Privacy Policy - Tree Surgeons Bow

This Privacy Policy explains how Tree Surgeons Bow collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data. It applies to all Tree Surgeons Bow customers in area, including anyone who requests a quotation, books a service, communicates with us, or otherwise uses our tree surgery and related services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, transparent, and secure way in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Tree Surgeons Bow is the data controller for the personal data covered by this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why personal data is processed when we provide our services, manage customer relationships, maintain records, and meet legal or regulatory obligations.

We only collect information that is necessary, relevant, and limited to what is required for the purposes described below.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity data: name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact data: address, email address, telephone number, and service location details.
Service and enquiry data: details about the work requested, property information, site access notes, job history, quotations, and correspondence.
Payment and transaction data: payment status, invoice details, and records needed for accounting.
Technical data: basic device or browser information if you interact with us through digital channels.
Communication records: messages, calls, complaints, feedback, and appointment notes.
Compliance data: documents or notes required to meet safety, insurance, tax, or regulatory obligations.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and there is a lawful basis to do so. If such information is provided to us incidentally, we will handle it carefully and only where permitted by law.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect data in several ways:

Directly from you when you make an enquiry, request a quotation, book a job, or communicate with us.
From site visits, assessments, and service delivery interactions.
From third parties acting on your behalf, such as landlords, property managers, insurers, or business representatives.
From publicly available sources where relevant and lawful, for example to verify property or business details.
Automatically through basic website or system usage logs, where applicable.

We do not sell personal data.

4. Why We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotations, assess work, and carry out tree surgery services.
To manage bookings, scheduling, job completion, and aftercare.
To communicate with customers and respond to enquiries or complaints.
To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records.
To maintain health and safety, site records, and risk assessments.
To comply with legal duties, including tax, accounting, insurance, and regulatory requirements.
To improve our services, record keeping, and customer experience.
To defend legal claims, resolve disputes, or establish our rights.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where a lawful basis under UK GDPR applies. Depending on the context, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, or to perform our contract with you. This includes preparing quotes, arranging visits, completing work, and managing invoices.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data to comply with legal requirements such as tax, accounting, health and safety, and record-keeping obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include managing customer relationships, improving services, maintaining business records, preventing fraud, and defending legal claims.

Consent

Where we rely on consent, we will ask for it clearly and you may withdraw it at any time. If consent is withdrawn, this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

6. Sharing Personal Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors or independent controllers, but only when necessary and lawful. Processors are organisations that process data on our instructions. These may include:

IT and hosting providers that store or support our systems and records.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that help manage invoices, payments, and tax records.
Communication service providers used for email, phone, or messaging services.
Payment service providers that handle transactions securely.
Subcontractors or specialist contractors assisting with service delivery, where necessary.
Professional advisers such as insurers, auditors, lawyers, or consultants.
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law.

Where we engage processors, we require appropriate contracts and safeguards so that personal data is protected and only used for authorised purposes. Tree Surgeons Bow remains responsible for ensuring that processors comply with data protection requirements.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the nature of the relationship.

Customer and job records: retained for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and tax records: retained for the period required by law.
Communication records: retained as needed to manage queries, complaints, or disputes.
Health and safety records: retained where necessary to meet legal and insurance obligations.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices.

8. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include restricted access, secure storage, staff awareness, and data minimisation. While we take reasonable steps to protect information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights regarding your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions and exemptions:

Right of access: you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure: you may request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: you may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: you may request transfer of certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
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 data protection law and within the required timeframes. We may need to verify your identity before taking action.

10. Complaints and Supervisory Authority

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to raise them so we can review and address the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are directed to adults and businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a lawful service request and appropriate safeguards are in place.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our data handling practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage you to review it periodically so you remain informed about how your information is used.

By using the services of Tree Surgeons Bow, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this Privacy Policy.