Waste Collection Greenwich Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Collection Greenwich collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers in the Greenwich area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act, and how you can exercise those rights.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Waste Collection Greenwich customers and users of our services within the Greenwich area, including household, commercial, and public sector clients who engage us for waste collection, recycling, and related services.

Who we are and how to contact us

Waste Collection Greenwich is the organisation responsible for determining how and why your personal data is processed. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as the data controller when we collect and use your personal data in connection with the provision of our waste collection and related services.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal data, or want to exercise any of your rights, you can contact us using the contact details provided on our main customer correspondence or by any of the usual channels you use to reach our customer service team.

Personal data we collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you when you use our services or interact with us:

Identity and contact details, such as your name, title, address, email address, telephone number, and property details relevant to waste collection.

Service information, such as waste collection arrangements, bin types and sizes, frequency of collections, service preferences, access instructions, and records of issues or complaints relating to collections.

Account and payment data, such as customer account numbers, billing address, payment method details processed through our payment providers, payment history, and information relating to any refunds or outstanding balances.

Communication data, such as information contained in emails, letters, telephone calls, messages, and any feedback or complaints you submit to us, including call recordings where applicable.

Technical and usage data, such as details about your interactions with our website or online booking tools, including the device and browser you use, pages you visit, and the time and date of your visit, collected using cookies and similar technologies where applicable.

Regulatory and compliance data, such as records required to comply with environmental, health and safety, and other legal obligations that may contain personal data linked to properties or service requests.

How we collect your data

We collect personal data in several ways, including:

Directly from you when you contact us to request or manage services, complete forms, set up or manage an account, make a payment, submit feedback, or communicate with us by phone, email, or in writing.

From third parties that support our services, such as payment processors, subcontractors who help deliver waste collection services, or public bodies that provide address or occupancy details necessary for service provision.

Automatically when you use our website or digital services, through cookies and similar technologies that help us understand how our services are used and improve their performance. Where required, we will ask for your consent for the use of non-essential cookies.

Lawful bases for processing

We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the context, we will rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Performance of a contract: When processing is necessary for us to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example to provide scheduled waste collections, manage service changes, process payments, and respond to service requests.

Legal obligation: When processing is required to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as record-keeping, financial reporting, health and safety requirements, or obligations placed on us by environmental or local authority regulations.

Legitimate interests: When processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, and those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing and improving our services, preventing fraud or misuse, handling queries and complaints, training staff, or maintaining the security of our systems.

Consent: In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of direct marketing communications or for the use of non-essential cookies. Where we rely on consent, you are free to withdraw it at any time.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage waste collection and related services in the Greenwich area, including arranging collections, responding to missed collections, managing service levels, and addressing property-specific requirements.

To manage customer relationships, including setting up and maintaining customer accounts, issuing bills and invoices, administering payments, responding to queries, and handling complaints or disputes.

To communicate with you about your services, such as service changes, collection schedules, planned disruptions, important safety information, or updates to this Privacy Policy or our terms of service.

To improve and develop our services, including monitoring service performance, analysing customer feedback, training staff, and enhancing operational efficiency.

To meet legal, regulatory, and compliance obligations, including record-keeping, responding to requests from regulatory bodies or public authorities, and addressing environmental or safety issues.

To protect our business, systems, and customers, including preventing and detecting fraud, securing our systems, and enforcing our contractual or legal rights.

Data sharing and processors

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary and lawful. These include:

Service providers and processors who supply services on our behalf, such as waste collection subcontractors, payment processors, IT and system support providers, call centre or customer service partners, and document storage or destruction providers. These organisations are only allowed to use your personal data to provide services to us and must protect it in line with data protection law and our instructions.

Professional advisers, such as legal, accounting, or insurance advisers, where necessary to manage risk, obtain advice, or defend legal claims.

Regulators, public authorities, and law enforcement bodies, where we are required or permitted to do so by law, or in order to protect our rights, the rights of our customers, or the environment.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. If in the future we intend to use your data for any purpose not covered by this Privacy Policy, we will provide you with updated information and, where required, obtain your consent.

International transfers

Where we use processors or service providers that are located outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data. These may include using countries that have been recognised as providing an adequate level of protection or implementing standard contractual clauses or equivalent legal mechanisms.

Data retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as is reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and to meet any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements.

The specific retention period will depend on factors such as the type of data, our contractual relationship with you, and applicable legal obligations. In general, we retain core customer and service records for the duration of your relationship with us and for a reasonable period afterwards to deal with any queries, complaints, or legal claims.

When personal data is no longer required, we will either securely delete it, anonymise it so it can no longer be linked to you, or securely archive it where we must keep it for legal reasons.

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, together with information about how we use it.

The right to rectification: You can ask us to correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

The right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purpose it was collected, or where you withdraw consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.

The right to restrict processing: You can ask us to restrict how we use your personal data in certain situations, for example while we are considering a request to rectify inaccurate data.

The right to data portability: In some cases, you can request a copy of personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and ask us to transfer it to another organisation.

The right to object: You can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests or where we process your data for direct marketing.

Where we rely on consent as our lawful basis for processing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew consent.

To exercise any of your rights, please contact us using the contact details provided in our customer correspondence or through our usual customer service channels. We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your rights are respected.

Complaints and contact

If you are concerned about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us and we will do our best to resolve your concerns. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK supervisory authority for data protection. Details of how to contact the supervisory authority are available through public information sources.

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 significant changes, we will take appropriate steps to bring them to your attention. The most recent version of this Privacy Policy will always apply to how we process your personal data in connection with Waste Collection Greenwich services in the Greenwich area.