Storage Whitton Customer Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Whitton collects, uses and protects the personal data of its customers. It applies to all Storage Whitton customers in our service area, including anyone who makes an enquiry, requests a quote, signs a storage agreement or otherwise uses our services. We are committed to handling your personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Who we are and scope of this policy
Storage Whitton is a storage services provider offering storage units and related services to customers in the local area. For the purposes of data protection law, Storage Whitton is the controller of the personal data described in this policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed.
This policy covers personal data relating to individual customers, prospective customers, guarantors, authorised contacts and any individuals acting on behalf of a business customer where we deal with them in a personal capacity.
The personal data we collect
We may collect and process the following types of personal data about you when you contact us, enter into a contract with us or use our services:
Identification and contact details, such as your name, postal address, billing address, date of birth, and any identification numbers you provide on official documents.
Communication details, such as your communication preferences and the content of communications you send to us, including enquiries, complaints and feedback.
Contract and account information, such as storage unit details, contract start and end dates, payment history, deposit details, correspondence relating to your account and records of access authorisations you give to other people.
Payment and transaction information, such as information required to process payments and refunds, and records of invoices and receipts. Full card details are not stored by us if payment is taken via a secure payment processor.
Usage and operational data, such as records of your use of our facilities where applicable, including unit access times, entry codes and any incidents or maintenance requests associated with your unit.
Security and safety data, such as CCTV footage in and around our premises, visitor logs and other security-related records to ensure the safety and security of our customers, staff and property.
Marketing and preference data, such as whether you have consented to receive marketing communications and your preferences for how we contact you.
How we collect your personal data
We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us, request a quote, visit our premises, complete our forms, sign a storage agreement, make a payment, or communicate with us by any means. We may also receive personal data about you from third parties, for example from a person acting on your behalf, a business customer that lists you as an authorised contact, or from payment and identity verification service providers where required to comply with our legal obligations.
Lawful basis for processing your data
We rely on one or more of the following lawful bases under UK GDPR to process your personal data:
Contract: We process your personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes setting up and managing your storage agreement, taking payments, handling deposits, dealing with enquiries relating to your contract and providing customer support.
Legal obligation: We process certain personal data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as maintaining accurate financial records for tax and accounting, complying with anti-money laundering obligations where applicable, cooperating with law enforcement and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.
Legitimate interests: We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes ensuring the security of our premises and units, preventing and detecting crime, managing and improving our services, handling and resolving complaints, and pursuing outstanding payments.
Consent: In some cases we rely on your consent, particularly for sending certain types of marketing communications that are not based on our legitimate interests. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to 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 to you, including processing applications, managing contracts, granting access to units, handling deposits, processing payments and providing customer service and support.
To manage our relationship with you, including communicating with you about your account, changes to our terms and policies, renewals, arrears, notices of termination and any issues relating to your use of our services or premises.
To maintain safety and security, including using CCTV and access control systems to protect customers, visitors, staff and our property, to investigate incidents, and to support the prevention and detection of crime.
To manage our business operations, including record-keeping, monitoring service performance, staff training, quality assurance, and planning and forecasting.
To comply with our legal obligations, including tax and accounting requirements, responding to lawful requests from authorities, and complying with applicable storage, property, health and safety and data protection laws.
To send you marketing communications about our services, offers or updates where we are permitted to do so by law, and subject to your right to object or withdraw consent as applicable.
Data sharing and processors
We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with third parties where this is necessary for the purposes described in this policy and where we have a lawful basis to do so.
We may share data with trusted service providers acting as processors on our behalf. These may include payment processing providers, accounting and invoicing providers, customer relationship management systems, IT hosting and support providers, CCTV and security system providers and document storage or shredding services. These processors are only permitted to process your personal data on our instructions and must keep it secure.
We may also share personal data with professional advisers such as auditors, accountants and legal advisers, and with insurers where necessary to manage insurance claims or obtain insurance coverage.
Where required by law, we may share your personal data with law enforcement agencies, courts, regulators or other public authorities. We may also share relevant information with debt collection agencies or legal representatives to recover unpaid amounts.
If we are involved in a business sale, merger or reorganisation, we may share personal data with prospective buyers or partners, but only to the extent necessary and subject to appropriate confidentiality protections.
Data retention and storage
We keep your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
In general, we retain storage contract records and related financial information for a period required by tax and accounting law after the end of your relationship with us. CCTV footage is kept for a relatively short period, unless it is required for investigating an incident, handling a dispute, responding to a legal request or pursuing or defending legal claims.
When we no longer need your personal data, we will securely delete or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to you.
International transfers
In some cases, our service providers may process personal data outside the United Kingdom. Where this occurs, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data, for example by relying on adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses approved for use under data protection law.
How we protect your data
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or loss. These measures include access controls, secure storage, staff training, use of reputable service providers and regular review of our security measures. While no system can be completely secure, we aim to ensure that the level of protection we apply is appropriate to the nature and sensitivity of the personal data we hold.
Your data protection rights
Under UK data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all Storage Whitton customers in our service area, subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions.
Right of access: You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: You can request that we correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data. This is not an absolute right and may be subject to our need to retain data for legal or contractual reasons.
Right to restriction of processing: You can request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we investigate a concern you raise about accuracy or our use of your data.
Right to data portability: In some cases, you can request that we provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or request that it is transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.
Right to object: You can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests. You always have the right to object to direct marketing and we will act on this without delay.
Rights in relation to consent: Where we rely on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection supervisory authority if you are concerned about how we handle your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve your concerns directly.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements or how we process personal data. When we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to inform you. The date of the most recent version will be shown in the policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.
