Privacy Policy - Harringay Movers

This Privacy Policy explains how Harringay Movers collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing moving, packing, storage, and related services. It applies to all Harringay Movers customers in the area, including prospective customers, active customers, and anyone who contacts us about our services. We are committed to handling personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Harringay Movers is a removals and relocation service provider. In the context of this Policy, we act as a data controller for the personal information we decide to collect and use in connection with our services. This means we determine why and how your personal data is processed. Where we use third parties to assist us, they may act as processors or, in some cases, as independent controllers depending on the service they provide.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the provision and administration of our services. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity data: name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact data: address, email address, phone number, and other communication details.
Service information: details about your move, such as property access, inventory items, preferred dates, special handling requirements, and delivery instructions.
Billing and payment data: invoice details, payment status, and limited payment-related information necessary to complete transactions.
Communication records: emails, notes from calls, enquiries, complaints, and service updates.
Technical data: basic information collected through our systems, such as device or browser details if used for security or operational purposes.
Special category data: we do not intentionally collect sensitive personal data unless you choose to provide it and it is necessary for your service requirements. If such information is shared, we handle it with additional care and only where legally permitted.

We generally collect data directly from you when you request a quote, book a service, communicate with us, complete forms, or provide information during the moving process. We may also receive information from third parties, such as property managers, authorised representatives, or payment providers, where needed to deliver the service.

3. How We Use Your Data

Harringay Movers uses personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotes and respond to enquiries.
To plan, schedule, and deliver moving services.
To manage packing, storage, delivery, and related operational tasks.
To process payments, issue invoices, and maintain financial records.
To communicate with you about your booking, service changes, and customer support matters.
To meet legal, accounting, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
To protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or security threats.
To improve our services, training, and internal processes.

We do not sell personal data. We also do not use personal data for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects without appropriate safeguards.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only when we have a lawful basis under UK GDPR. Depending on the situation, our lawful bases include:

Performance of a Contract

We use your data where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotations, arranging move dates, carrying out removals, and managing payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process data to comply with legal obligations, such as accounting requirements, tax record-keeping, insurance obligations, or lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may rely on legitimate interests where appropriate and balanced against your rights. This includes managing our business operations, maintaining service quality, preventing fraud, improving customer experience, and securing our systems. Where we rely on this basis, we assess the impact on your privacy.

Consent

Where consent is required, we will ask for it clearly and separately. You may withdraw consent at any time, although this will not affect any processing already carried out lawfully before withdrawal.

Vital Interests

In rare cases, we may process personal data to protect someone’s vital interests, such as in an emergency.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data only when necessary and on a need-to-know basis. This may include sharing with:

Processors that assist us with IT hosting, data storage, communications, payment processing, bookkeeping, customer management, and operational support.
Professional advisers, including accountants, insurers, legal advisers, and auditors.
Authorities or regulators where disclosure is required by law or is necessary to protect rights, safety, or property.
Third parties involved in your move, such as building managers, landlords, or authorised representatives, when needed to complete the service.

Where a third party acts as a processor, they are bound by contractual obligations to process personal data only on our instructions, keep it secure, and comply with data protection law. We take steps to ensure processors provide appropriate technical and organisational safeguards.

6. International Transfers

If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure suitable safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent lawful mechanisms designed to protect your information to an appropriate standard.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for satisfying legal, accounting, and reporting obligations. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

In general:

Customer service and booking records are kept for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and tax records are kept for the period required by law.
Complaints, claims, and dispute-related records may be retained longer where needed to resolve issues or defend legal claims.
Data no longer required is securely deleted, anonymised, or archived in line with our retention practices.

We review retention regularly to ensure we do not keep personal data for longer than necessary.

8. Security of Your Data

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and restricted sharing of information. While no system is completely secure, we take data protection and information security seriously and review safeguards as needed.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and legal conditions:

Right to be informed: to know how we collect and use your data.
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 situations.
Right to restriction: to ask us to limit processing in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Rights related to automated decision-making: to be protected where decisions are made solely by automated means, if applicable.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with applicable data protection law. We may ask for information to verify your identity before processing your request.

10. Marketing Preferences

Where we send marketing communications, we will do so only in line with applicable law and your preferences. You can object to direct marketing at any time. If you opt out, we will stop sending such communications, although we may still send essential service-related messages.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a move and provided by an adult with authority to do so. If we become aware that data has been collected incorrectly, we will take steps to delete or correct it as appropriate.

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 processing practices. Any revised version will apply 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

Harringay Movers is committed to collecting only the data we need, using it fairly and lawfully, keeping it secure, and retaining it for no longer than necessary. We aim to be transparent about our practices and respectful of your rights at every stage of the service. If you are a customer in the area, this Policy applies to you and governs how your information is handled whenever you use our services.

By using Harringay Movers services, you acknowledge that your personal data will be processed in line with this Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws.