Privacy Policy - Man With Van Elephantandcastle

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Elephantandcastle collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to its customers in the Elephant and Castle area. It applies to all Man With Van Elephantandcastle customers in the area, including anyone who makes an enquiry, requests a quotation, books a service, or otherwise interacts with us in connection with our moving and transport services. We are committed to handling personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and other applicable privacy laws.

1. Who We Are

Man With Van Elephantandcastle provides moving, delivery, transport, and related support services for customers in and around Elephant and Castle. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and use in the course of operating our business. This means we determine why and how your personal data is processed.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations. The data we collect may include:

Identity information such as your name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact information such as phone number, email address, and billing address.
Service details such as pickup and delivery addresses, access instructions, item descriptions, move size, requested dates, and service preferences.
Payment information such as transaction records and limited payment details needed to process or verify payments. We do not intentionally store unnecessary card information where avoidable.
Communication records such as emails, messages, call notes, complaints, and feedback.
Usage and technical data where relevant, such as basic device or browser information if you interact with digital systems we use for bookings or communication.
Special category data only where you voluntarily provide it and only when it is necessary, for example if you share accessibility requirements or health-related instructions for a move. We handle this data with additional care.

We do not knowingly collect more data than is needed. If you provide information about other people, such as a family member or landlord, you should ensure that you are authorised to do so.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to arrange, confirm, and carry out moving or transport services;
to communicate with you about bookings, delays, updates, or service changes;
to process payments, invoices, and accounting records;
to handle complaints, disputes, and customer support requests;
to maintain business records and manage our operations;
to meet legal, regulatory, tax, and insurance requirements;
to improve our services, customer experience, and internal processes;
to prevent fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We process personal data only where we have a valid lawful basis to do so. We do not use personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the original reason for collection unless we have informed you or are otherwise permitted by law.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. Depending on the context, 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 providing quotations, arranging bookings, moving items, issuing invoices, and carrying out agreed services.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where required to comply with legal obligations, such as tax accounting, record keeping, fraud prevention, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, improving operations, protecting our business, and retaining evidence of completed services or communications.

Consent

In limited cases, we rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily provide optional information or agree to receive certain communications where consent is required. You may withdraw consent at any time, and withdrawal will not affect processing already carried out lawfully before that point.

Vital Interests and Public Interest

These bases are rarely used in our business, but may apply in exceptional circumstances, such as if processing is necessary to protect someone’s vital interests or comply with a public duty.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, insurance, or reporting requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Customer and booking records are generally retained for a period necessary to manage the relationship, resolve disputes, and maintain service history.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Complaint and correspondence records may be retained for a reasonable period to evidence our handling of issues and to improve service quality.
Support or accessibility information is kept only as long as needed for the specific move or related follow-up.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in a way that prevents further unnecessary use. We review retention regularly to avoid keeping data longer than needed.

6. Processors and Third Parties

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These parties act as processors when they process data on our instructions, or as independent controllers where they determine their own purposes.

Examples may include:

payment service providers;
accounting and bookkeeping providers;
IT, cloud storage, and software providers;
communication and scheduling tools;
insurance providers;
legal, regulatory, or professional advisers;
subcontractors or partner service providers involved in fulfilling a booking.

Where we use processors, we require them to handle personal data securely, only on our instructions, and in compliance with data protection law. We do not sell your personal data. We may disclose data when required by law, court order, or to protect our rights, customers, staff, or the public.

7. International Transfers

If any processor or service provider stores or accesses personal data outside the UK, we will take appropriate safeguards to protect it. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms. We ensure that international transfers are only made where appropriate protections are in place.

8. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, password protection, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and regular review of our procedures. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and respond promptly to potential incidents.

9. Your Rights

Under GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal exceptions and conditions.

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

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may ask for information to confirm your identity and to help us process your request securely. We will respond within the time limits required by law.

10. Marketing Communications

We only send marketing communications where permitted by law. If you receive such communications and no longer wish to do so, you can opt out by following the relevant unsubscribe or withdrawal process where available. Service-related messages, such as booking confirmations or operational updates, are not marketing and may still be sent where necessary to provide our services.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is provided by an adult customer in connection with a service. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child without appropriate authority, we will take steps to delete it where required.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our data practices. The most recent version will apply to the use of personal data from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

Man With Van Elephantandcastle is committed to processing personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, keep it only as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We respect the rights of our customers in the Elephant and Castle area and aim to handle all information with care, security, and accountability.