening & Cleaning Services ("Apex", "we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting and respecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and the rights you have under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Who We Are
Apex Gardening & Cleaning Services provides domestic cleaning, housekeeping, gardening and horticultural services to private households across England.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, Apex is the "data controller" of any personal information you share with us. This means we are responsible for deciding how your data is collected and used.
- Phone: 07496 039744
- Email: Apexcleaning.gardening@outlook.com
What This Policy Covers
This Privacy Policy applies to:
- Visitors to our website at apexcleaningandgardeningservices.co.uk
- People who contact us by phone, email, or our online enquiry form
- Existing and prospective customers who book or enquire about our services
- People who interact with us on social media in relation to our services
It does not cover third-party websites we link to. If you follow a link to another site, we recommend reviewing that site's own privacy policy.
Information We Collect
We only collect personal information that we genuinely need to provide our services and respond to you. This may include:
- Identity & contact details: name, address, postcode, email, phone number.
- Service details: property type, services requested, preferred frequency, access arrangements, allergies or sensitivities you tell us about, and any specific notes about your home or garden.
- Booking & payment records: service history, invoices, payment references, and correspondence relating to your bookings.
- Communications: the content of emails, messages, voicemails or any other correspondence you send us, and our replies.
- Technical information: when you visit our website, we automatically collect limited technical data such as IP address, browser type, device type, pages viewed, and the referring website. This is used in aggregate form for site improvement and security.
We do not collect special-category data (such as health, ethnicity, or religious beliefs) unless you voluntarily share it (for example, mentioning an allergy that affects which cleaning products we should use). Where you do share such information, we treat it with extra care and use it only for the purpose you provided it.
How We Collect Your Information
We collect personal data through the following channels:
- Direct interactions — when you fill in our enquiry form, call us, email us, or send us a message on social media.
- During service delivery — when we discuss your requirements, provide quotes, schedule visits, or carry out work at your property.
- Through our website — automatic technical data via cookies and similar technologies (see Section 9).
- From third parties — for example, if a friend or family member books on your behalf or refers you to us. Where we receive your details from a third party, we will tell you this on first contact.
How We Use Your Data
We use your personal information for the following purposes:
- To respond to your enquiries and provide you with quotes.
- To schedule, manage and deliver the cleaning or gardening services you have booked.
- To process invoices and payments, and keep accurate financial records.
- To communicate with you about your booking, including confirmations, reminders, and any changes that affect your visit.
- To respond to questions, complaints or feedback.
- To improve our services, train our team, and ensure the safety and quality of our work.
- To comply with legal, accounting and insurance obligations.
We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making or profiling.
Lawful Basis for Processing
UK GDPR requires us to identify a lawful basis for processing your data. We rely on the following:
- Contract — when processing is necessary to provide the services you have asked us to deliver (or to take steps before entering into a contract, such as preparing a quote).
- Legitimate interests — for activities such as keeping records of services, preventing fraud, ensuring health and safety on site, and improving how we operate. We balance these interests against your rights and freedoms.
- Legal obligation — for accounting, tax, insurance, and other regulatory requirements.
- Consent — where you have explicitly opted in (for example, to receive marketing communications). You can withdraw consent at any time.
Sharing Your Data & Third Parties
We do not sell your personal information to anyone, ever. We share data only where necessary to run our business or comply with the law. This may include:
- Service providers who help us run our business — such as our email host (Microsoft Outlook), website host, payment providers, and accounting software. These providers only access data to perform their role and are bound by contracts that require them to protect your information.
- Insurers — in the event of a claim or incident relating to a service we provided.
- Professional advisers such as accountants and legal advisers, where reasonably required.
- Authorities — where we are legally required to disclose information (for example, to HMRC, law enforcement, or in response to a court order).
Your data stays in the UK / EEA where possible. Some of our service providers (such as Microsoft) may transfer data outside the UK. Where this happens, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or adequacy decisions.
How Long We Keep Your Data
We only keep your personal information for as long as we need it. Typical retention periods are:
- Enquiries that don't lead to a booking: up to 12 months, then deleted unless you've asked to remain on our list.
- Active customer records: for the duration of our working relationship plus 6 years afterwards, in line with HMRC requirements for financial records.
- Insurance & complaint records: up to 6 years from the date of the incident or last correspondence.
- Marketing preferences: kept on record for as long as you remain subscribed, plus a short period afterwards to honour unsubscribe requests.
Once these periods expire, we securely delete or anonymise the data.
Cookies & Tracking
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to function correctly and to help us understand how visitors use the site. Cookies are small files saved to your device when you visit a website.
We use the following types:
- Strictly necessary cookies — required for the site to work, such as security and form-handling cookies. These cannot be turned off.
- Analytics cookies — to understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it (for example, which pages are most viewed).
- Functional cookies — to remember preferences such as form data while you browse.
You can control cookies in your browser settings or through any cookie banner shown on our site. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may affect how parts of the site function. For more detail please see our Cookie Policy.
Data Security
We take security seriously. We have appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, or disclosure. These include:
- Secure email and password-protected accounts for any system that holds your data.
- Restricting access to personal information to staff who need it to do their job.
- Using reputable, security-vetted service providers (such as Microsoft) for email and storage.
- Securely disposing of paper records and digital files when no longer needed.
While we take all reasonable precautions, no transmission over the internet is ever fully secure. Where we are aware of a personal data breach that is likely to affect your rights, we will notify you and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) where required by law.
Your Rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:
- Right of access — to ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Right to rectification — to ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Right to erasure — to ask us to delete your personal data, where we no longer have a lawful reason to keep it.
- Right to restrict processing — to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
- Right to data portability — to receive a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format, or to ask us to transfer it to another provider.
- Right to object — to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, or to direct marketing.
- Right to withdraw consent — where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 14. We will respond within one calendar month.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.
Children's Privacy
Our services are aimed at adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the services we offer, or legal requirements. The most recent version will always be available on this page, and the "Last updated" date at the top will reflect the latest revision.
Where changes are significant, we will give you reasonable notice — for example, by email if you are an active customer.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise your data protection rights, or simply want to know more about how we look after your information, please get in touch.
- Phone: 07496 039744
- Email: Apexcleaning.gardening@outlook.com
- Coverage: households across England
We're happy to help, just get in touch.
If you'd like a copy of the data we hold, want something corrected or deleted, or have any other question about your privacy, our friendly team will be happy to help.