Privacy Policy - Shepherds Bush Removals

This Privacy Policy explains how Shepherds Bush Removals collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to our customers in the area. It applies to all Shepherds Bush Removals customers in area, including people who request quotes, book services, receive removals support, or otherwise engage with our business. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Shepherds Bush Removals is the data controller for personal data that we collect and use in connection with our removals and related services. This means we determine why and how personal data is processed. We take our responsibilities seriously and aim to collect only the information that is necessary for the services we provide.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity details such as your name and, where necessary, the names of other household members or authorised representatives.
Contact details such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information including moving dates, property access details, inventory details, and instructions related to your move.
Billing and payment information such as invoice details, payment status, and payment method records, where applicable.
Communication records such as emails, call notes, messages, and correspondence with our team.
Technical data if you interact with us online, including basic device, browser, or usage information collected through standard website or system logs, where applicable.
Special category data only when you voluntarily provide it and only where it is necessary, such as information relating to accessibility requirements or health-related needs that affect the moving service.

We do not intentionally collect more data than is needed for legitimate business purposes. If we are asked to handle particularly sensitive information, we will do so only where there is a valid legal reason and appropriate safeguards in place.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To manage bookings and carry out removals services.
To communicate with you about your move, including changes, reminders, and service updates.
To process payments, issue invoices, and maintain financial records.
To meet legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
To handle complaints, disputes, or claims.
To improve our services, quality control, training, and internal administration.
To protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or security risks.

We may also use your information in a limited way to produce internal records and operational analytics. Any such use is carried out using data minimisation principles and, where possible, aggregated or anonymised data.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We only process personal data where we have a lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotes at your request, arranging the move, coordinating logistics, and delivering services you have booked.

Legal Obligation

We may process data to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including accounting, taxation, insurance, record-keeping, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include service administration, protecting against fraud, improving operations, and keeping appropriate business records. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we carry out a balancing test to ensure your privacy is respected.

Consent

In some cases, we may rely on your consent, especially for optional processing that is not essential to the service. If we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Vital Interests and Special Category Data

If necessary in an emergency, or where you provide information about accessibility or health-related needs, we may process data to protect vital interests or for reasons permitted under data protection law. We will only do this where strictly necessary and appropriate.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties when needed to deliver our services or comply with the law. These third parties may act as processors or independent controllers, depending on the situation.

Examples of processors may include:

IT and cloud service providers that host our systems or store data securely.
Accounting, invoicing, and bookkeeping providers.
Payment service providers that process transactions on our behalf.
Customer communication tools used for service updates and administration.
Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors, where necessary.

Where a third party processes data on our behalf, we require them to act under a contract that includes appropriate data protection obligations, confidentiality measures, and security standards. We do not sell your personal data. We do not allow processors to use your information for their own unrelated purposes.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, by a court order, or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or for as long as we are required to keep it by law. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Quotation and customer enquiry records may be kept for a reasonable period to manage follow-up and business administration.
Contract and service records are typically retained for the duration of the relationship and for a period afterwards to address queries or claims.
Financial and tax-related records are kept for the period required by applicable law.
Complaint and dispute records may be retained until the matter is resolved and for any further period needed for legal protection.

When personal data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so it can no longer identify you. We review retention needs regularly to ensure data is not kept longer than necessary.

7. 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 access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and procedures for handling data securely. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to maintain a high standard of protection.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights regarding your personal data. Subject to certain legal limits, these include:

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

We will respond to valid requests in accordance with the law and within the required timeframes. To protect your privacy, we may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

9. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will only do so where appropriate safeguards are in place and where the transfer complies with data protection law. This may include the use of adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent measures designed to protect your information.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a household move and provided by an adult customer or authorised representative. If we learn that we have collected data inappropriately, we will take steps to delete it where required.

11. 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 handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Shepherds Bush Removals is committed to treating customer information with care, respect, and transparency. We collect only the data needed to provide our services, use it for lawful and legitimate purposes, retain it only as long as necessary, and protect it with appropriate safeguards. We also recognise and support your rights over your personal data.

By using Shepherds Bush Removals services in the area, you acknowledge that this Privacy Policy applies to you. We aim to process personal data responsibly and in a way that supports a safe, efficient, and reliable removals service while respecting your privacy.