Storage Harlington Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Harlington collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers in our service area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and related data protection laws. By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Scope of this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to all Storage Harlington customers and prospective customers in our service area who use or enquire about our storage units, associated services, or visit our premises. It covers personal data obtained through in-person visits, telephone discussions, written correspondence and other offline interactions.
Data Controller
For the purposes of data protection law, Storage Harlington is the data controller in respect of the personal data we collect and process about you. This means we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal information.
Personal Data We Collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data, depending on how you interact with us and the services you use:
Identification details, such as full name, date of birth and proof of identity details taken from documents you present for verification.
Contact details, such as postal address, billing address, and any alternative contact address you provide.
Account and contract information, such as unit numbers, rental periods, payment status, invoices, account history and records of communications with you.
Payment related information, such as payment method details and payment history. We do not store full payment card information if card payments are processed through an external payment service provider.
Security and access information, such as vehicle registration details, unit access logs, gate or keypad entry records, visit records and CCTV images captured at our premises for security and safety purposes.
Marketing and communication preferences, such as your choices about receiving service updates or information about our products and your preferred communication channels.
How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data directly from you when you visit our facility, complete a contract or sign-up form, request a quote, make a payment, correspond with us, or update your details.
We may also collect data automatically when you access our premises, for example through access control systems and CCTV operated on site.
In limited cases, we may receive information from third parties, for example credit reference information where lawful, or confirmation from payment service providers that a transaction has been completed or declined.
Lawful Basis for Processing
We only process your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so under applicable data protection laws. The lawful bases we rely on include:
Contract. We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example to set up and manage your storage agreement, process payments, and provide customer services.
Legal obligation. We process certain data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as record-keeping, tax obligations, fraud prevention and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.
Legitimate interests. We process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. These interests include securing our premises, preventing crime, managing our operations, handling queries and improving our services. When we rely on legitimate interests, we carefully balance our interests against your privacy.
Consent. In certain circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example for particular forms of optional marketing communications. 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 storage services, including setting up your account, allocating units, managing contract renewals or terminations, and arranging access to the facility.
To manage payments and billing, including issuing invoices, processing payments and handling arrears or disputes.
To maintain safety and security at our premises, including monitoring access controls and using CCTV for the prevention and detection of crime and to protect customers, staff and property.
To communicate with you, including responding to enquiries, sending important service messages, updating you about changes to our terms or policies and handling complaints or requests.
To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, including record-keeping, reporting and compliance checks.
To protect our business interests, for example in the context of debt recovery, exercising or defending legal claims, managing risk and improving our operations.
Where you have chosen to receive them, to provide you with information about products or services that may be relevant to you. You can opt out of these communications at any time.
Data Retention
We retain personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and in line with legal and regulatory requirements.
In general, account and contract information, including essential contact information and billing records, may be kept for a number of years after your relationship with us ends to comply with financial and tax rules and to handle any potential disputes or legal claims.
CCTV footage and access logs are retained for shorter periods, limited to the time necessary to investigate incidents, ensure security and comply with relevant legal requirements, after which they are securely deleted or overwritten.
When we no longer need your personal data, we will either securely delete or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to you.
Sharing Your Personal Data and Processors
We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary and lawful. These third parties act as data processors and process your data on our behalf and under our instructions.
Typical categories of processors include providers of payment processing services, secure data storage and backup providers, IT and systems support, security and CCTV maintenance services, and professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers.
We require all processors to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data and to process it only in accordance with our documented instructions and applicable law.
We may also share data with public authorities, law enforcement bodies or regulators when we are legally required to do so, or when it is necessary to protect our rights, property or the safety of our customers or staff.
We do not sell your personal data.
International Data Transfers
Where we use service providers located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, or where data is processed in such locations, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal information. These safeguards may include standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities or other lawful transfer mechanisms.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under data protection laws, you have several important rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exemptions. These include:
Right of access. You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to obtain a copy, together with certain information about how it is used.
Right to rectification. You have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data is corrected or completed.
Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you may request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.
Right to restriction of processing. You may ask us to restrict the processing of your data in certain situations, for example while we verify its accuracy or consider an objection you have raised.
Right to object. You have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including profiling, and we will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds or the processing is needed for legal claims. You also have an absolute right to object to direct marketing.
Right to data portability. In some circumstances, you may request that we provide you or another organisation with a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
Exercising Your Rights and Complaints
If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or raise a concern about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using our usual customer contact channels. To help us respond, please provide enough information to identify yourself and the nature of your request.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority responsible for data protection if you believe that your data protection rights have been infringed.
Security of Your Data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures may include controlled access to systems, staff training, secure storage and regular review of our security procedures.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or the services we provide. Any changes will be effective when we publish the updated version. You are encouraged to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.
