Waste Disposal Richmond Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Disposal Richmond collects, uses, stores and shares personal data relating to customers and prospective customers in our service area. It is intended to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the EU General Data Protection Regulation where applicable, and the Data Protection Act 2018. It applies to all individuals who use, or enquire about, our waste collection and disposal services within the areas we operate.

By contacting us, using our services, or interacting with us in any way, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. This document does not affect any statutory rights you may have under applicable data protection laws.

Who We Are And How To Contact Us

Waste Disposal Richmond is the organisation responsible for determining how and why your personal data is processed. This means we act as the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal data, or wish to exercise your rights, you can contact us using the details provided on your service documentation or any standard communication channel you already use with us.

Scope Of This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Waste Disposal Richmond customers and prospective customers within our service area. It covers personal data collected through telephone calls, emails, text messages, in person visits, written correspondence, and any other method through which you engage with our customer services or operations team.

It applies to individuals acting in a personal capacity and, where relevant, individuals acting on behalf of a business, landlord, housing association, property management company or public body, where we receive personal data about those individuals.

Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for us to provide our services or to meet legal and regulatory requirements. The types of personal data we may collect include the following categories:

Identification and contact details such as your name, postal address, service address, billing address, email address and telephone numbers.

Service information such as details of the services you request, your service history, collection schedules, waste container information, and any special access instructions relating to your premises.

Billing and payment information such as invoice details, payment method, payment history, and records relating to queries about charges. Where payments are taken electronically, we may receive partial card or account details, but these are normally processed by secure payment processors.

Communication records such as emails, letters, telephone call notes, complaints, queries, feedback and any responses we provide.

Technical information such as basic device and usage information when you interact with any of our online forms or digital tools, including date and time of interaction, and the pages or forms you access. We do not seek to identify individuals from this technical data unless required to investigate misuse or security issues.

How We Collect Your Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us for a quote, request a service, enter into a contract, make a complaint or query, complete a form, or communicate with us in any other way.

We may also receive personal data from third parties, for example from landlords, letting agents, housing providers, commercial partners or local authorities where they arrange waste services on your behalf and provide us with relevant contact information for coordination and service delivery.

Lawful Bases For Processing

We process your personal data only when we have a lawful basis to do so under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following lawful bases:

Performance of a contract. We process personal data to provide quotations, set up and manage your account, deliver waste collection and disposal services, issue invoices, take payments, and respond to service queries.

Legitimate interests. We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these are not overridden by your rights and interests. This includes activities such as managing our operations, improving our services, training staff, preventing fraud or abuse, and maintaining accurate records of interactions.

Legal obligations. We process certain personal data because we are required to do so by law. This may include data needed for tax, accounting, health and safety, environmental compliance, or to respond to requests from regulatory or public authorities.

Consent. In limited cases we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional marketing communications where required by law. Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time using the contact details previously provided to you.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage waste disposal services, including setting up services, scheduling collections, managing access to your premises, and responding to service requests and emergencies.

To manage customer accounts, including billing, debt recovery where appropriate, handling queries about charges, and maintaining accurate records for financial and auditing purposes.

To communicate with you about your service, including service notifications, changes to collection schedules, updates to terms and conditions, and responses to complaints or general enquiries.

To improve our operations and customer service, including monitoring service performance, training our staff, and analysing aggregated information to plan resource allocation.

To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including environmental, waste management and financial regulations, and cooperating with relevant authorities where we are legally obliged to do so.

Data Sharing And Processors

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share personal data with selected third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Service providers and processors. We may engage third party companies to perform services on our behalf, such as payment processing, information technology support, secure data hosting, customer communication tools, or subcontracted collection services. These organisations act as data processors and are required to process your personal data only in accordance with our instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with data protection law.

Professional advisers. We may share personal data with our accountants, auditors, legal advisers and insurers where necessary to obtain professional advice, manage disputes or conduct audits.

Public authorities and regulators. We may disclose personal data to law enforcement agencies, courts, regulators or other public authorities where we are legally required or permitted to do so, or where this is necessary to protect our rights, property or safety, or the rights, property or safety of others.

Other third parties. In the event of a reorganisation, merger or business transfer, we may share relevant personal data with prospective or actual purchasers and their advisers, subject to appropriate confidentiality safeguards.

International Transfers

Our primary data processing activities take place within the United Kingdom. If we use a data processor or service provider located outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, or which stores data in another country, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses or equivalent measures required by data protection law.

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 our legal, accounting and reporting obligations.

In general, we retain customer account and billing records for a period required by tax and accounting legislation after the end of the relevant financial year. Service records and communications may be retained for a reasonable period after your contract ends in order to handle any queries, complaints, or potential legal claims.

Where we no longer need personal data, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with an identifiable individual.

Security Of Your Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures include access controls, staff training, secure storage and regular reviews of our security arrangements.

While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, no system or transmission can be guaranteed as completely secure. You are encouraged to take precautions when sharing personal data with us, particularly by email or other electronic channels.

Your Data Protection Rights

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data under data protection law. These rights apply to all Waste Disposal Richmond customers and prospective customers within our service area, although they may be subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions.

Right of access. You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to obtain a copy of that data, along with certain additional information.

Right to rectification. You have the right to ask us to correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

Right to erasure. In certain circumstances, you may have the right to request that we delete your personal data. This is sometimes known as the right to be forgotten. It is not an absolute right and may not apply where we need to retain data for legal obligations or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Right to restriction. You may have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example where you contest the accuracy of the data or object to its processing.

Right to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may have the right to receive personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format, and to ask us to transmit that data to another controller where technically feasible.

Right to object. You have the right to object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests as our lawful basis. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds which override your interests, rights and freedoms, or where processing is required for legal claims.

Rights in relation to consent. Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any concerns directly.

Changes To This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, operational needs or legal requirements. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated to you. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.