Privacy Policy

Man With a Van Barking Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With a Van Barking collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to customers and potential customers in our service area. We are committed to complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, and to handling your information fairly, lawfully and transparently.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all customers, potential customers and website users of Man With a Van Barking within our operating area. It covers personal data processed in connection with enquiries, bookings, service delivery, payments, and customer communication.

Data Controller

For the purposes of data protection law, Man With a Van Barking is the data controller responsible for deciding how and why your personal data is processed in relation to our services.

Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data when you contact us, request a quote, make a booking, or use our services:

Identity data such as name, title and contact person details for residential or business customers.

Contact data such as billing and collection addresses, delivery addresses, and communication preferences.

Service data such as details of the move or transport job, property access information, inventory notes, special handling instructions and preferred dates and times.

Communication data such as the content of messages you send us via contact forms, online messaging tools or written correspondence, and records of calls where we make written notes.

Payment and transaction data such as payment status, amounts, dates of payments and basic transaction references necessary for accounting. We do not store full payment card details.

Technical and usage data such as basic device and browser information, IP address and information about how you use our website, where this is collected through cookies or similar technologies. Where required, we will seek your consent for non-essential cookies.

How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, through a contact form, by message, or when you provide information to complete a booking. We may also collect data when you interact with our website or respond to our advertising.

We may receive limited personal data about you from third parties, for example from comparison or booking platforms where you have requested a quote or booked our services. In these cases, the platform will have its own privacy policy and we will only receive the information needed to provide our services.

Lawful Bases for Processing

We rely on the following lawful bases under the UK GDPR to process your personal data:

Contract: We process personal data where it is necessary to provide a quote, set up and manage your booking, deliver our man and van services, manage payments, and respond to your requests related to a contract or potential contract.

Legal obligation: We process certain personal data to meet legal and regulatory requirements, for example record-keeping for tax and accounting purposes.

Legitimate interests: We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your rights and freedoms are not overridden. These interests include managing and improving our services, handling customer queries and complaints, preventing fraud and maintaining business records.

Consent: In some cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of marketing communications or for non-essential cookies. Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotes, estimates and information about our services in response to your enquiries.

To manage bookings, including confirming dates and times, allocating staff and vehicles, and contacting you about arrangements.

To deliver man and van services, including collection, transportation and delivery of your items.

To communicate with you about your booking, including reminders, updates and any necessary follow-up.

To manage payments, invoicing, refunds where applicable and financial administration.

To respond to feedback, handle complaints and resolve disputes.

To maintain business and accounting records and comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

To improve our services, internal processes and customer experience, for example by analysing anonymised or aggregated data.

To send you service-related information and, where permitted, limited marketing about our services that may be of interest to you. You can object to marketing at any time.

Data Sharing and Processors

We may share your personal data with third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, always ensuring that appropriate safeguards are in place.

Service providers and processors: We may use carefully selected third party service providers to support our business operations, such as booking and scheduling systems, payment processors, cloud storage providers, IT support and accountants. These providers act as data processors and may only process your personal data on our documented instructions, for the purposes specified in our agreement with them, and must protect your data in accordance with data protection law.

Professional and legal advisers: We may share data where needed with professional advisers such as accountants, insurers or legal advisers.

Authorities and regulators: We may disclose personal data where required to comply with a legal obligation, court order or request from a regulatory authority.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

International Data Transfers

Where any of our service providers or their servers are located outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or an adequacy decision, to protect your data in line with data protection law.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

Enquiry data: Information provided when you request a quote or information but do not proceed with a booking may be retained for a limited period to respond to your enquiry and for our legitimate interests in managing and reviewing enquiries.

Customer and booking data: Information related to bookings and completed jobs is generally retained for several years after the end of the service to comply with legal obligations, deal with any potential disputes or claims, and maintain accurate financial records.

Marketing data: Where you have agreed to receive marketing, we will retain your contact details until you opt out or withdraw your consent, or until we no longer reasonably need to keep that information for marketing purposes.

When data is no longer required, it will be securely deleted, anonymised or destroyed.

Security of Your Data

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration or disclosure. These measures include access controls, secure storage and regular review of our data handling practices. While no system can be completely secure, we take reasonable steps to safeguard the personal data we hold.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exemptions:

Right of access: You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of that data.

Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct or update inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

Right to erasure: You can 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, or where you withdraw consent and no other lawful basis applies.

Right to restriction: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your data in certain situations, for example while we are investigating the accuracy of the data or an objection you have raised.

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 that we transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

Right to object: You can object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including profiling, and you have the absolute right to object to direct marketing at any time.

Rights related to consent: Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing before consent was withdrawn.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided on our website or in your booking documents. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

Complaints and Supervisory Authority

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to contact us in the first instance so we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection supervisory authority, which is the Information Commissioner's Office.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations or data processing practices. Any significant changes will be indicated by updating the revision date and, where appropriate, notifying you through our website or our usual communication channels. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.