Storage Hounslow Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Storage Hounslow collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers in the Hounslow area. It also explains your rights under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy applies to all Storage Hounslow customers and users of our services in the area, whether you contact us online, by post, or in person at our premises.
Who This Privacy Policy Applies To
This Privacy Policy applies to individual customers, prospective customers, visitors to our premises, and any person acting on behalf of a business customer who interacts with Storage Hounslow. By engaging with our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.
Personal Data We Collect
We collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us and the services you use. This may include:
Identification data: name, title, date of birth, and proof of identity details where required for security and legal purposes.
Contact details: postal address, billing address, and other contact information you provide in order for us to communicate with you and manage your account.
Account and contract data: unit number or storage reference, contract details, payment history, correspondence with us, and records of your preferences.
Payment and billing data: information necessary to process payments and manage invoices. Card details are handled by our payment processors and are not stored by us in full where this is not necessary.
Usage and access data: records of access to our facility such as entry and exit times, access codes, and, where in place, CCTV footage to maintain security and prevent crime.
Technical data: information collected when you visit our website, such as IP address, browser type, and basic usage information which may be collected through cookies or similar technologies where permitted by law.
How We Collect Personal Data
We collect personal data in different ways, including:
Directly from you when you contact us, request a quote, sign a storage agreement, make a payment, or communicate with us.
Automatically when you use our website or enter our premises where monitoring or access control systems are in place.
From third parties, for example payment service providers that confirm your payment status or identity verification services used for fraud prevention and legal compliance.
Lawful Basis for Processing Your Data
We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the specific activity, we rely on the following lawful bases:
Performance of a contract: where processing is necessary to provide our storage services, manage your account, take steps at your request before entering into a contract, ensure site access, and communicate with you about your booking or contract.
Legal obligation: where we are required to process personal data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as accounting, tax, and crime prevention obligations, or to respond to lawful requests from law enforcement or regulatory bodies.
Legitimate interests: where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests and these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include ensuring the security of our premises, preventing fraud, improving our services, managing customer relationships, and protecting our property and the property stored with us.
Consent: where required by law, for example for certain types of marketing communications or cookies. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
How We Use Your Personal Data
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
To set up and manage your storage contract, including processing bookings, payments, renewals, and terminations.
To verify your identity where necessary for security and legal reasons.
To maintain the safety and security of our facility, including the use of access control systems and CCTV where in operation.
To respond to your enquiries, requests, and complaints, and to provide customer service and support.
To send you important service communications relating to your contract or account, such as notices about payments, access, or changes to our terms and conditions.
To carry out internal administration, accounting, and record-keeping, and to comply with our legal and regulatory responsibilities.
To improve our services, including monitoring usage patterns and assessing service performance.
Where permitted, to provide you with information about similar services that may be of interest to you. You can opt out of such 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 to meet our legal and regulatory obligations. In general:
Customer account and contract data are retained for a period after the end of your contract to enable us to respond to queries, manage disputes, and satisfy accounting and tax requirements.
CCTV footage, where used, is retained for a limited period necessary for security and incident investigation, unless a longer retention is required for legal or investigative reasons.
Payment and invoicing data are retained for the time required under applicable tax and accounting laws.
Marketing contact data is retained while you remain subscribed or until you object or withdraw consent, after which it will be suppressed or deleted in line with our procedures.
When data is no longer required, it will be securely deleted, anonymised, or archived in accordance with our data retention practices and legal obligations.
Sharing Your Personal Data and Processors
We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary and lawful, including:
Service providers acting as data processors who provide services such as payment processing, IT hosting and support, customer management systems, security and access control, and document storage. These providers are required to handle your personal data only on our instructions and to apply appropriate security measures.
Professional advisers, such as legal or accounting firms, where needed to obtain advice or protect our legal rights.
Law enforcement agencies, regulators, government bodies, or courts where we are required or permitted by law to do so, for example in connection with crime prevention, fraud investigations, or legal proceedings.
Other parties in the context of a business transfer or restructuring, where personal data would continue to be protected in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy.
Where we use processors, we ensure that appropriate data processing agreements are in place and that your data is handled securely and lawfully.
International Transfers
Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area by our service providers, we take steps to ensure that adequate safeguards are in place. These may include the use of standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities or reliance on other appropriate transfer mechanisms allowed under data protection law.
Data Security
We take reasonable and appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. Measures may include access controls, secure storage, encryption where appropriate, staff training, and regular review of our security procedures. While we strive to protect your data, no system can be completely secure, and you are encouraged to keep your own account information and access codes safe.
Your Data Protection Rights
You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data under the UK GDPR. Subject to certain conditions and exemptions, these include:
Right of access: to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to obtain a copy of that data.
Right to rectification: to ask us to correct or complete personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your personal data where there is no longer a lawful basis for us to retain or use it, sometimes known as the right to be forgotten.
Right to restriction: to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example while we are verifying its accuracy or handling an objection.
Right to object: to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including direct marketing. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds or a legal reason to continue.
Right to data portability: to request that we provide certain personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, or transfer it to another controller where technically feasible and lawful.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing before consent was withdrawn.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you believe that your data protection rights have been infringed.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or services. Any updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to remain informed about how we protect your personal data.
