Waste Collection Enfield Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Collection Enfield collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers in our service area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy applies to all Waste Collection Enfield customers in our local service area, as well as individuals who contact us to enquire about our services.

Who we are and scope of this policy

Waste Collection Enfield is a waste and recycling services provider operating in the Enfield area. We act as the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed and are responsible for ensuring that it is handled in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

This Privacy Policy applies when you use our waste collection and related services, visit our website, contact us by phone, email or post, or otherwise interact with us as a customer or prospective customer within our service area.

Types of personal data we collect

The type and amount of personal data we collect depends on how you use our services. In most cases, we may collect the following categories of information:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, address, service location, email address, telephone number and preferred contact method.

Service and contract information, such as details of the services you have requested or received from us, service frequency, service history, contract start and end dates, and information needed to manage bookings, collections and customer service.

Billing and payment data, such as invoice details, payment status, amounts due, and limited payment information required for processing transactions. We do not store full payment card details where payments are processed through secure third party payment providers.

Communications and correspondence, including messages and information you provide when you contact us by phone, email, post, online forms or social channels, and records of our responses.

Technical and usage data, which may include information about how you access and use our website, such as device identifiers, IP address, browser type, and pages viewed. This data is generally collected through cookies or similar technologies for operational and analytical purposes.

How we collect your personal data

We collect personal data in several ways:

Directly from you when you contact us to request a quote, set up an account, book a collection, make a payment or raise an enquiry or complaint.

Automatically when you visit our website or digital platforms, through cookies and similar technologies that help us understand how our site is used and improve its performance.

From third parties where necessary to provide our services or comply with legal obligations, for example from payment service providers, business partners, or public authorities where this is lawful and relevant to our services.

Lawful bases for processing your data

We will only use your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, the lawful basis will be one or more of the following:

Performance of a contract. We process personal data where it is necessary to provide our services, manage your account, arrange collections, respond to service requests, and fulfil our contractual obligations to you.

Compliance with a legal obligation. We may need to process your data to meet legal or regulatory requirements, such as maintaining financial and tax records, cooperating with authorities, or complying with waste management regulations.

Legitimate interests. We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include improving our services, managing customer relationships, preventing fraud, ensuring network and information security, and pursuing or defending legal claims.

Consent. In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of direct marketing or optional cookies. When we rely on consent, you are free to withdraw it at any time, and we will inform you how to do so at the point where consent is collected.

How we use your personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage services, including setting up customer accounts, scheduling and carrying out waste collection services, managing access and service frequency, and handling any changes you request.

To manage payments and billing, including issuing invoices, processing payments, handling refunds where appropriate, and maintaining financial records.

To communicate with you, including responding to your enquiries, providing service updates, sending notices about changes to our terms or this Privacy Policy, and contacting you regarding service issues.

To improve and develop our services, including analysing service usage and feedback to enhance efficiency, capacity planning and customer experience.

To ensure security and prevent misuse, by protecting our systems, detecting and investigating fraud or potential misuse of our services, and ensuring the safety of our employees and customers.

To comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including those relating to tax, accounting, waste management and public authority requests.

Data sharing and processors

We will never sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary for the purposes described above, and always in line with data protection laws.

Service providers and processors. We may share your personal data with third party companies that provide services on our behalf, such as IT and hosting providers, payment processors, customer relationship management platforms, communication services, and professional advisers. These processors are only allowed to use your personal data in accordance with our instructions and must provide appropriate security measures.

Business partners and subcontractors. Where we work with partners or subcontractors to deliver waste collection or related services, we may share relevant personal data to coordinate service delivery, provided this is necessary and proportionate.

Public authorities and legal obligations. We may disclose personal data where required by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities, regulators or law enforcement, or to protect our legal rights, property or safety, or that of our customers or others.

International transfers

Where our service providers or systems are located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place before your personal data is transferred. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses or other lawful transfer mechanisms recognised under data protection law.

Data retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. The precise retention period will depend on the type of data and the context in which it was collected.

Customer account and service records are typically retained for the duration of your relationship with us and for a reasonable period thereafter to manage queries, disputes and legal claims. Financial and transaction records are generally kept for the period required by tax and accounting laws. Data collected for marketing based on your consent will be retained until you withdraw your consent or we determine that it is no longer up to date.

When data is no longer required, we will either delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to an identifiable individual.

Data security

We take data security seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration or disclosure. These measures include access controls, secure systems and procedures to address suspected personal data breaches. Where we use processors, we require them to implement similar security measures. However, no system can be completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security of your data.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exemptions. These rights include:

The right of access. You can request confirmation that we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data, along with information about how it is used.

The right to rectification. You can ask us to correct or complete personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.

The right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal obligation to retain it.

The right to restrict processing. You can ask us to limit the way we use your personal data in certain situations, such as while we investigate a concern you raise about its accuracy.

The right to data portability. Where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means, you may request to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format and have it transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.

The right to object. You can object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including profiling, and we will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms or where processing is needed for legal claims. You always have the right to object to direct marketing.

The right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, you can contact us using the contact details we provide in our communications or on our website. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you are concerned about how we handle your personal data.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements or data processing practices. When we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, such as by updating the version on our website and, where appropriate, contacting you directly. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.