Storage Gants Hill Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Gants Hill collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers in the Gants Hill area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and associated data protection laws. This Privacy Policy applies to all Storage Gants Hill customers and individuals who enquire about or use our storage services in the Gants Hill area.

Who We Are and Scope of This Policy

Storage Gants Hill is a storage service provider offering storage facilities and related services to residential and business customers in the Gants Hill area. In relation to the personal data we collect and process, we act as a data controller. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used and are responsible for ensuring that such use complies with applicable data protection laws.

This Privacy Policy covers personal data collected through our customer sign-up processes, telephone and in-person enquiries, written correspondence and other interactions with our services in the Gants Hill area.

Types of Data We Collect

We collect and process different categories of personal data about you, depending on how you interact with us and the services you use. The main categories of personal data include:

Identification data such as your name, title, date of birth and, where required for security or legal reasons, proof of identity details derived from documentation you provide.

Contact details such as your correspondence address, billing address, and other contact details you choose to provide so we can communicate with you.

Account and contract information such as your storage unit number, contract start and end dates, service preferences, payment history, outstanding balances, deposit details and related records concerning your use of our storage services.

Payment and billing information such as payment method details you provide to enable us to take payments for our services and information relating to invoices, charges and refunds.

Security and access information such as records relating to access to our facilities, and images or footage captured by CCTV systems operated for security and safety purposes in and around our premises, where used.

Communication records such as details of enquiries, complaints and feedback, and any correspondence you send to us and our responses.

Technical and usage information when you interact with any online portals or digital services we provide, such as basic device and usage data necessary to operate those services securely and efficiently.

Lawful Bases for Processing Your Data

We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so under the UK GDPR. Depending on the purpose, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract: We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into, perform or manage a contract with you. For example, we use your details to create and manage your storage account, arrange access to your storage unit, process payments and handle service-related communications.

Legal obligation: We process your personal data where it is necessary to comply with legal or regulatory obligations. This may include record-keeping for tax and accounting purposes, responding to lawful requests from authorities, and complying with security, safety and anti-fraud requirements.

Legitimate interests: We process certain personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where these are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Our legitimate interests include ensuring the security of our facilities and customers property, managing and improving our services, recovering debts, and handling enquiries and complaints. When we rely on legitimate interests, we balance our interests against your privacy rights and take steps to minimise any impact.

Consent: In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where required to send certain types of marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before your withdrawal.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use the personal data we collect for purposes including:

Providing and managing storage services, including setting up and administering your account, allocating storage units, managing access arrangements and responding to your requests.

Processing payments, including calculating charges, issuing invoices, taking payments, managing refunds, and taking steps to recover any unpaid sums.

Ensuring safety and security at our facilities, including preventing unauthorised access, protecting customer property, monitoring premises and addressing incidents.

Communicating with you about your account, contract, service updates, policy changes, enquiries or complaints and any operational issues affecting your use of the storage facilities.

Complying with legal and regulatory obligations, such as maintaining appropriate business records, cooperating with law enforcement and regulatory bodies and responding to legal claims.

Improving and developing our services, for example by reviewing usage patterns, addressing customer feedback and enhancing the quality, efficiency and security of our operations.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and to meet our legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. The retention period will vary depending on the type of data and the context in which it was collected.

In general, we retain customer account and contract data for a period after the end of your contract to resolve any outstanding matters, respond to queries or complaints and comply with legal obligations. Payment and billing records may be retained for periods required by tax and accounting rules. Security-related data, such as CCTV footage and access logs, is retained for shorter periods unless longer retention is required in connection with an incident, dispute or legal obligation.

When personal data is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected and there is no legal requirement to retain it, we will securely delete, anonymise or otherwise remove it from our systems.

Data Processors and Sharing Your Data

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who process data on our behalf in order to help us deliver our services. These third parties act as data processors and are only permitted to use your personal data in accordance with our instructions and applicable data protection laws.

Categories of data processors may include payment service providers that process payments and manage transactions, information technology and system support providers that host or maintain our systems and databases, and professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers who assist us in running our business and complying with legal obligations.

We may also share personal data where required by law or where necessary to protect our rights, property or the safety of our customers, staff or the public. This may include sharing information with law enforcement agencies, regulatory authorities or other third parties in the context of legal proceedings or investigations.

We do not sell your personal data. Where we share data with any third party, we take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data.

Your Data Protection Rights

As an individual whose personal data we process, you have a number of rights under data protection law. These rights include:

The right of access: You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to obtain a copy of that data, together with certain information about how it is used.

The right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to correct inaccurate personal data about you and to complete any incomplete data.

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

The right to restrict processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we check the accuracy of data you believe to be incorrect or where you have objected to our processing.

The right to object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis. We will stop processing your data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms or where processing is necessary for legal claims.

The right to data portability: In certain circumstances, you have the right to receive personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to ask us to transmit that data to another organisation where this is technically feasible.

Where we rely on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before your withdrawal.

Exercising Your Rights and Complaints

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, or if you have questions or concerns about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details made available through our usual customer communication channels. We will respond to your request or enquiry in accordance with applicable data protection laws and may ask for additional information to confirm your identity before acting on your request.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you believe that your personal data has not been handled in accordance with data protection laws. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can seek to resolve any issues directly.

International Data Transfers

Where we transfer your personal data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it, in accordance with data protection laws. This may involve using approved standard contractual clauses or transferring data to countries that have been recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection. Further information about any such transfers and the safeguards we use can be obtained by contacting us.

Security of Your Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures are designed to provide a level of security appropriate to the risks associated with the data we process and the nature of our operations.

While we take reasonable steps to protect your personal data, no system can be completely secure. You are also responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect your own information, including keeping account details and access information confidential where applicable.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal or regulatory developments or our data protection practices. Any updated version will apply to all Storage Gants Hill customers and individuals using our services in the Gants Hill area from the date of publication. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use and protect your personal data.