Privacy Policy - Gantshill Storage

This Privacy Policy explains how Gantshill Storage collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Gantshill Storage customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, former customers, visitors, and anyone who interacts with our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and applicable data protection laws.

1. Who We Are

Gantshill Storage provides storage services to individuals and businesses in the local area. In the course of offering these services, we may process personal data about customers, account holders, authorised representatives, delivery contacts, and other individuals connected to a storage agreement. We only collect and use personal data where it is necessary and proportionate to provide our services, manage our relationship with you, and meet legal obligations.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect the following categories of personal data:

Identity data: name, title, date of birth, and identification details where required for verification.
Contact data: address, email address, phone number, and other communication details.
Contract and account data: storage unit details, account reference numbers, billing records, payment status, and service history.
Financial data: payment card details, bank account details, and transaction records, where applicable.
Security and access data: access logs, entry times, key or code records, CCTV footage, and incident reports.
Correspondence data: records of enquiries, complaints, instructions, and other communications.
Technical data: device information or online usage data if you interact with our digital services or systems.

In some cases, we may also receive personal data from third parties, such as payment providers, identity verification services, insurers, legal advisers, or individuals authorised to act on your behalf.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to set up and manage storage agreements;
to verify identity and prevent fraud;
to take payments, issue invoices, and manage arrears;
to provide customer support and respond to enquiries;
to maintain site safety, security, and access control;
to monitor and investigate incidents, damage, loss, or misuse;
to comply with legal, regulatory, accounting, and tax obligations;
to enforce our terms and protect our legitimate business interests;
to improve our services, processes, and customer experience.

We do not use personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected unless permitted by law.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. Gantshill Storage relies on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes creating an account, managing your storage unit, processing payments, and providing related services.

Legal obligation

We may process personal data to comply with legal obligations, such as accounting requirements, tax rules, lawful requests from authorities, fraud prevention, and record-keeping obligations.

Legitimate interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. Examples include site security, business administration, customer service improvements, and protecting against unlawful activity.

Consent

Where required by law, we will rely on your consent. For example, this may apply to certain marketing activities or optional data uses. You may withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

5. Data Retention

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

Customer and contract records: kept for the duration of the agreement and for an appropriate period afterwards.
Payment and accounting records: retained for the period required by tax and financial laws.
Security records and CCTV: retained for a limited period unless needed for an ongoing investigation or legal claim.
Correspondence and complaint records: retained while necessary to resolve the issue and for evidential purposes.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete, anonymise, or securely destroy it.

6. Processors and Sharing of Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third-party processors who help us operate our business and provide services. These may include:

payment processors and banking services;
IT, hosting, and system support providers;
identity verification and fraud prevention services;
security and CCTV service providers;
professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, insurers, and legal advisers;
debt recovery or enforcement services where necessary;
public authorities, regulators, or law enforcement where required by law.

All processors are required to handle personal data securely, act only on our instructions, and comply with data protection law. We do not sell your personal data.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, restricted permissions, secure storage, staff training, and monitoring systems. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and safeguard information.

8. 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 the legal basis for processing:

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: you can request deletion of personal data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing: you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to data portability: you may request that certain data be provided in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Exercising these rights may be subject to legal exceptions and may not always be absolute.

9. Automated Decision-Making

We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects, unless we are legally permitted to do so and have informed you accordingly. If this changes, we will provide appropriate information about the logic involved and your rights.

10. International Transfers

In some cases, personal data may be processed by service providers outside the UK. Where this happens, we will take appropriate safeguards to ensure your data is protected in line with applicable data protection law. These safeguards may include adequacy decisions, contractual protections, or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data protection practices. Any updates will take effect when published or otherwise communicated to you. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how your personal data is handled.

12. Summary of Our Commitments

Gantshill Storage is committed to respecting your privacy and protecting your personal data. We collect only the information we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, keep it only for as long as necessary, and share it only with processors or organisations that help us operate responsibly and lawfully. Our approach is based on transparency, security, and accountability.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gantshill Storage customers in the area.