Waste Removal Westminster Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Removal Westminster collects, uses, shares, and protects personal data relating to our waste removal and associated services. It applies to all Waste Removal Westminster customers and prospective customers located in our Westminster service area, including individuals, households, landlords, businesses, and organisations who contact us, request a quote, or use our services.

We are committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy should be read carefully so that you understand what data we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and what rights you have.

Who We Are and How To Contact Us

Waste Removal Westminster is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed when you deal with us as a customer or prospective customer in the Westminster area.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, or wish to exercise your data protection rights, you may contact us using our standard customer service contact details provided on our website or on your invoice or booking confirmation.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and which of our services you use. This may include:

Identification and contact details: name, title, address, service address, billing address, email address, telephone number, and any other contact details you provide.

Service and booking information: details of your waste removal needs, property type, access notes, preferred dates and times, job notes, photographs you send us in connection with a quote, and records of services provided.

Payment and transaction data: payment method, partial card details as processed via our payment provider, bank details where relevant for refunds, invoice records, amounts paid, outstanding balances, and payment history.

Communication data: emails, messages sent via online forms, phone call notes, complaints, feedback, reviews, and any correspondence you send us or that we send to you.

Technical and usage data: when you visit our website, we may collect technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, and how you interact with our online booking or contact forms. We may also use cookies or similar technologies for essential website operation and to improve our services.

Special category data: we do not intentionally collect special category data such as health information, unless it is strictly necessary for a specific service and you provide it voluntarily, for example, access or safety needs at the property. Where this arises, we will treat it with additional care and only use it for the stated purpose.

Lawful Basis for Processing Your Data

We only process personal data where we have a lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the context, the lawful basis will usually be one or more of the following:

Contract: we process your personal data to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as arranging and delivering waste removal services, providing quotations, managing bookings, issuing invoices, and handling payments and customer support.

Legal obligation: we process data where it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, including tax and accounting requirements, waste disposal regulations, and record-keeping obligations.

Legitimate interests: we process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. These interests may include improving our services, ensuring the security of our systems and vehicles, preventing fraud, managing customer relationships, and handling queries and complaints.

Consent: in certain situations we may rely on your consent, for example for specific types of marketing communications where consent is required by law. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time using the contact details provided or by using any opt-out instructions in a message.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations for waste removal services in the Westminster area.

To set up, schedule, manage, and complete waste removal and related services at your premises.

To process payments, issue invoices and receipts, manage direct debits or card payments, and handle refunds where required.

To communicate with you about your bookings, changes to services, safety information, and essential updates.

To maintain accurate business and financial records for accounting, auditing, and regulatory compliance.

To improve our services, including monitoring service quality, training staff, and developing new service offerings.

To manage and resolve feedback, disputes, queries, or complaints.

To send relevant service-related information and, where permitted, marketing communications that may be of interest to you, which you can opt out of at any time.

Data Sharing and Processors

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. In each case, we share only the minimum data required and ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place.

Service providers and processors: we may use external companies to provide services on our behalf, such as IT hosting and support, website and booking platform providers, payment processors, customer relationship management tools, email and SMS service providers, and subcontracted waste collection crews where necessary to fulfil your booking. These companies act as data processors and are required to process your data only in accordance with our instructions and with appropriate technical and organisational security measures.

Professional advisers: we may share data with our accountants, auditors, legal advisers, or insurers where necessary for legitimate business purposes and compliance.

Authorities and regulators: we may disclose personal data where required to comply with legal obligations, court orders, or requests from regulatory or law enforcement bodies, including in relation to waste disposal compliance or fraud prevention.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as is reasonably necessary to achieve the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Customer and service records: in most cases, we retain records of services provided, invoices, and key communications for up to seven years after the end of our relationship with you, to comply with tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations and for the establishment or defence of legal claims.

Enquiries and quotes: where you request a quote but do not proceed, we may retain your contact and enquiry details for up to two years to respond to any follow-up queries and to manage our records.

Marketing data: where you have consented to receive marketing communications, we will retain your contact details until you withdraw consent or object to such processing, after which we will securely remove or suppress your details for marketing purposes while retaining limited information necessary to respect your preferences.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with you.

International Data Transfers

In some cases, personal data may be stored or accessed outside the United Kingdom, for example where our service providers operate internationally. Where this occurs, we take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as using service providers located in countries with an adequacy decision or implementing standard contractual clauses or equivalent measures to protect your personal data.

Security of Your Data

We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures may include access controls, encryption or pseudonymisation where appropriate, staff training, and regular review of our systems and procedures.

While we work to protect your data, no system can be completely secure. You are responsible for keeping any passwords or access codes confidential and for notifying us promptly if you suspect any unauthorised use of your personal information in connection with our services.

Your Data Protection Rights

As a customer or prospective customer of Waste Removal Westminster in our service area, you have a number of rights under data protection law. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and exemptions. Subject to those, you have the right to:

Access: request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of the data we hold about you.

Rectification: request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

Erasure: request deletion of your personal data where there is no compelling reason for us to continue processing it, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and there is no legal obligation to retain it.

Restriction: request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example while we verify its accuracy or consider an objection you have raised.

Objection: object to our processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests, including profiling based on those interests, and we will consider your request in light of our legitimate grounds.

Data portability: request to receive certain personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller where technically feasible and where the processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.

Withdraw consent: where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using our usual customer contact details. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request and we aim to respond within the timeframes set out in data protection law.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office if you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve your concerns.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, how we process personal data, or changes in applicable law. Any updated version will be made available through our usual communication channels and will take effect from the date of publication. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.