Privacy Policy - Tree Surgeons Forestgate

Tree Surgeons Forestgate is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share personal information when we provide tree surgery and related services. It applies to all Tree Surgeons Forestgate customers in the area, including prospective customers, existing customers, and anyone who interacts with us in connection with our services.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Tree Surgeons Forestgate acts as the data controller for the personal information we collect and use in connection with our services. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed. We are responsible for ensuring that your information is handled in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data, depending on the services you request or how you interact with us:

Identity information such as your name and title.
Contact details such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Property information relevant to the work requested, including access details, site notes, and service location.
Service and job information including quotations, bookings, work instructions, invoices, and records of services provided.
Communication records such as emails, messages, call notes, and complaint correspondence.
Payment and transaction details where needed to process payments and maintain financial records.
Technical information such as basic device or browser data if you contact us electronically, where relevant for security or performance purposes.
Any other information you choose to provide when making an enquiry, requesting a quote, or giving feedback.

We aim to collect only the information that is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We do not intentionally collect more data than we need to deliver our services and meet our legal obligations.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To assess service requirements and arrange site visits.
To deliver tree surgery and related services safely and effectively.
To manage bookings, invoices, payments, and records.
To communicate with you about your appointment, job status, or any follow-up matters.
To deal with complaints, disputes, or insurance-related issues.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations.
To improve our services, operations, and customer experience.
To protect our business, staff, customers, and property from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

Where appropriate, we may also use data in a limited and proportionate way to maintain business records and support quality assurance.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. We rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotations at your request, delivering agreed services, handling bookings, and issuing invoices.

Legal Obligation

We may process your information where necessary to comply with legal requirements, such as accounting, tax record-keeping, health and safety obligations, and other statutory duties.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing customer records, improving services, preventing fraud, and maintaining secure business operations.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for a specific optional purpose. If we do rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

We only process personal data when we have a valid reason to do so, and we ensure that the processing is proportionate to the purpose for which it is collected.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this policy. These parties act as processors or independent controllers, depending on the service they provide. Processors only handle your data on our instructions and must take appropriate security measures.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

Accounting and bookkeeping providers for financial administration.
IT and cloud service providers for secure storage, communication, and system support.
Payment service providers for taking and processing payments.
Customer management or scheduling systems used to manage enquiries and appointments.
Professional advisers such as solicitors, insurers, or auditors where required.
Subcontractors or specialist tradespeople only where needed to complete a job you have requested.

We may also disclose personal data if required to do so by law, to comply with a court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Tree Surgeons Forestgate, our staff, customers, or others.

We do not sell your personal data.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. The retention period will depend on the type of data and the reason we hold it.

Customer and job records are generally retained for as long as needed to provide services and maintain business history.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Communication records are retained for a reasonable period to manage enquiries, disputes, or follow-up matters.
Technical or security data is kept only as long as needed for operational or protective purposes.

When data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. Retention is always reviewed in line with legal obligations and business need.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and legal basis for processing:

Right of access – you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – in some cases, you can ask us to delete your personal data.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing where applicable.
Right to data portability – in some cases, you can request your data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in line with applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request. Please note that some rights may be limited where we have a lawful reason to continue processing data, such as compliance with legal obligations or the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims.

8. Security of Your Information

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include secure systems, access controls, and procedures designed to reduce the risk of accidental or unlawful processing. While no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, we take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold.

9. International Transfers

Where a processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with data protection law. Any such transfers will be made only where permitted and supported by adequate protections.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or operational practices. Any updates will take effect when published in the revised version. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we use personal data.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Tree Surgeons Forestgate respects your privacy and is committed to processing your personal data responsibly. We collect only necessary information, use it for clear and lawful purposes, share it only where required, and keep it only for as long as needed. Our aim is to maintain transparency and ensure that all customers in the area can trust us to handle their information with care, security, and respect.