Privacy Policy - Man With A Van Pentonville

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With A Van Pentonville collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with our removals, delivery, and man and van services. It applies to all Man With A Van Pentonville customers in the area, including people who request quotes, make bookings, receive services, or otherwise interact with us. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the information needed to provide our services effectively and to manage our business responsibly. Depending on your interaction with us, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Identity data: name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact data: address, email address, and telephone number.
Service data: details about your move or delivery, including pickup and drop-off locations, property access information, inventory details, preferred dates, and special handling requirements.
Payment data: payment status, billing information, and transaction records. We do not store more payment information than necessary.
Communication data: records of messages, enquiries, complaints, and customer service interactions.
Technical data: basic online usage information such as device type, browser type, and general website interaction data, where applicable.
Verification and security data: information needed to confirm identity, prevent fraud, and protect our services.

We do not intentionally collect special category personal data unless you voluntarily provide it and it is necessary for the service, such as accessibility needs or medical considerations relevant to safe handling. Where this happens, we will only process such data when there is a valid legal basis and appropriate safeguards.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data to run our services, manage customer relationships, and meet legal obligations. Typical uses include:

providing quotes and confirming bookings;
planning and carrying out removals, deliveries, and related services;
contacting you about scheduling, access arrangements, or service updates;
processing payments and managing invoices;
responding to enquiries, feedback, and complaints;
keeping accurate business, accounting, and tax records;
maintaining security, preventing misuse, and investigating incidents;
improving our service quality and customer experience;
meeting regulatory, legal, or insurance requirements.

We only use your data for purposes that are relevant, proportionate, and compatible with the reason it was collected.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the situation, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotations, managing bookings, completing moves, and issuing invoices.

Legitimate Interests

We may process your data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights. Examples include business administration, service improvement, fraud prevention, safeguarding our staff and property, and maintaining records.

Legal Obligation

We process certain data when required to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, including tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping duties.

Consent

In limited situations, we rely on your consent, for example where you have chosen to receive certain optional communications. You can withdraw consent at any time, and this will not affect processing already carried out lawfully before withdrawal.

4. Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties only when necessary and only to the extent required to provide our services or operate our business. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers.

Payment processors: to handle secure payment transactions.
IT and cloud service providers: to store data, manage communications, and support our systems.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers: to support financial administration and tax compliance.
Professional advisers: such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors, where necessary.
Subcontracted transport or labour providers: if required to complete a service you have booked.
Authorities and regulators: where disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect rights, safety, or property.

When we use processors, we require them to process personal data only on our instructions, keep it secure, and comply with data protection law. 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, including for legal, accounting, and insurance requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and why it is held.

Customer and booking records: retained for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and invoice records: retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Communication records: retained as needed to resolve queries, support service history, and defend legal claims.
Security and incident records: retained for as long as necessary to investigate and manage risk.

When data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or destroyed. We review retention periods regularly to ensure that we do not keep data longer than necessary.

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and restricted permissions. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to maintain a high standard of protection.

7. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we take steps to ensure it is protected in accordance with applicable law. This may include using approved contractual safeguards or relying on countries that provide an adequate level of protection.

8. Your Rights

You have rights under data protection law in relation to your personal data. Depending on the circumstances, these may include:

Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: to request transfer of certain data to you or another provider, where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: where consent is the basis for processing, you may withdraw it at any time.

To exercise your rights, you may make a request to us using the usual communication methods available for our services. We may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits required by law.

9. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data, you have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant data protection authority. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter promptly and fairly.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our data handling practices. Any updates will apply from the date they are published. Please review this policy periodically so you remain informed about how we protect your personal data.

This Privacy Policy is intended to be clear, practical, and compliant with applicable data protection law. It confirms our commitment to processing personal data responsibly and only for valid, justified, and necessary purposes in connection with Man With A Van Pentonville services.