Waste Disposal Hackney Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Disposal Hackney collects, uses, stores and protects the personal data of its customers located in the Hackney area. It also explains your rights under applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy applies to all customers of Waste Disposal Hackney in the Hackney area, including individuals, businesses and organisations that use our waste collection, recycling, and related services.

Who We Are and Scope of This Policy

Waste Disposal Hackney is a waste management service provider operating in the Hackney area. For the purposes of data protection law, Waste Disposal Hackney is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed. This Privacy Policy applies whenever you interact with us as a customer, potential customer, or as a representative of a customer in the Hackney area, whether you contact us by phone, email or through any online contact forms, or when we provide waste disposal services at your property or premises.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different categories of personal data depending on your relationship with us and the services you use. This may include:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, address, postcode, telephone number and email address.

Service and account information, such as details of the services you request or receive, service history, waste collection schedule, property access instructions where relevant, and billing or account references.

Billing and payment information, such as invoices, payment method type, payment status and transaction records. We do not store full card details; these are handled securely by our payment processors.

Communication and correspondence data, such as emails, messages, call notes and any information you choose to provide when you contact us with queries, feedback or complaints.

Operational and site information, such as records of visits to your premises, photographs of waste or containers where necessary to document service delivery, and records of issues affecting collection or disposal.

Technical information, where applicable, such as basic device and usage information if you use our online services, for example log files and access time, used only for security and service operation.

How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you request a quote, set up an account, book a collection, make a payment, contact our customer service team or complete any forms we provide. We may also receive information about you from third parties where this is necessary for providing services, for example from managing agents, landlords, local authorities or business partners that arrange waste services on your behalf. In some cases, we may create or derive information about you based on your interactions with us, such as your service history or communication records.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the specific processing activity, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract. We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example to provide waste collection services, arrange access to your premises, send invoices and take payment, or respond to your service requests.

Legal obligation. We may process your data where necessary to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including waste management regulations, health and safety requirements and record-keeping rules.

Legitimate interests. We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing and improving our services, responding to customer queries and complaints, ensuring site and staff safety, preventing fraud or misuse of our services, and keeping basic contact details of business customers and suppliers.

Consent. In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you have chosen to receive specific forms of marketing communications from us. Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage waste disposal and related services in the Hackney area, including scheduling and carrying out collections, managing access to your premises, and handling any issues that arise.

To set up and manage your customer account, including verifying your details, maintaining accurate customer records, and administering contracts or agreements with you.

To issue invoices, process payments, manage debt recovery where necessary, and maintain financial records.

To communicate with you about your services, including service updates, changes to schedules, notifications of disruptions, and responses to any questions or complaints.

To monitor and improve our operations, including quality control, staff training, service planning and performance analysis.

To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including environmental reporting, health and safety duties and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

To protect our business and the public, including preventing and investigating fraud, misuse of services or damage to property or equipment.

Data Sharing and Processors

We may share your personal data with third parties where this is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, always ensuring that appropriate safeguards are in place. These third parties may include:

Service providers and data processors who act on our instructions, such as IT and hosting providers, payment processors, customer management system providers and operational contractors who assist with collections or maintenance.

Professional advisers, such as accountants, auditors, insurers and legal advisers, where this is necessary for the management and protection of our business.

Regulatory bodies, law enforcement or other public authorities, where we are required by law to share data or where sharing is necessary to protect our rights, your safety or the safety of others.

Where we use data processors, we ensure that they are bound by written contracts requiring them to process personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure and to comply with data protection law.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. The specific retention period may vary depending on the type of data and our relationship with you. In general, we retain customer account and service records for as long as you are a customer and for a period after your services end, typically up to six years, to respond to queries, handle disputes and comply with legal obligations. Financial and invoicing records are kept for periods required by tax and accounting laws. Operational records, including service notes and photographs, are kept only for as long as needed to manage and review services and to handle any complaints or claims. When personal data is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymise it.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include access controls, staff training, secure systems and procedures for managing data. While we take reasonable steps to protect your data, no system can be completely secure, and you should take care when providing personal data, especially over open networks.

Your Data Protection Rights

If you are a customer of Waste Disposal Hackney in the Hackney area, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data under data protection law. These rights include:

The right to access your personal data and to receive a copy of the information we hold about you.

The right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

The right to request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where the data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal obligation to keep it.

The right to request restriction of processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as where you contest the accuracy of the data.

The right to object to processing that is based on our legitimate interests, in which case we will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue.

The right to withdraw consent at any time where we rely on your consent for processing.

The right to data portability, which in some cases allows you to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and to transmit it to another controller.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office if you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve any concerns directly.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements or how we process personal data. When we make changes, we will update the date of the revision and make the updated version available to you. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data as a customer in the Hackney area.