Waste Collection Westminster Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Collection Westminster collects, uses, shares and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers located in the Westminster area. It is intended to provide clear information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act. This Privacy Policy applies to all services provided by Waste Collection Westminster to residential and business customers within our service area in Westminster.

Who we are

Waste Collection Westminster provides waste collection and related services to households, landlords, managing agents, local businesses and other organisations in Westminster. For the purposes of data protection law, Waste Collection Westminster is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed when you use our services or otherwise interact with us.

Types of personal data we collect

The type of personal data we collect depends on how you use our services and how you interact with us. We may collect and process the following categories of information about you:

Identification and contact data, such as your name, title, job role, service address, billing address, telephone numbers and email addresses.

Customer account and service data, such as details of the waste collection services you request or receive, collection locations and schedules, access instructions for collections, service preferences, contact history and any complaints or enquiries you raise.

Payment and transaction data, such as the amount you pay for our services, payment method details, payment status, invoices, receipts and transaction history. Where payments are processed via a third party provider, card details are handled directly by that provider and we receive only limited information necessary to confirm payment.

Usage and communications data, such as records of communications with you by phone, email or other channels, notes of conversations, and information you provide when completing forms, giving feedback or participating in surveys relating to our services.

Technical and visit data, such as data necessary to schedule and complete collections at your premises, vehicle route planning and location logs, and information captured by our drivers regarding successful or unsuccessful collection attempts.

Where you contact us on behalf of a business customer, we may also collect details of your relationship with that business, such as your job title, department and authority to act.

How we collect your personal data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us to request a quote, set up or manage an account, arrange or amend a collection, make a payment, send us an enquiry or complaint, or otherwise communicate with us.

We may also receive your personal data indirectly, for example where a landlord, managing agent, employer, local authority or other organisation provides us with your details in order for us to provide waste collection services at a particular address or site. We may collect certain information automatically in the course of providing our services, such as records of collection activity and related operational data.

Lawful bases for processing personal data

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

Performance of a contract. We process personal data where this is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, for example to set up your account, schedule and deliver waste collection services, manage billing and payments, and respond to your service requests.

Legitimate interests. We process personal data to pursue our legitimate interests in efficiently managing and improving our business and services, for example planning collection routes, monitoring service quality, handling enquiries and complaints, preventing misuse of services and maintaining accurate records. When relying on this basis we consider and balance any potential impact on your rights and freedoms.

Legal obligations. We may process your personal data where this is necessary for us to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, such as accounting, tax, health and safety, environmental or waste management regulations, or to respond to lawful requests from public authorities.

Consent. In limited circumstances we may rely on your consent, for example where required to send certain forms of direct marketing communications by electronic means. Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

How we use your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide, manage and administer our waste collection and related services, including creating and managing customer accounts, arranging and recording collections, and communicating with you about these services.

To issue quotations, invoices and statements, process payments, deal with overdue accounts and maintain accurate financial and service records.

To handle your enquiries, feedback and complaints, and to provide customer support.

To plan and optimise collection routes and schedules, improve operational efficiency and maintain service quality and reliability.

To manage our relationship with landlords, managing agents, commercial customers and other organisations who arrange services on behalf of occupants or staff at particular premises.

To carry out internal reporting, administration, audits and quality assurance, and to improve our services and customer experience.

To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including record keeping, reporting to relevant authorities and responding to legal processes.

To send you information about our services that is relevant to your existing relationship with us, in line with applicable laws and your communication preferences. You can ask us to stop such communications at any time.

Data retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. In determining appropriate retention periods we consider the nature and sensitivity of the data, the purposes for which we process it and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

In general, core customer account and service records are kept for the duration of your relationship with us and for a period afterwards, typically up to seven years, to enable us to respond to queries, meet tax and accounting obligations and deal with potential disputes. Certain operational records may be retained for shorter periods where a longer retention is not necessary. When personal data is no longer required, we take steps to delete it securely or to anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with an identifiable individual.

Data processors and sharing of personal data

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These service providers process personal data only under our instructions and in accordance with appropriate contractual safeguards. Such processors may include:

Payment processing providers who handle card or online payments and related transaction security checks.

IT and communications providers who supply and support our customer management systems, email and telephony systems, scheduling and routing tools and data storage solutions.

Professional advisers, such as accountants and auditors, to the extent necessary for them to provide their services to us.

We may also share personal data, where necessary and lawful, with public authorities, regulators, law enforcement bodies or courts, for example to comply with legal obligations, respond to legal processes, or protect our rights, property or the safety of our staff, customers and the public.

Where an organisation such as a landlord, managing agent or employer arranges waste collection services for you or your premises, we may share relevant service and account information with that organisation for legitimate administrative and billing purposes.

International transfers

Our primary systems are intended to store and process data within the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area. If we ever need to transfer personal data to a country outside these areas which does not provide the same level of data protection, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or other mechanisms approved under data protection law.

Your data protection rights

If you are a customer or data subject within our service area in Westminster, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exemptions under data protection law. These include:

The right of access, which allows you to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to receive a copy of that data along with certain information about how it is used.

The right to rectification, which allows you to request correction of inaccurate personal data and completion of incomplete data relating to you.

The right to erasure, sometimes known as the right to be forgotten, which allows you to ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected.

The right to restriction of processing, which allows you to request that we limit the way we use your personal data in certain circumstances.

The right to data portability, which allows you in some cases to receive personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format, and to request that we transmit it to another controller where this is technically feasible.

The right to object, which allows you to object to certain types of processing, including processing based on our legitimate interests and processing for direct marketing purposes. Where you object to direct marketing, we will stop that processing.

Where we rely on consent as a lawful basis for processing, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority if you are concerned about how we handle your personal data. We encourage you to contact us in the first instance so that we can address your concerns directly.

Security of your personal data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage. Measures may include access controls, password protection, secure storage, staff training and procedures to handle suspected data breaches. While no system can be completely secure, we strive to maintain a level of security appropriate to the risks associated with the personal data we process.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations or the way we process personal data. Any updated version will apply to all customers and data subjects within our Westminster service area from the date it is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your personal data.