Privacy Policy - Man With Van Deptford

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Deptford collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing removal and transport services. It applies to all Man With Van Deptford customers in the area, including individuals, households, landlords, tenants, students, and businesses that use our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Man With Van Deptford provides moving, delivery, and related logistics services for customers in Deptford and surrounding areas. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and use in connection with our services. This means we decide why and how your personal data is processed.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for delivering our services, managing customer relationships, meeting legal obligations, and improving our operations. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identity data such as your name and, where relevant, the name of your business or organisation.
Contact data such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information such as the moving date, pickup and delivery locations, access details, property type, inventory notes, and special handling instructions.
Payment and transaction data such as payment confirmation, billing records, and service history.
Communication data such as messages, call notes, complaints, feedback, and correspondence related to your booking or service request.
Technical data such as basic website or device information if you interact with our online systems, where applicable.
Legal and compliance data such as records needed for tax, insurance, or dispute resolution purposes.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you have provided it voluntarily, or we are legally permitted to process it. Special category data includes information about health, ethnicity, religion, or similar sensitive matters.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data only for legitimate operational and legal purposes. Common uses include:

Providing quotations, booking services, and arranging move logistics.
Contacting you about your booking, service changes, or operational updates.
Managing payments, invoicing, and record-keeping.
Handling customer support requests, feedback, and complaints.
Meeting legal, regulatory, accounting, and insurance requirements.
Protecting our business, customers, staff, and property.
Improving our services, processes, and customer experience.

We use a data minimisation approach and only process data that is relevant and necessary for the purpose at hand.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the context, Man With Van Deptford relies on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotes, confirming bookings, carrying out removals, and managing related customer service.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where necessary to comply with legal obligations, including tax rules, accounting requirements, insurance obligations, or lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data for our legitimate business interests, provided these do not override your rights and freedoms. Examples include service administration, fraud prevention, internal record management, and improving operational efficiency.

Consent

Where required by law, we rely on your consent. If we process data based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing carried out before the withdrawal.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to provide our services or meet legal obligations. These parties act either as independent controllers or as processors acting on our behalf.

Examples of processors may include:

Payment service providers that process transactions securely.
IT and cloud service providers that host data or support internal systems.
Administrative and scheduling tools used for booking management and customer communication.
Accountants or bookkeeping providers assisting with financial records and compliance.
Insurance and claims-related providers when needed for service protection or dispute handling.

When we use processors, we ensure they are bound by data protection obligations and only process data on our instructions. We do not sell personal data. We also require appropriate security measures to protect information against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or misuse.

6. International Transfers

If any service provider processes data outside the UK, we will take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent lawful transfer mechanisms recognised under data protection law.

7. Data Retention

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

Customer booking and service records may be retained for a period needed to manage the contract and handle follow-up issues.
Financial and tax records are kept for the period required under accounting and tax legislation.
Complaint, dispute, or insurance-related records may be retained for longer if needed to resolve claims or defend legal rights.
Data no longer required is securely deleted, anonymised, or archived in line with our retention practices.

We regularly review the data we hold to ensure we do not keep it longer than necessary.

8. Security of Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data. These may include access controls, secure storage, limited staff access, password protection, and internal policies designed to prevent misuse or loss. While no system is completely secure, we work to reduce risks and respond promptly to any suspected data incident.

9. Your Rights

Under GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the lawful basis and the context of processing. They 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 cases.
Right to data portability — to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed. We encourage you to raise concerns with us first so we can address them promptly.

10. Automated Decision-Making

We do not rely on fully automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects about you. If this changes, we will update this policy and provide appropriate information about the logic involved and your rights.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are generally directed at adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidentally provided by an adult customer and is necessary for delivering a service, such as household moving arrangements. If we become aware that we have collected data inappropriately, we will take steps to delete or correct it where required.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal obligations, or service arrangements. The latest version will apply to all Man With Van Deptford customers in the area from the date it is published or communicated. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.

13. Summary of Key Principles

In summary, Man With Van Deptford processes personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We collect only the information needed to provide moving services and related support, use it under a valid lawful basis, keep it only as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We respect your rights and aim to maintain a responsible, secure, and privacy-focused service for every customer in our area.