Chelsea Cleaners Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Chelsea Cleaners collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers in our service area, and describes your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation and applicable UK data protection laws. It applies to all Chelsea Cleaners customers within our operating area, whether you contact us in person, by post, online, or through any other communication channel.
1. Who This Policy Applies To
This Privacy Policy applies to individuals who use Chelsea Cleaners services, including but not limited to dry cleaning, laundry, alterations, and related services. It covers personal data collected directly from you and personal data we receive indirectly, for example through third-party delivery partners acting on your instructions. By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
2. Types of Personal Data We Collect
We only collect personal data that is necessary for the provision and administration of our services. The categories of data we may collect include:
Identity and contact information: name, postal address, billing address, collection or delivery address, and other basic contact details you provide to us.
Account and transaction information: customer account identifiers, order history, invoices, payment records, and information relating to garments or items you bring to us, such as care instructions or special handling details.
Payment information: limited payment details required to process your transactions. If you pay by card, core card data may be processed securely by our payment processors; we do not store full card details on our own systems.
Communication data: records of communications between you and Chelsea Cleaners, including queries, complaints, feedback, and any notes we make to help manage our relationship with you.
Technical and usage information: where relevant, information about how you use our website or online services, such as device identifiers, approximate location, and pages visited, collected through logs or similar technologies.
3. Lawful Bases for Processing
Chelsea Cleaners processes personal data only when we have a valid legal basis under data protection law. Depending on the context, we rely on the following lawful bases:
Performance of a contract: we process your personal data to enter into and fulfil our contract with you, including receiving, cleaning, altering, and returning your garments or items, managing your account, and handling payments.
Legal obligations: we process certain data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including tax and accounting rules, record-keeping duties, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.
Legitimate interests: we process personal data to pursue our legitimate business interests, provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. Examples include improving our services, maintaining security, preventing fraud, and managing business operations.
Consent: in limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example to send you certain marketing communications where consent is required. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
4. How We Use Your Personal Data
We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:
To provide services: receiving and managing orders, carrying out cleaning, alterations or related services, and arranging collection or delivery.
To manage customer relationships: creating and maintaining customer records, dealing with enquiries or complaints, and providing customer support.
To process payments and billing: issuing invoices, processing payments, handling refunds, and managing any disputes related to payments.
To communicate with you: sending service-related notifications, such as order confirmations, service updates, and essential information about our operations or changes to this Privacy Policy.
To improve and secure our services: analysing service usage, reviewing feedback, maintaining security, and developing our operations and customer experience.
To meet legal and regulatory requirements: keeping accurate books and records, complying with tax and accounting obligations, and responding to lawful requests from authorities.
5. Data Retention
Chelsea Cleaners retains personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. We consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the data, the potential risk from unauthorised use or disclosure, and the applicable legal obligations.
Customer account and transaction records are typically retained for a period required by tax and accounting laws. After the applicable retention period expires, we will either delete your personal data securely or irreversibly anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with you.
Where we rely on your consent for specific processing purposes, we will retain your data for as long as your consent remains valid and for a reasonable period afterwards to demonstrate compliance, unless you withdraw your consent earlier.
6. Sharing and Use of Data Processors
We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. These parties act either as independent controllers or as data processors under our instructions.
Data processors: we engage trusted service providers to carry out certain functions on our behalf. These may include payment processing, accounting support, secure data storage, information technology services, and, where applicable, delivery and logistics partners. When we rely on processors, we ensure that appropriate data processing agreements are in place, requiring them to handle your personal data securely, confidentially, and only in accordance with our instructions.
Other recipients: we may share personal data with professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers, and with public authorities or regulators when we are legally required to do so or when it is necessary to protect our rights, customers, staff, or property.
International transfers: if any of our processors transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent measures required under data protection law.
7. Data Security
Chelsea Cleaners takes appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. Measures may include access controls, secure storage, appropriate encryption or pseudonymisation where suitable, regular review of security practices, and staff training in data protection principles.
While we strive to protect your personal data, no system can be completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security but are committed to continually reviewing and enhancing our protections.
8. Your Data Protection Rights
Under the GDPR and applicable data protection laws, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. These rights apply to all Chelsea Cleaners customers in our service area, subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions:
Right of access: you can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data, together with information about how we use it.
Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate personal data or to complete data that is incomplete.
Right to erasure: in certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example when it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected or when you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis to continue processing.
Right to restriction of processing: you can request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in specific situations, such as when you contest the accuracy of the data or object to processing and we are considering your request.
Right to data portability: when processing is based on your consent or on a contract and carried out by automated means, you may request to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have it transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to object: you can object at any time to processing based on our legitimate interests, including certain forms of profiling. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms or where processing is required for legal claims.
Rights related to consent: where we rely on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe that our processing of your personal data infringes applicable data protection laws. We encourage you to contact us first so we can address your concerns where possible.
9. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data protection practices. When we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to bring the updated policy to your attention. The revised version will apply from the date it is issued.
10. Contact and Further Information
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, how Chelsea Cleaners handles your personal data, or if you wish to exercise your data protection rights, you can contact us using the details made available through our usual customer communication channels or at our physical premises in our service area. We will respond to your request as soon as reasonably practicable and in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
