Privacy Policy - Hackney Movers

This Privacy Policy explains how Hackney Movers collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with our moving, packing, storage, and related services. It applies to all Hackney Movers customers in the area, including individuals and businesses who enquire about, book, receive, or pay for our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a fair, transparent, and secure manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who This Policy Applies To

This policy applies to anyone who interacts with Hackney Movers as a customer, prospective customer, recipient of a delivery, or authorised representative. It also applies to people whose data is provided to us by a customer, such as family members, building managers, landlords, tenants, or business contacts where relevant to the service.

By using our services, requesting a quote, or communicating with us, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this policy.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the data needed to provide and manage our services. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identity data: name, title, and, where necessary, company or business name.
Contact data: email address, telephone number, moving address, billing address, and other address details needed for service delivery.
Service data: moving date, inventory details, access information, packing requirements, property type, and service preferences.
Payment data: payment status, invoice information, and transaction references. We do not normally store full card details if payment is handled by a secure third-party provider.
Communication data: emails, messages, call notes, and any instructions or complaints you provide.
Technical data: limited information such as device type, browser details, or IP address if you interact with our digital systems, where applicable.
Special category data: we do not seek to collect sensitive personal data unless it is necessary and you have provided it voluntarily, for example where access needs, disability-related arrangements, or health-related considerations affect the move.

We ask that you only share personal data that is relevant to the service.

3. How We Use Personal Data

Hackney Movers uses personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to plan, manage, and deliver moving or storage services;
to communicate with customers about bookings, timings, changes, or service issues;
to process payments, issue invoices, and maintain financial records;
to manage claims, complaints, and customer support requests;
to meet legal, regulatory, tax, and accounting obligations;
to protect our business, staff, customers, and property;
to improve our services, systems, and customer experience;
to send service-related updates where necessary to fulfil a contract or legitimate interest.

We do not use personal data for unrelated purposes without informing you and, where required, obtaining consent.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the context, Hackney Movers may rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as arranging a quote, booking a move, providing packing services, or issuing an invoice.

Legal obligation

We may process data to comply with legal duties, including tax, accounting, insurance, record-keeping, and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests do not override your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing operations, preventing fraud, handling service issues, maintaining security, and improving our services.

Consent

In limited cases, we rely on your consent, for example if you voluntarily provide special category information that is not otherwise necessary for the service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

Vital interests or public task

These bases are unlikely to apply in most cases, but may be relevant in exceptional circumstances where necessary to protect someone’s safety or to comply with a lawful request.

5. How We Share Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties only where necessary for the purposes described in this policy. These may include:

Service providers who support our operations, such as payment processors, IT support, secure data storage providers, accounting systems, and communication tools.
Subcontractors or logistics partners who assist with moving, packing, storage, or delivery services.
Professional advisers such as lawyers, insurers, accountants, or auditors where necessary.
Regulators, authorities, or law enforcement where disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect rights, safety, or property.

All processors and service providers are required to handle personal data securely, use it only for specified purposes, and apply appropriate contractual safeguards.

6. Data Processors

Hackney Movers works with processors that act on our instructions and do not use your data for their own independent purposes. These processors may include:

cloud hosting and backup providers;
customer management and booking software providers;
email and communication platforms;
payment and invoicing providers;
analytics or website infrastructure providers, where used;
document storage and secure archiving providers.

We do not sell personal data. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason it is held.

Customer booking and service records are generally retained for the duration of the service and for a reasonable period afterwards for support, dispute resolution, and record-keeping.
Financial and invoice records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Complaint, claim, and correspondence records may be retained longer where needed to resolve disputes or defend legal claims.
Data no longer required is securely deleted or anonymised.

We regularly review retention needs to ensure we do not keep data longer than necessary.

8. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, encryption where appropriate, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access on a need-to-know basis.

While we take data protection seriously, no system is completely secure. If we become aware of a personal data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will act in accordance with legal requirements.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal exceptions. If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with applicable law.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where necessary for a moving service and provided by an adult customer or lawful representative.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically.

12. Additional Information

If you provide us with personal data relating to other people, you should ensure that you have the authority to do so and that they are aware of this policy where appropriate. We will only use such data to support the service requested and in line with the lawful bases described above.

In summary, Hackney Movers processes personal data only when necessary, only for legitimate and lawful purposes, and only for as long as required. We aim to respect your privacy and to manage customer information responsibly across all services provided in the area.