Rubbish Collection Lewisham Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Rubbish Collection Lewisham collects, uses, stores and protects personal data about individuals who use our rubbish and waste collection services in Lewisham. It applies to all Rubbish Collection Lewisham customers in the Lewisham area, including residential and business customers, and to anyone who contacts us about our services.

Who We Are and How to Contact Us

Rubbish Collection Lewisham is a waste and rubbish collection service operating in the London Borough of Lewisham. For the purposes of UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act, we are the data controller in relation to the personal data we collect and use about you.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or about how we handle your personal data, you can contact our data privacy contact by email, by telephone or by post using the details provided on our main customer communications and service documents.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and which services you use. This may include:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, address, telephone number, mobile number and email address.

Service and account details, such as service addresses, collection requirements, property type, access instructions and details of any customer accounts you hold with us.

Payment and billing information, such as billing address, payment method details, records of invoices issued, payments made and amounts outstanding. We do not store full payment card details where payments are processed through secure payment providers.

Communication records, such as emails, letters, telephone call notes, contact forms, and messages relating to service bookings, complaints, feedback and general enquiries.

Usage and operational data, such as dates and times of collections, types and quantities of waste collected, photographs taken by our staff when required for service verification or health and safety, and any access information necessary to complete collections at your property.

Technical data, where you visit our website, such as your device type, browser type, approximate location and log data that may be collected through cookies or similar technologies. You will be informed about cookies and similar technologies when you access our website.

How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, email or online to request a quote, make a booking, set up or manage an account, or ask us a question. We also collect data when you complete any forms, respond to surveys, or provide feedback about our services.

Some data is collected automatically when our staff deliver services to you, for example confirmation of completed collections, photographs taken for operational reasons and records of any issues encountered at the service address.

We may also receive personal data about you from third party service providers, such as payment processors, or from publicly available sources where this is necessary to verify address details or comply with legal obligations.

Lawful Bases for Processing Your Data

We only process your personal data where we have a valid lawful basis under UK data protection law. Depending on the context, we rely on the following legal grounds:

Performance of a contract: We process your data where this is necessary to provide our rubbish collection services, including setting up your account, scheduling and carrying out collections, sending service communications, issuing invoices and handling any related queries.

Compliance with legal obligations: We process certain data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including record keeping duties, waste disposal regulations, accounting rules and responding to requests from competent authorities where required by law.

Legitimate interests: We may process your data on the basis of our legitimate interests, provided these are not overridden by your rights and interests. These interests include managing and improving our services, ensuring operational efficiency, preventing fraud, securing our systems and staff, and handling customer complaints and disputes.

Consent: In limited situations, such as where required for certain types of direct marketing that go beyond our existing customer relationship, we may rely on your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time using the contact details in this policy or by using any opt out options we provide.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our rubbish collection services, including bookings, scheduling, collections and follow up visits.

To create and manage customer records and accounts, and to communicate with you about your services, including service updates and operational notices.

To issue invoices, process payments and maintain accurate financial and transaction records.

To respond to your enquiries, handle complaints and resolve disputes regarding our services.

To plan resources, improve our routes and optimise our services across the Lewisham area.

To maintain the safety and security of our staff, customers and the public, including documenting access issues, property damage or health and safety incidents where they arise.

To comply with legal, regulatory and tax obligations, and to assist law enforcement or regulatory bodies where we are legally required to do so.

To analyse service usage and performance to help us maintain and improve the quality, reliability and environmental impact of our operations.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your data with trusted third parties where this is necessary to deliver our services or to meet legal obligations. These third parties act as data processors or independent controllers depending on the circumstances.

Data processors working on our behalf may include payment processing providers, IT and cloud hosting providers, customer management and communication platforms, route planning and logistics systems and professional advisers such as accountants and legal advisers.

We ensure that any data processors who handle personal data on our behalf are bound by written contracts that require them to process your data only in accordance with our instructions, keep it secure and comply with applicable data protection laws.

We may also share data with public authorities, regulators, law enforcement bodies or courts where we are legally obliged to do so, or where this is necessary for the prevention or detection of crime or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

International Data Transfers

Where any of our service providers or systems are located outside the United Kingdom, or where data is accessed from outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These safeguards may include the use of standard contractual clauses or other lawful transfer mechanisms recognised under UK data protection law. We will take steps to ensure that your personal data remains protected to a standard that is essentially equivalent to that in the United Kingdom.

Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet any legal, accounting or reporting obligations. The exact retention period will vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Customer account and service records, including contact details, service history and invoices, are generally kept for a period that allows us to respond to queries and meet tax and financial reporting requirements.

Payment related records are retained for the periods required by tax and accounting law. Operational data, such as service logs and photographs, is kept for as long as is necessary to manage our services, handle complaints and resolve disputes, and then securely deleted or anonymised.

When we no longer need personal data, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with an identifiable individual.

How We Protect Your Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include access controls, staff training, physical security for our premises, and the use of secure systems for storing and transmitting data.

While we work hard to protect your information, no system can be completely secure. We have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data breach and will notify you and any relevant regulator where we are legally required to do so.

Your Data Protection Rights

If you are a customer of Rubbish Collection Lewisham in the Lewisham area, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data under UK data protection law. Subject to certain conditions and exemptions, these include:

The right to be informed about how we collect and use your personal data, which is the purpose of this Privacy Policy.

The right of access, which allows you to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how we use it.

The right to rectification, which allows you to request that we correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete data we hold about you.

The right to erasure, sometimes referred to as the right to be forgotten, which allows you to request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances.

The right to restrict processing, which allows you to ask us to limit the way we use your data in certain situations.

The right to data portability, which allows you to request a copy of certain personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and to have that data transmitted to another organisation where technically feasible.

The right to object to processing, including where we rely on legitimate interests or use your data for direct marketing. You can object at any time and we will stop processing your data for marketing purposes.

The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which has legal or similarly significant effects on you, where such processes are used.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve your concerns.

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact us using the details provided in our customer communications. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request. We aim to respond to all valid requests within the timeframes required by law and will inform you if more time is needed due to the complexity or number of requests.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, how we handle personal data or changes in legal or regulatory requirements. Any updated version will apply to all Rubbish Collection Lewisham customers in the Lewisham area from the date it is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we use your personal data.