Privacy Policy - Man With Van Downham

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Downham collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing removal, transport, and related services. It applies to all Man With Van Downham customers in the area, including individuals, households, landlords, tenants, and business customers who use our services. 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.

By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this policy. We only collect information that is necessary for legitimate business purposes and we take reasonable measures to protect it from misuse, loss, or unauthorised access.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on the service requested and how you interact with us. The information collected may include:

Identity details: your name, title, and any business or household name you provide.
Contact details: phone number, email address, and service address details needed to carry out the move or collection.
Booking and service information: dates, times, job instructions, inventory lists, access notes, and property details relevant to the service.
Payment information: billing details, payment confirmations, and transaction records. We do not keep more payment information than is necessary for accounting and record-keeping.
Communication records: emails, messages, notes from calls, and any feedback or complaints you submit.
Technical and usage data: limited information that may be collected when you visit a digital platform used to enquire about or manage a booking, such as device type, browser type, or basic log data.
Special category data: we do not normally seek to collect special category personal data. If such information is provided to us incidentally, for example through access requirements or personal circumstances, we will only process it where necessary and appropriate safeguards are in place.

We generally collect personal data directly from you, but we may also receive it from third parties where required to deliver the service, such as a landlord, property manager, business representative, or another person authorised to make a booking on your behalf.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data only where it is necessary for legitimate operational, legal, or administrative purposes. This includes:

processing enquiries and booking requests;
providing moving, transport, packing, and related services;
planning routes, scheduling staff, and allocating resources;
preparing quotations, invoices, and records;
handling payments and account administration;
communicating about service updates, delays, or changes;
responding to complaints, claims, or customer support requests;
maintaining business records for tax, accounting, and regulatory purposes;
protecting our business, customers, and staff from fraud, misuse, or security incidents;
improving our services and operational efficiency.

We do not use personal data for unrelated purposes unless we have a lawful basis to do so and, where required, we have informed you.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. The lawful bases we rely on may include:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging quotations, completing a booking, carrying out the service, and managing related correspondence.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where needed to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as tax record keeping, accounting requirements, insurance-related obligations, and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include service administration, record keeping, improving operations, fraud prevention, and internal audit processes.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where we ask to use information for a purpose that is not covered by another lawful basis. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

We do not normally rely on consent for core service delivery, because most processing is required to perform our contract with you or to comply with legal duties.

4. Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties, sometimes referred to as processors, who help us provide our services or support our operations. These processors only act on our instructions and are required to protect your data.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

payment and invoicing providers;
accounting and bookkeeping software services;
IT hosting, cloud storage, and email service providers;
customer management and communications systems;
professional advisers such as insurers, auditors, or legal advisers;
subcontracted operatives or drivers where required to complete the service;
regulatory bodies, law enforcement, or other authorities where disclosure is required by law.

Where we use processors, we ensure there is a suitable written agreement in place, and we only transfer the minimum personal data necessary for the intended purpose. We do not sell personal data.

5. Data Retention

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

Booking and service records are typically kept for a reasonable period to handle queries, disputes, and business administration.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by applicable accounting and tax laws.
Communication records may be kept for as long as needed to document service history, resolve issues, or demonstrate compliance.
Complaint or claim records may be retained for longer where needed to manage legal risk or insurance matters.

When personal data is no longer required, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise disposed of in a safe manner. We regularly review retention needs to ensure information is not kept longer than necessary.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access to records on a need-to-know basis.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to reduce risk and respond promptly if we become aware of any suspected data incident.

7. Your Rights

Depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing, you may have the following rights under data protection law:

Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of personal data in certain situations.
Right to restriction: to request limited use of your data in certain situations.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to data portability: to receive certain information in a usable format where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
Right to withdraw consent: where consent is used as the lawful basis, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to complain to the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you are unhappy with how your personal data has been handled. We encourage customers to raise concerns so that we can address them promptly.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults or for persons acting on behalf of adult customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data directly from children, and we do not intentionally use children’s data except where it is provided incidentally and is necessary for the service.

9. International Transfers

Where any processor stores or accesses data outside the UK, we take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include approved contractual protections or equivalent legal mechanisms designed to keep personal data protected to an adequate standard.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data protection practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is posted or otherwise communicated. We recommend reviewing it periodically to remain informed about how your personal data is handled.

11. Summary of Key Points

We collect only the personal data needed to provide and manage our services.
We process data on the basis of contract, legal obligation, legitimate interests, and in limited cases consent.
We share data only with trusted processors and other parties where necessary.
We retain information only as long as needed or required by law.
Customers have rights over their personal data, including access, correction, deletion, and objection.

Man With Van Downham is committed to respecting your privacy and handling data responsibly. This policy is intended to give clear, practical information about our data processing practices so that customers in the area can understand how their information is used and protected.