Privacy Policy for Tree Surgeons Sidcup

This Privacy Policy explains how Tree Surgeons Sidcup collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data in connection with our tree surgery services. It applies to all Tree Surgeons Sidcup customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who contacts us for information, quotations, or service support.

We are committed to handling personal information lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy should be read alongside any service terms or communications that apply to your booking or enquiry.

1. Who we are

Tree Surgeons Sidcup provides tree surgery and related arboricultural services for residential and commercial customers in and around Sidcup. In the context of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and use for our own business purposes. This means we determine why and how your personal data is processed.

2. Information we collect

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

Identity data, such as your name and title.
Contact data, such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Property and service data, including details about the trees, land, access requirements, work requested, site notes, and any instructions you provide.
Quotation and transaction data, such as your service history, invoices, payment status, and records of estimates or bookings.
Communication data, including messages, phone call notes, complaints, feedback, and other correspondence.
Technical data, if you interact with us online, such as basic device or usage information collected through cookies or similar technologies where applicable.
Special category data, only where necessary and usually only if you voluntarily provide it, for example information about accessibility needs or health-related matters relevant to safe site access.

We aim to collect only the information that is necessary for the purposes described in this policy. We do not knowingly collect more data than is required to provide our services or meet our legal obligations.

3. How we use your personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to assess site conditions and plan tree surgery work safely and effectively;
to schedule appointments and deliver services;
to communicate with you about your booking, service updates, or follow-up matters;
to issue invoices, process payments, and manage accounts;
to keep records of work carried out;
to handle complaints, disputes, and customer service matters;
to comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations;
to improve our services, processes, and customer experience;
to defend or establish legal claims where needed.

We may also process information to protect the security of our operations and prevent fraud or misuse. Any use of your data will be limited to what is necessary and proportionate.

4. Lawful basis for processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. The lawful bases we rely on are:

Contract

We process data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes responding to your request, providing a quote, carrying out tree surgery services, and managing payment or aftercare arrangements.

Legitimate interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. Examples include managing customer enquiries, maintaining business records, improving services, handling complaints, and protecting our operations from misuse. We ensure that any such processing is relevant, proportionate, and balanced.

Legal obligation

We process certain data where required by law, including for accounting, tax, health and safety, insurance, and regulatory compliance.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily provide optional information that is not necessary for the service. Where consent is used, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing your data and processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These parties act as processors when they process personal data on our behalf and under our instructions. They may include:

IT and cloud service providers that store or support business records;
accountants, bookkeepers, and tax service providers;
payment processors and banking services;
website, email, or communications service providers;
subcontractors or specialists assisting with tree surgery operations;
insurance providers and claims handlers;
professional advisers such as legal advisers where necessary.

We may also disclose information to public authorities, regulators, courts, or other parties where required by law or where necessary to protect our legal rights. We do not sell your personal data.

When we use processors, we require them to handle personal data securely, confidentially, and only for the agreed purpose. We take steps to ensure appropriate contractual protections are in place.

6. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the nature of our relationship with you.

Enquiry records may be kept for a reasonable period after the last contact to manage follow-up and business administration.
Customer and transaction records are generally kept for the period required to administer the service and comply with tax and accounting rules.
Health and safety, insurance, or incident-related records may be kept for longer where necessary to meet legal or claims-related obligations.
Where data is no longer required, we will delete it or anonymise it securely.

In some cases, we may retain data for a longer period if required to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. Retention is reviewed periodically to ensure it remains necessary and proportionate.

7. Security of your information

We take 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, restricted permissions, staff awareness, and careful selection of service providers. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the risks involved.

8. International transfers

If any of our service providers store or process data outside the UK, we will ensure suitable safeguards are in place in accordance with data protection law. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations or approved contractual mechanisms designed to protect your information.

9. Your rights

You have a number of rights under data protection law, subject to certain conditions and exemptions. These rights 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 situations;
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing where applicable;
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format;
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent;
Right to complain – to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has been mishandled.

To exercise your rights, you may contact us using the details provided in our service communications. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request. We aim to respond within the time limits required by law.

10. Cookies and online data

If we use a website or online form in connection with our services, limited technical information may be collected for performance, security, or usage analysis purposes. Where cookies or similar tools are used, they will be managed in line with applicable law and any consent requirements. You can usually control cookies through your browser settings.

11. Children’s data

Our services are intended for adults and business customers. We do not knowingly seek to collect data from children. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal data relating to a child without appropriate authority, we will take steps to delete it where required.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or how we process data. Any revised version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how your information is handled.

13. Summary of our commitment

Tree Surgeons Sidcup is committed to processing personal data responsibly, securely, and only for clear and lawful purposes. We collect only the information needed to deliver services, manage our business, and meet our legal duties. We use trusted processors, retain information for appropriate periods, and respect your rights under data protection law. This policy applies to all Tree Surgeons Sidcup customers in the area and is intended to ensure your personal information is treated with care and transparency.